I thought I let everyone down by not placing in state (1). That’s what’s hard. Everyone expected you to win. You don’t want to be the guy that almost made it. I lost to a guy I beat twice that year. I got caught in a throw and didn’t have enough time to catch up in points.
I played football and wrestling my freshman year (2). I had no time to do anything. Eventually I decided to pick between the two and stuck with wrestling. It was what I was better at. I made the right decision.
I still miss playing football sometimes. I don’t play anymore because I’m too worried about hurting something. If I go out there and twist an ankle, I miss a couple weeks of training.
The Bears were the team in the mid-’80s, but I couldn’t cheer for them because I grew up a Green Bay Packers fan. The only good thing about the Packers was that they would cover the spread against the Bears all the time, so I made good money back then.
I majored in accounting. It was something I was good at. I think I’d shoot myself if I ever pursued it after college. I don’t think I could go behind a desk and do a regular job. It’s not me. But I would have been the guy who’s trying to be the best.
I’m very competitive, but I’ve gotten better about not being competitive at everything. Before I didn’t want to lose at checkers, much less something I was good at.
I don’t think I’ve ever let defeat get to me too much. I just want to get back in there. It makes me want to win more. It’s three months of work to get to that point. The reward is the win.
It was for a belt I was going after for a long time, and it was personally important to avenge the loss. (3) If a guy beats me, I want that rematch. It’s something that remains unanswered. If it doesn’t happen because the guy dodged me or decided not to do it–then it wouldn’t bother me at all.
He (4) needs to do a lot to prove he deserves another shot. I don’t see much happening unless two, three, four years from now he feels like I’m slipping and he’s getting better. I’ll fight him anytime they want me to. There’s a good chance that chapter is over in my career. I don’t think he wants to fight me again.
Talking before the fight is part of the game. It doesn’t bother me that much, but [Ortiz] always got an excuse after losing. Give a guy credit for beating you that day.
If people are interested in me acting, I’m willing to give it a shot. It’s kind of fun for me to see how they make movies and how things are done.
I haven’t seen anything [Ortiz] was in, but I heard he was pretty bad in “The Crow” (Part 4). They said he changed accents in between scenes.
A lot of people that only see me on TV expect me to be a lot more aggressive. I’m a really laid-back person.
I’m a goofy guy. I’m the guy crawling through the balls at Chuck E. Cheese and through the tubes. I barely fit. My kids are 8 and 9, so we’re past the Barney stage. Now we have Avatar. The hard one is the show where the kids are doing the contest (“Let’s Just Play”). That’s kind of my Barney right now.
1. Wrestling for San Marcos High School in Santa Babara, Calif.
2. College at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.
3. Liddell became the light-heavyweight champion for the first time on April 16, 2005, by defeating Randy Couture.
4. Tito Ortiz.
