Liddell says he's still learning, ready for Ultimate Fighter vs. Ortiz

At age 40, Chuck Liddell is going back to his familiar stomping grounds.

In 2005, Liddell was a coach on the first season of The Ultimate Fighter. Next year, he'll be back on Spike's UFC reality show for the 11th season.

And he'll be matched up against Tito Ortiz, renewing one of MMA's classic rivalries.

"I don't mind slapping him around," Liddell says of Ortiz, whom he defeated in 2004 and 2006. The 2006 rematch had the highest gate receipts of any MMA fight card in Nevada history. Liddell went on to celebrity status no fighter had seen in the USA, appearing on TV shows, magazine covers and in Nickelback's Rockstar video.

In 2009, after his April loss to Mauricio Rua, he appeared on Dancing with the Stars, where he was eliminated in Week 4 despite posting a higher score than two other competitors.

Liddell acknowledged that UFC president Dana White had been concerned about his career. Since beating Ortiz the second time, Liddell has lost four of five fights, three by knockout.

"I've been arguing with Dana about wanting to fight again for a while," Liddell says.

Ortiz, at least, is more of a wrestler than a hard hitter. Aside from his three wins over the aging Ken Shamrock, Ortiz hasn't posted a knockout win since 2001.

Liddell spoke Saturday night with USA TODAY before heading off to an early 40th birthday party. He reaches the milestone Dec. 17 but doesn't think it's a big deal.

"It's another year, I guess," Liddell says. "I still feel great."

And he's still learning, crediting 10th Planet Jiu-Jitsu with rounding out his skills.

"I'm always working on stuff," Liddell says. "I'm always trying to learn new things and new training techniques."

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