Realistically, there were very few scenarios that could’ve played out Saturday night that would feel good on Sunday morning. If Tito Ortiz had won a three-round decision over Chuck Liddell in that twilight trilogy fight, in all likelihood people would have been snoozing by the mid-second. If Liddell had knocked Ortiz out, we’d have heard him talking about how he’s back; the kind of idea that would scream for an intervention.
Worst case scenario — and also the most likely — was that Liddell would go out there and look as though he were fighting underwater with high-beam lights in his eyes.