Chuck Liddell Blasts Fedor Emelianenko and Kurt Angle
Chuck Liddell is not one to hold back in interviews. Recently, as covered here at MMA Shoot, we’ve seen him talk smack about Fedor Emelianenko to the UK press, telling the Sun that he could “take” Fedor.
Now, Chuck is at it again with the UK media. He’s got two more interviews out: one where he “savages” Fedor Emelianenko and one “dishing out a warning” to Kurt Angle.
Liddell told the Sun that he thinks Fedor is overrated:
‘The Iceman’ said: “I’d like to see Fedor fight Randy because I don’t think he can beat Randy.
“He’s good on top – a good ground and pound guy but I think he’d have a real hard time getting on top of a guy like Randy.
“He’s not going to be able to throw him because Randy’s a Greco-Roman wrestler and his shot’s pretty poor so he’d have to submit him from the bottom.
Liddell claims the Russian’s failure to face any big name fighters in the last two years is proof heavyweight grappler Emelianenko is overrated.
Liddell added: ““I truly believe he’s overrated. I’ve heard he picks and chooses some of his fights.
“You’ve got to wonder why he chose to fight a guy like Matt Lindland – who weighs 185lbs!
“I heard he was negotiating with some other people who were heavyweights who would have been more of a challenge to him and he turned those down.
“He doesn’t have a great shot, he doesn’t have one punch power and to my knowledge he’s never knocked anyone out from his feet standing up.
“So I think anybody that can stop a takedown is going to be a good fight for him if they can strike.”
Hey, and who can argue at this point? Liddell makes some damn valid points. Who has Fedor fought lately? Matt Lindland? Hong-Man Choi? Mike…I mean, Mark (oh come on, I’m always looking for a way to work that joke in) Hunt? If Fedor is picking and choosing his fights, it’s time for him to pick a big one.
That being said, Fedor has made it clear that he wants to fight Randy Couture, so either he really is looking to step back up the competition, or he knows the fight will never happen, and is just trying to look tough. Only time will tell on this one.
With Chuck’s recent comments about Fedor, it certainly makes a potential Liddell/Fedor fight very interesting if it ever were to take place, UFC or not.
Liddell also did an interview with Setanta Sports News, and it doesn’t look like he has a high opinion of Kurt Angle:
“He talks about it all the time, but he hasn’t made any movements towards doing it, to my knowledge he hasn’t done any training or cross-training,” Liddell told Setanta Sports News.
“If he’s just gonna come in and wrestle, he’s going to get beat, you can’t just be a one-dimensional fighter in The UFC.
“I don’t care how good you are, it’s not gonna work.”
I kind of have the same feeling about Angle. He’ll probably never fight in MMA, but if he does, he’s going to get schooled.
