UFC Hall of Famer Chuck Liddell: I knew Tito Ortiz was afraid of me

It was one of the great rivalries in MMA history, and also one of the more one-sided.

When UFC Hall of Famer Chuck Liddell finally got the chance to fight Tito Ortiz, it took just over two rounds for him to stop his former training partner by TKO at UFC 47.

Liddell, the former light heavyweight champion, watched the fight the other day and was reminded of how confident he was of a victory.

“I’m actually smirking in my walkout,” Liddell recently told longtime broadcaster Joe Buck on Buck’s show “Undeniable with Joe Buck.” “That’s how confident I felt walking out. It was just one of those fights. I knew he was afraid of me.”

Liddell had waited patiently for the chance. A title shot failed to materialize earlier when Ortiz, then the reigning light heavyweight champ, was injured and then occupied by entertainment opportunities. At UFC 43, Liddell lost a title eliminator to Randy Couture, who went on to outpoint Ortiz to claim the belt.

All along, there were rumblings that Ortiz had ducked Liddell. When the fight was finally announced, it carried all the hype of a long-awaited showdown.

Two years later, Liddell, then the champ, met his rival in a rematch at UFC 66. In an equally one-sided bout, he stopped Ortiz, though it took him three rounds to do so.

Four years after that, a rubber match was briefly rumored. But the UFC decided against it. By then, it was harder than ever to sell the matchup as an even contest.