Liddell looking to silence critics

Chuck Liddell insists he will silence his critics by beating Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua at UFC 97.

The two light-heavyweight stars will fight in the co-main event in Montreal on Saturday night.

Liddell will be desperate for a win after suffering losses to Quinton Jackson, Keith Jardine and Rashad Evans.

He told The Sun: “I feel great, I’ve never been in better shape. This is the best camp I’ve ever had – I know it’s clichéd but everything went great so I’m really happy.

“My coach, John Hackleman, sought out Howard Davis Jr to have him work on my boxing training.

“We’ve worked a lot on my footwork and defence and I’ve learned a lot from him.

“I’ve just made small little changes which I hope will make me an even more effective striker.

“I was winning the fight against Rashad up until I got caught.

“I made some mistakes I shouldn’t have made but the people who came out after that fight and said age has caught up with me were the same people who were saying I was great after I had beaten Wanderlei Silva.

“I went from having the fight of the year against Wanderlei to being over the hill because I got caught by Rashad.

“It’s not like I went out there and took a beating and then got knocked out.

“I was winning the fight and got caught. If he hadn’t caught me, there was a good chance I’d have caught him and gone on to win the fight.

“That’s one of the things I’ve been working on with Howard – getting into better positions when I’m throwing punches and when I’m done throwing punches.

“I’ve worked on my style so I don’t get hit with counterpunches when I’ve just thrown a punch myself.”

Tags: Chuck Liddell, Keith Jardine, Quinton Jackson, Rashad Evans, UFC, Wanderlei Silva