UFC legend Chuck Liddell has criticized the escalating level of personal attacks in combat sports, particularly those involving family members, warning that fighters who cross this line should be prepared to defend themselves.
Chuck Liddell, the UFC legend, is cool with trash talk. Just don’t bring his family into it.
Sadly, personal attacks seem to be fair game in combat sports these days. This is evident from the distasteful comments Colby Covington made about Leon Edwards‘ late father during their UFC 296 fight. Edwards won, by the way. Liddell gets it, fighters need to hype up their fights. But he’s not a fan of how things have gotten out of hand in the UFC recently.
Liddell shared his thoughts on a podcast, Street Fight. “Some of the stuff they do nowadays, it’s not OK,” he said. “It crosses lines, I think. But it is what it is. I guess that’s the thing now.”
He went on, “Like talking about someone’s father, dad, or kids. Start talking about somebody’s kids. Like hey, I like Colby, but you run your mouth about my kids, you better have your hands up when I step up to you. Anywhere.”
Jake Shields, a retired UFC veteran, influenced Liddell’s stance on trash talk that crosses the line. Liddell doesn’t mind jabs from fans, but fighters should know better. Or they should be ready to defend themselves when they meet “The Iceman.”
Liddell explained, “I think Jake Shields had a deal with a guy [Mike Jackson] — he said something that made real sense to me. Here’s the thing — some fan says some B.S. about you or this or that, whatever. But if you’re one of us, you’re a fighter — you don’t get a pass to trash me.”
He continued, “You can talk about me, you can talk about my camp, talk about my coach, whatever — that’s all fair game. But don’t talk about my kids, don’t talk about my family, don’t come after me that way because you’re one of us. If you come up and I slap you, don’t be surprised. Don’t act like, ‘Oh, I don’t know what happened, why’d you do that?’ Hey bro, you better expect it.”
Throughout his career, Liddell has managed to avoid brawls outside the cage, despite having several heated rivalries. He’s not one to look for trouble. But the 54-year-old UFC Hall of Famer admits that if someone crossed the line with an insult, things would change dramatically.
“Typically, I’m not that guy,” Liddell said. “I don’t want to hurt anybody, but I’m very protective of the people I care about.”