"I came out of the bar and one of my buddies was double legged up against a car with three guys hitting him in the back so I just went over and threw them off of my buddy. I didn't even know Tito was in it until the whole thing was over withÂ…It's a street fight man. Anybody I didn't know that was throwing punches, I just clocked them," stated former UFC light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell as he talked about the infamous street fight between Tito Ortiz and Lee Murray. You don't want to miss what else he had to say as he talks more about the scuffle and his own street fighting days. Plus, Liddell gives an update on his hamstring injury and his training as he gets set to face Rashad Evans at UFC 88. Check it out!
PC: How have you been doing my man? It's been hard to catch up to you.
CL: I've been busy man. I was in Europe for 16 days. I got back and had to go out to Atlanta for some PR stuff. I've been running around and plus, I'm back in training so just trying to get it together.
PC: I thought it was cool that you went over to the UK for UFC 85 even though you weren't on the card anymore. How was the reception and why did you feel obligated to go over there?
CL: The reception was good out there. The fans were expecting me to at least make an appearance for it. I felt bad I couldn't fight out there so the least I could do is make it out there. It just kind of sucks to have that injury; it sucks any time to have an injury, but that was a big fight for me and an interesting place to fight.
PC: How is the hamstring and are you able to train full speed right now?
CL: I'm training full go. Everything is going great. My leg is real sore, but I'm going 100% so we're good.
PC: You seem like a pretty private guy Chuck. What made you want to put out an autobiography?
CL: It was back and fourth with people around me and people wanted to know more about me. I kind of argued back and fourth if we were going to do it or not and I got talked into it. Afterwards, I thought it was done well and it came out good. I'm glad I did it.
PC: It was a great book. I was hoping you touched on the Lee Murray/Tito Ortiz situationÂ…
CL: That wasn't really my thing, you know? To be honest, it had nothing to do with Lee Murray and Tito. I came out of the bar and one of my buddies was double legged up against a car with three guys hitting him in the back so I just went over and threw them off of my buddy. I didn't even know Tito was in it until the whole thing was over with. Yeah, I didn't know Tito and Lee Murray were in it until the whole thing was over.
PC: I heard you were doing more than throwing people off of your boy. I heard you were knocking people the fuck out?
CL: Oh yeah, I was, but it was one of those things were I went over to throw people off of my buddy and someone hit me in the back of the head and I turned around and took my watch off and started swinging.
PC: You were putting them to sleep, huh Iceman?
CL: Well, yeah, it's a street fight man. Anybody I didn't know that was throwing punches, I just clocked them. You get some pretty clean shots that way.
PC: That's good stuff. I would have liked to have a camera rolling for that one.
CL: (Laughing) Yeah, I fought a lot in the streets growing up so we were used to group fighting. You get hitsÂ…you know, there's a skill to that I think too. There's a skill to fighting one-on-one and there's a skill to fighting with a bunch of people around. I had a lot of experience. It had been awhile, but I had a lot of experience in the past.
PC: I'm sure you had your fair share when you were a bouncer.
CL: Oh yeah, we had a couple of problems, but not a whole lot because everybody kind of knew us at the bar. We got some guys from out of town every once in a while that would come and act up, but for the most part, we were friends with all of the guys.
PC: What did you think of Kimbo Slice's CBS debut?
CL: Honestly, I didn't even watch it. I went to Indiana Jones with my daughter that night instead of watching that fight; that's how interested I was in it!
PC: Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell is no longer a bachelor. How much is that black book up to on EBay?
CL: (Laughing) I don't know. I may have to put it on there and check it out and see what it goes for.
PC: What made you want to finally settle down Chuck?
CL: It's the girl, you know? It's her. I never thought I would settle down, for sure. I thought I would be a bachelor forever, but she's a great girl and things should work out.
PC: Did you show a soft side and do it up romantic? How did you propose to her?
CL: Oh yeah! I did it at the Café Du Monde overlooking the Eiffel Tower. I kept waiting for the Light Show to go off because they told me a different time. It never went off so finally, I said, "Screw it. I'm going to do it." (Laughing) I was waiting for this thing to go off and I'm like…okay. They told me it was going to go off and it didn't go off. Right after that, I'm like halfway through starting and it goes off. It's like one of those things where you try to plan it and it just never works out like that. It worked out good.
PC: Congratulations on that my man.
CL: Thank you!
PC: September 6th, you're coming to my neck of the woods, the South. How are you feeling about coming to Atlanta to fight Evans?
CL: I'm excited about coming to fight in Atlanta. I've been there once before and I had a blast back then. It was way back when I first started fighting in the UFC. Me and my buddy ventured up to Atlanta for a couple of nights. Yeah, I had a good time down there and I'm looking forward to going back. The fight was supposed to happen in England and I'm just glad I got it back. I want to get this fight out of the way and get a title shot.
PC: You had 2 fights in the making with Evans and Shogun. Are you happy this is the one that came off?
CL: Either one would've been great, but Shogun wasn't going to be ready to fight until November or December and I didn't want to wait that long. Rashad was ready to go in September and I thought that was great. I was more than willing to go then.
PC: I'm sure it was tough for you to pull out of a fight knowing how you are?
CL: That's the first fight I've ever pulled out of. To be honest, I wanted 10 days and Dana gave me like 2 to see if I could fight and he just saw it and knew I couldn't go. In 10 days, I still couldn't walk without a limp, even if I was trying. I did up a pretty good one too. It's still sore now, but it's healthy and I'm going 100 % sparring hard and wrestling hard, but it's doing good.
PC: I'm sure you would have liked to capitalize on that big win over Wanderlei right away. Did that make pulling out that much tougher?
CL: Oh yeah! It's hard to pull out for a lot of reasons. I was halfway through my camp and I didn't get paid, if you want to look at it from a business standpoint. I did half of the work and I did all of the non-fun stuff. The training is the hard part. The fight is the reward and I get paid for it. I get to go out there and fight after training hard and I was in great shape and to be honest, as I was rehabbing my leg, I really didn't stop training either. I didn't take any time off to stop training. I took a little time off after the fight in London. I stayed out there 16 days, but I trained all the way up to that event. I trained in Europe while I was out there too. They had a couple of guys getting ready for some fights out there so we were training them.
PC: You just like to fight and be in the gym, huh?
CL: I just love to fight.
PC: A lot of people were surprised to see you shoot in the Wanderlei fight. Rashad is more than willing to wrestle. Is that something we could expect to see more of from you?
CL: I plan onÂ…if it's there, I'm taking it. If it's there, I'll take it because it's a good way to score some points, keep people off balance and set up better shots with my punches and hurt some people.
PC: Chuck, I won't hold you too much longer man. I'll let you finish spending time with your daughter. Congrats on the engagement again and good luck in September. Is there anything you want to say in closing?
CL: Thank you very much. Hey, just check everything out. Check my website out, MMAJacked.com, and keep watching the fights.
[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]