Chuck Liddell teases comeback with Tito Ortiz staredown: ‘Why not?’

Who’s down for round three?

It’s no secret whispers have been growing louder about a potential comeback from former UFC light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell. Well, the 47-year-old Hall of Famer threw more fuel onto the fire Sunday night on Instagram, posting a staredown opposite his old rival, “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy,” Tito Ortiz.

Liddell and Ortiz, of course, share quite a history.

The two legends were friends and training partners in the early days of the UFC before turning on one another and forging one of the most memorable rivalries of the early Zuffa era. Liddell and Ortiz ultimately met twice inside the Octagon, with Liddell winning both matches — a second-round knockout at UFC 47, followed by a third-round knockout at UFC 66 two years later.

Liddell parted ways with the UFC in late 2016 after serving in a largely honorary executive role with the company since his retirement in 2010, a casualty of the promotion-wide staff cuts made by the new UFC owners at WME-IMG. Since then, Liddell has posted a variety of training videos and images on his social media accounts, teasing the idea of the comeback. Liddell’s longtime trainer John Hackelman even recently said “it would all depend on the opponent” when asked about the possibility of the “Iceman” lacing up the gloves for one more run.

Would Ortiz be a tantalizing enough foe to coax Liddell back? Or how about Vitor Belfort, the 40-year-old legend who picked up a win at UFC 212 and called out Liddell?

As Liddell recently told TMZ, “we’ll see.”