"Possibly. It depends on a lot of things; mainly him. I think Chuck Liddell does whatever Chuck Liddell wants! Chuck Liddell and Chuck Liddell only will decideÂ…any fight will get him motivated. He's already knocked him out twice, so I don't know how motivated it will get him. It could get him real motivated or not. I don't know. I think Chuck gets himself motivated," stated the legendary Pit Boss John Hackleman as he talked about the possibility of Chuck Liddell's return to the Octagon in 2010 to face either Tito Ortiz or Kimbo Slice. Check it out!
PC: How have you been John?
JH: Good, good, good!
PC: Are they keeping you busy at The Pit?
JH: Yeah man. I have the fighters training right now.
PC: How many fighters are you training at the gym now?
JH: I have 5 going right now and then we have another team of about 10 that trains at a different time. We have an A Team and a B Team.
PC: Antonio Banuelos is coming off of a big win in the WEC. What's next for him?
JH: He's fighting November 18th in Vegas for the WEC and then we've got Casey Olsen fighting for Strikeforce on November 6th and Luke Riddering on that card as well.
PC: What did you think of Chuck's performance on Dancing with the Stars?
JH: I thought he was unbelievable. He did fantastic.
PC: I didn't know he could dance.
JH: Well, you do nowÂ…or you don't now (laughing).
PC: Can you dance John?
JH: No, I can't. I tried to show him some stuff, butÂ…I tried to show him some old school stuff like the rabbit, the running man and the smurf, but he couldn't catch on to some of the stuff because he's a little younger. But I tried. I worked with him a little bit.
PC: I read where Chuck is back in the gym training. Is he going hard or just doing like stuff to work his way back?
JH: He was going hard, but he's actually going to do a movie with Mickey Rourke, so he will do that and then back to the gym.
PC: It's obvious Chuck still wants to fight. Do you think we could see him back in the cage in 2010?
JH: Possibly. It depends on a lot of things; mainly him. I think Chuck Liddell does whatever Chuck Liddell wants! Chuck Liddell and Chuck Liddell only will decide.
PC: Tito Ortiz is back in the UFC and he's been talking about a trilogy with Chuck. Is that the kind of fight to get Chuck motivated to get back in there, being that he wasn't too fond of Tito?
JH: Yeah, it could. Any fight will get him motivated. He's already knocked him out twice, so I don't know how motivated it will get him. It could get him real motivated or not. I don't know. I think Chuck gets himself motivated. He gets motivated to win no matter who it is. It's like he did on Dancing with the Stars. And he got robbed. He got robbed on Dancing with the Stars. He was better than the football player and the blonde guy; the tall, skinny, whining blonde guy. He was a lot better than those two. I think the skater would have gave him a pretty good run for his money and Donnie Osmond, but Donnie Osmond is a professional dancer. He's been doing choreographed dancing since he was 4 years old. That was kind of a setup to bring pros in, but Chuck didn't whine about it. He just went out there and done his best.
PC: Chuck won a bet with Dana White for coming in at a certain weight. Did he train with you to get ready for that or was it on his own?
JH: He was dieting and training with the dancing stuff. He's pretty strict with his diet.
PC: There are also rumors of a Chuck Liddell vs. Kimbo Slice fight. Is that a fight that you're interested in?
JH: Not really. Chuck's at light heavy, so if Kimbo wants to drop down to 205.
PC: Yeah, I believe he will actually be fighting Houston Alexander at 205 at UFC 107.
JH: Really? At 205? I didn't know that. I guess. I think it will be a great explosive match. Both of them are sluggers.
PC: You really don't follow the sport too closely do you John?
JH: Nah, not really. I've been watching Desperate Housewives. Have you been watching that? There is some crazy shit going on on Desperate Housewives. DexterÂ…Oh my God, the trilogy killer. He struck again, but anyways, that's what I watch.
PC: I don't watch that shit John. I don't think too many people would have pegged you for watching it either.
JH: It's the best. Desperate Housewives, Dexter and Californication are my 3 favorites. When True Blood and The Office come back, I like those as well. I'm not a huge fight fan; not at all.
PC: Do you think Kimbo Slice has what it takes to compete in MMA?
JH: We'll see. I think he has what it takes, but we'll just have to see if he could add to his skills and adapt. His chinÂ…who knows? It seems like if it's tagged just right, he will go down, but we'll see how that carries out and some other things. If he picks up his skills, I heard he's a really nice guy and a hard worker. He's training with my buddy over there in Florida, Howard Davis and Ricardo. I guess he's fitting in pretty good over there.
PC: What did you think of Bob Arum and Bernard Hopkins calling MMA fighters homosexuals?
JH: I don't believe they did.
PC: Yeah, it's documented they did.
JH: Well, I'll take on Bob Arum and Bernard the same day. It would be Bob Arum first. He would be my warm up; my fluffer. I've heard Bernard Hopkins say nothing but good things about MMA. I heard him say he would get his ass whopped if he fought MMA.
PC: He said he couldn't buy a ticket to see 2 guys fight in their underwear with their balls in each others face.
JH: They are in some pretty precarious positions sometimes, but calling it fake is pretty lame. If they said that, they are stupid basically. Some people are bitter because boxing is taking a huge backseat to MMA right now. Remember Mayweather tried that shit too and he actually apologized. If they said that, they're both stupid. If Bernard Hopkins really thinks that, he should get in there and try it. I have a 170-pounder right now that is 4-0 in MMA that will take him.
PC: On the boxing side of things, who do you like between Cotto and Pacquiao?
JH: I think Pacquiao, even though I think Cotto is a tough guy and a slugger. I just don't see him beating Pacquiao right now. Anything can happen obviously, but I think Cotto is too one-dimensional to beat someone like Pacquiao at this point.
PC: Hypothetically speaking, if Mayweather were to fight Pacquiao, who would you pick?
JH: I would put that one in the air right now. I wouldn't put money on that one at all. I have that one 50/50 right now. Pacquiao has versatility, but Mayweather may have too much speed and overall skill.
PC: I will let you get back to training. I always appreciate your time. Good luck with your fighters that you have coming up. Is there anything you want to say in closing?
JH: Anyone that has been punched in the face with a 4 oz. glove or kneed in the face or choked unconscious will attest to the fact that MMA is not fake.
[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]