Would the former Light Heavyweight Champion given current reigning title holder Jon Jones some trouble during his prime?
Unfortunately, that question will never be answered; however, when Liddell was one of the hottest fighters on the planet, the California native dominated the light heavyweight division during his reign of terror from 2004 to 2006, with Liddell winning the prestigious the 205-pound belt via knockout from Randy Couture at UFC 52, and successfully defended the title against Jeremy Horn (UFC 54), Randy Couture (UFC 57), Renato Sobral (UFC 62), and Tito Ortiz (UFC 66) before dropping the belt to Quinton Jackson.
During this time, Jones wasn't even in the sport professionally as the UFC Light Heavyweight Champion made his career debut back in 2008. Liddell answered several fan questions on Twitter and the former UFC fighter believes that he would’ve matched up well against the New York native during his prime because of his strong stand-up game and powerful punches:
While we’ll never know who could come out victorious in a fight between Chuck Liddell and Jon Jones, there’s little doubt that the former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion would’ve been a struggle for the current champ as a good portion of Liddell’s wins came via knockout, including his entire title reign.