Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz will be facing off for the third time this weekend in Las Vegas. In light of the event, we thought we’d look at five other rematches we’d like to see featuring retired fighters.
1. Randy Couture vs. Vitor Belfort
Couture defeated Belfort at UFC 15 in 1997, early in both men’s careers. They then went on to split wins in 2004. Belfort’s win at UFC 46 was tainted when an accidental cut from a stitch on Belfort’s glove, forced the fight to end very early. They rematched at UFC 49 and Couture won a more decisive doctor’s stoppage after three rounds. Couture has since retired, but Belfort is always looking for a fight so this is a fight that’d be fun to see one more time.
2. Josh Barnett vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
Barnett and “Big Nog” fought twice in 2006, including a classic in the Pride open weight grand prix semi-finals. It was a tight decision that went to Barnett, who went on to lose in the finals to Mirko Cro Cop later that night. Nogueira won a decision over Barnett later that year at Pride’s New Year’s Eve show. Barnett is not officially retired while Nogueira is enjoying a front office job with UFC. We think one more go between the two could be great.
3. Urijah Faber vs. Mike Brown
Faber was WEC’s golden boy during a time when UFC wasn’t booking fighters lighter than 155 pounds. Just as Faber’s star was beginning to hit a peak, he ran into heavy hitter Mike Brown who stunned Faber with a TKO win at WEC 36 in 2008. Brown was able solidify the win at WEC 41 seven months later in a great fight. Both men are living lives outside the cage, but this would likely be one that Faber would like to get back.
4. Ken Shamrock vs. Dan Severn
Shamrock and Severn’s feud goes all the way back to UFC 6 when Shamrock caught Severn with a surprise Guillotine choke early in the first round. Severn got his win back a year later at UFC 9 via split decision. Both men have been active in professional wrestling recently, so why not extend that to the “real” world of MMA? That second fight is still one of the sports all time clunkers. We’d hate to see something like that again, but maybe they deserve a chance to redeem themselves.
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5. Ronda Rousey vs. Miesha Tate
Speaking of professional wrestlers, Ronda Rousey has been doing well for herself in WWE this year. Miesha Tate has also left MMA and is now serving as a Vice President for ONE Championship while doing some radio work for SiriusXM. She also had a baby this year, so cage fighting may not be on her to-do list anytime soon. Nonetheless, we’d love to see Rousey-Tate one final time.There’s little reason to doubt that the animosity can’t be turned back on if such a fight were ever to be booked. One would imagine that if Rousey did want to fight again, Tate is someone she would like to get her hands on one more time. Likewise, Tate would love to avenge the two losses she suffered to Rousey in Strikeforce and UFC. This is a rematch any fight fan can get excited about.
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