Chuck Liddell is “officially retired” from fighting, the legendary UFC Hall of Famer told TMZ Tuesday, but he isn’t ruling out a return in the future.
“I’m officially retired right now … for now,” the 50-year-old MMA fighter told paparazzi outside of LAX. That doesn’t mean he isn’t ruling out putting his skills to use in the future, however, with the athlete explaining he has always been interested in WWE.
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“That would be a lot of fun!” he said, adding he had tremendous respect for pro wrestlers.
Liddell has gone back and forth about the future of his career as a fighter, saying at the end of the recent ESPN 30 for 30: Chuck & Tito that he was “undecided” about what he would do. That came as a shock to many fans and friends, who watched him lose six of the last seven fights, including a devastating first-round knockout loss to Tito Ortiz in 2018.
Even President of the UFC Dana White had a message for Liddell to retire for good in November.
“Chuck is [about to turn] 50 years old and should not be fighting,” White told TMZ, adding he cared about the athlete as a friend and a fighter.
“Chuck Liddell is one of the greatest people you could ever meet,” he continued. “He’s a good person. He’s a good guy.”
That being said, White noted that with no regulations that would keep Liddell from getting back in the fighting arena, he could do whatever he wanted when it came to accepting another fight.
Liddell spoke out about White’s statements to FanSided not long after.
“I think the headlines of that really didn’t go with what he said, exactly. I talked to him about it afterwards and that’s not really,” he explained. “He understands. He doesn’t want me to fight. I get it. I don’t think he was begging me not to fight. He was just saying, age. If he was worried about me going out and fighting again he’d give me a call. He called me last time. We talked about it and it is what it is.”
Regardless of what he chooses in his career, Liddell is keeping in shape, TMZ notes, “training like a maniac” at Jay Glazer’s Unbreakable Gym in West Hollywood, which also boasts celebrity clients like Wiz Khalifa and Demi Lovato.
Photo credit: Gabriel Olsen/Getty Images for Absolut Elyx
