Despite being heavily against the UFC’s first move into boxing when they created the spectacle that was Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor - or a debacle as he might call it - that doesn’t mean Golden Boy’s Oscar De La Hoya doesn’t see potential in the MMA market.

After appearing on The MMA Hour this week, The Iceman announced his comeback as Chuck Liddell sat down with Ariel Helwani to reveal that he is officially coming out of retirement and targeting a third bout against long-time rival, Tito Ortiz.

COMEBACK

The plan is to get the deal done with De La Hoya to promote the contest under Golden Boy’s speculated move into the MMA market, with Liddell claiming that it’s a real thing and the fight is being worked on with tentative plans suggesting the fight could take place in November 2018 in either Las Vegas or California.

Liddell - who retired in 2010 after suffering three consecutive knockout losses - also revealed that he’s still in talks with Bellator MMA with another UFC legend in Chael Sonnen a possible opponent. However, The Iceman was targeting the biggest names of today and claimed he wants Jon Jones after two warm-up fights.

He said: “In my mind, I would like two good warm-up fights, and I’d like a shot at Jon Jones. I am serious, I’d like a shot at him. We will see. Just, match styles.”

Considering Jones is currently serving a provisional USADA suspension after testing positive for a steroid after his victory over Daniel Cormier at UFC 214, Bones has enough free time on his hands to savagely respond to Liddell and shoot down his chances of fighting or beating Jones.

JONES RESPONDS

Taking the matter to Twitter, Jones posted a series of tweets to respond to Liddell’s comments about potentially defeating Jones when he appeared on The MMA Hour.

In the three tweets, he posted: “Old Chuck has been calling me out for years! I get it, I hold pretty much every record in the division. I normally try to respect my elders but if you want it, come get it. I’d literally fly you out to Albuquerque this weekend.

“You might want to test the strength of that jaw before you take a bite you can’t chew.

“In all seriousness @ChuckLiddell, I appreciate your offer for a fight, but due to scheduling conflicts may not be able to fulfil till mid-2019. In the upcoming months, I have similarly lethal opponents in Ric Flair and George Foreman awaiting.”

There have been mixed reactions to the whole situation. 

Some don’t want to see a near-50-year-old compete again while others are criticising Jones for calling out a fighter out of his prime while he’s not allowed to compete himself as he faces a four-year suspension with the sanction still unknown as the adjudication process is still ongoing.

While fans are all in agreement that this simply won’t happen, fans are still discussing what would happen if Liddell - a Hall of Famer and one of the most popular fighters the sport has created - did ever step foot inside of the Octagon against Jones - someone who is considered the greatest pound-for-pound fighter of all time.

What do you make of Jon Jones’ response to Chuck Liddell? Have YOUR say in the comments section below.