What in the heck is happening here?
When Tito Ortiz faces Chuck Liddell for a third time on November 24th under the Golden Boy banner something odd will have occurred, no pun intended. The Huntington Beach Bad Boy will enter the cage as the odds on favorite. Despite getting knocked out twice by The Iceman and despite being 43 years of age he is the odds makers darling and it just feels off to long time fans.
Ortiz has gone 3-1 in his last four under the arena lights inside a Bellator cage. He beat Stephan Bonnar and submitted Chael Sonnen along the way and we think it’s the Sonnen win that is playing a major factor here. Had Ortiz not competed in Bellator and done as well as he did we would almost guarantee that the odds would be heavy in Chuck’s favor. Tito went 6-1 in his last 7 in the UFC and the one win in that run was considered to be a fluke submission of Ryan Bader. The Bellator run would have been a great send off in itself.
It also doesn’t hurt Tito’s chances that Liddell currently looks like an angry uncle with a physique that makes it hard to tell if he’s in great shape or not. He looks plain weird at 48.
Chuck hasn’t competed since way back in 2010 where he ended a 1-5 run that is remembered as one of the hardest falls from grace in UFC history. His one win was against another falling star in Wanderlei Silva back in 2007. That’s 11 years since he had his hand raised…let that sink in.
All of that being said the consensus odds equal up to a surprising role reversal from their previous two bouts. Liddell is the underdog for the first time against Tito. Check it out…
- Chuck Liddell +195
- Tito Ortiz -250
What do you think? Are those spot on or way off?