Dana White recently spoke at the UFC 107 Press Conference about Chuck Liddell’s return to the Octagon, here are some highlights:

Wanting Chuck To Retire: “I wanted [Liddell] to retire. It just went back and forth for so long. What he said to me was, ‘How about I take some time off. Let me take some time off.’ He did this ‘Dancing with the Stars’ thing, and he had fun with it. I was happy with how aggressively he went after it and really trained. [Liddell and I] made some other deals, personal deals, between me and him for this season of ‘The Ultimate Fighter.’ We’ll let [Liddell and Ortiz] go at it again.”

Liddell Being Medically Cleared: “He’s been checked out,” White said. “He’s had the CAT Scans and all the other stuff. He’s healthy. He can fight. My thing is me and Chuck have been together since the beginning of this thing. For a promoter and a fighter to have the relationship that we’ve had for as long as we’ve had it – and he became such a huge superstar and everything else, and we’ve had this great relationship – the reality is I love this guy. I care about him personally. Even back in my boxing days, you had this guy who was your hero when he was fighting, and then we all get old, man. We all get old. And it’s hard to deal with for some professional athletes. Then you see your guy, and he just keeps losing and losing and losing. You’re like, ‘[Expletive], I wish he would have retired three years ago.’”

Chuck Competing: “This is what these guys choose to do for a living,” White said. “If there was a situation where Chuck wasn’t right to fight, Chuck wouldn’t be fighting. He can still fight; I just don’t want him to do it. The only thing wrong with Chuck is right now Chuck’s too old. Chuck hasn’t lived the Randy Couture lifestyle. … I think you all know what I’m talking about. He’s had a much different lifestyle than Randy. The reason that Chuck can even still compete is that he’s healthy. … If I thought Chuck was at a point where he physically couldn’t compete anymore because he’s got a brain injury or something’s wrong, there’s no way in hell he would be fighting.”

His Feelings On Chuck Fighting: “I’m not thrilled with it,” White said. “It’s not what I wanted. But like I said, I’m not his father. I’m not his dad. We’ll see what happens after the Tito fight. I would like to see him hang it up after the Tito fight. That’s my plan: He does one fight and then he retires – win, lose or draw.”

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