5oz of Fury: Liddell Prepares for Jackson, and Sanchez Teams with de la Hoya

Columns, News

Hope everyone had a happy St. Patrick’s Day. Brodigan tip of the day: Slurpee’s make for the ultimate hangover cure.

LIDDELL/JACKSON 2
As reported earlier, Liddell vs. Jackson 2 is on for UFC 71.

There were rumors that Jackson wanted another tune-up match and that UFC president Dana White didn’t want to have the match so soon, but the buzz is that it’ll be made official by Tuesday of this week. The Tito Ortiz/Rashad Evans bout has been (apparently) moved to UFC 72, so this might be the one fight they build the entire show on.

When you consider the rumors of Liddell wanting to go up to heavyweight to fight Mirko Cro Cop, and with the hype machine pushing Rampage as one of the top superstars in the light heavyweight division, it’s going to be an interesting match up. My dream scenario is seeing Liddell get the win, then relinquish the belt since he’s already beaten everyone, and move up to heavyweight.

DIEGO’S NEW TRAINING BUDDY
There’s an interesting video clip on UFC.com. Diego Sanchez has made no secret that he wants to work on his stand up. So he’s in Puerto Rico getting tips on just that…from Oscar de la Hoya. That’s right, Oscar de la Hoya. They both share the same boxing coach, and since he was training de la Hoya for his upcoming fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr., Sanchez went down to work with them.

It’s not like people have been giving Josh Koscheck much of a chance in the first place. Now that Sanchez is getting boxing tips from the super welterweight champion? The commercials claim Koscheck is Diego’s “toughest opponent yet.” I think they need to reverse that.

They also need to decide where 20-0 Sanchez is going to fight Georges St. Pierre.

QUESTION
If Chuck Liddell does move to heavyweight, who will be the next dominant light heavyweight in the UFC?