MMA veteran Phil Baroni gives interesting take on Chuck Liddell’s comeback: It’s not up to you

Yesterday afternoon, on the latest edition of The MMA Hour, 48-year-old MMA legend Chuck Liddell confirmed what we’ve long suspected: After eight years of retirement, he will be returning to the cage.

“I will fight again,” Liddell said, point blank, on the show (transcribed by MMA Fighting).

Liddell, who is expected to fight his former rival Tito Ortiz in his comeback fight, says the reason for his comeback is that he simply misses fighting.

“I miss it. I never stopped missing it,” he said. “And I kinda hadn’t really thought about it much. And then when [Ortiz] brought it up and we started getting going, and I started training and I started doing stuff again, getting ready to try to take this on, it made me go, ‘You know what, what if he pulls out? Am I not going to fight? Am I going to do all of this and not fight?’ Oh no, we had to have somebody backing up, and if it doesn’t work out with him, I’m [still] going to give it a shot. It’ll be somebody else, one of the guys from my past probably, most likely, and we’ll see where I’m at.”

In the wake of Liddell’s comeback declaration, many members of the MMA community have voiced their disappointment with his choice to return, sharing worries about his health.

In the opinion of Phil Baroni, an MMA veteran of Liddell’s vintage, however, it’s none of our business what Liddell does. Baroni, who recently returned to competition after a lengthy hiatus of his own, gave his take on the Liddell news on Twitter.

Your not a fighter. Your not Chuck. It’s not up 2 you. People prob told Chuck not to be a cage fighter his whole life.Worry about yourself. It’s America if Chuck wants to fight let him fight. Fighters Fight https://t.co/XNXoE7FZnJ https://t.co/TUixpTDdky

— phil baroni (@philbaroni) May 15, 2018

“You’re not a fighter,” Baroni said. “You’re not Chuck. It’s not up to you. People probably told Chuck not to be a cage fighter his whole life. Worry about yourself. It’s America. If Chuck wants to fight, let him fight. Fighters fight.”

What do you think of Phil Baroni’s take on Chuck Liddell’s comeback?

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 5/15/2018.