Dana White tries to justify booking Chuck Liddell vs. Tito Ortiz III
Published by Zach Arnold on December 7th, 2009 in Current Events

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Houston, we have a problem in the UFC… besides the performance Mr. Alexander put on against Kimbo Slice last Saturday night.

I’m talking about UFC’s overall product overexposure, lack of roster depth, and inability to produce enough young talent to keep up with all the cards they are booking. It’s easy enough to run card after card if you make sure fighters are semi-protected, but UFC’s formula of throwing the new fighters to the wolves has its drawbacks as well — and those drawbacks are on full display.

When young talent loses, you’re left with the old guys. The old war horses and veterans that got you to the table. It’s a natural inclination to deal with the devil you know rather than the devil you don’t know, but when the devils are Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz, you might want to reconsider where business is heading.

Liddell will be making his return to the UFC after a devastating loss to Mauricio Shogun in Montreal. Ortiz is coming off of a lackluster performance against Forrest Griffin, a fighter who had a broken foot going into the match and was still faster in the cage than Tito. Tito was moving around like he was in quicksand. The mainstream appeal of Ortiz is behind him at this point, partly in part because of the public thrashing Dana White did to Ortiz’s credibility when the two sides were feuding over money.

Take a look at how Dana White tried to sell Chuck/Tito III on Spike TV during an interview with Joe Rogan:

Joe Rogan: “All right, I am here with UFC President Dana White, who has a special announcement. You’re going to tell us the coaches for Season 11 of The Ultimate Fighter. Who’s it going to be?”

Dana White: “Well, obviously, my good friend Chuck Liddell has been terrorizing me to come back and fight again. I think a lot of the fans want to see him come back and compete, so obviously Chuck Liddell will be one of the coaches and the opposing coach will be Tito Ortiz.”

Joe Rogan: “Very, very interesting. Now, I mean, you were very adamant about not wanting Chuck to come back. Was it just his enthusiasm, his drive, I mean what made you turn the corner and bring him back?”

Dana White: “Yeah, well at the end of the day, you know I told him, I’m not his Dad, you know, uh… You know, the guy’s a legend in the sport, he’s beat the who’s who in Mixed Martial Arts here and in the PRIDE organization and to uh… you know, to tell him he can’t have one more shot, it’s tough to do, so… Chuck’s going to come back, he’s going to coach, I think he has a lot to offer, you know, talent, I think he’ll make a great coach. Tito was a great coach in season three and to be honest with you, I think the fans want to see Chuck/Tito III anyways, so, what the hell….”

Joe Rogan: “Well, if you look at it on paper, if you wanted to have a good fight for Chuck to come back to, that is a good fight for Chuck to come back to. First of all, Tito believes that he can beat Chuck now. He believes that the first time and the second time he fought Chuck, he was having serious back problems before his surgery. Now he feels like he’s a renewed and reinvigorated fighter and he feels like he’s got some unfinished business with Chuck.”

Dana White: “it’s true and you know Tito just got another fight under his belt which you know I’m a big believer in ring rust and you know you saw it with Shogun and you’ve seen it with lots of other fighters. I don’t care how old you are, how good you are, ring rust is a real thing. Tito’s got a fight under his belt, come back, coach against Chuck and let them fight at the end after the Finale.”

Joe Rogan: “Now, what weight class will this season 11 be?”

Dana White: “Middleweights, 185 pounds.”

Joe Rogan: “Well, we saw Tito when he was on the show against Ken Shamrock, he’s a tremendous coach. Chuck was a tremendous coach when he did it against Randy Couture, so it should be an excellent season.”

Dana White: “Yeah, look, Tito is a great coach, Chuck’s more enthusiastic than I’ve ever seen him to come back and fight and to coach. Here we go.”

Joe Rogan: “All right, that’s it ladies and gentlemen, there it is. Chuck Liddell, Tito Ortiz, the official coaches, season 11 of The Ultimate Fighter. Don’t miss it.”

END

During the interview, White was laughing nervously. He looked like making this announcement was the last thing in the world he wanted to do. Truth be told, he should feel that way. At least he has a conscious some of the time.

White’s not the only guilty party this week in terms of pushing fighters who should be retired. Golden Boy was aiming to book Roy Jones Jr. against Bernard Hopkins in 2010. They had set up a scenario where Jones was facing Australian slugger Danny Green in Sydney and Hopkins would fight in Philadelphia on Versus, setting up a match between the two. Both Golden Boy and Versus were stunned when Green rocked Jones in the first round of their boxing match and won by TKO. It added a dreary feel to the Versus telecast, but in the end it’s for the best that those two fighters will likely not fight each other.

It would also be in the best interest of UFC to not book Liddell/Ortiz III, not only for the sake of the fighters but also for the sake of that fight drawing a cold PPV buy rate.