"It bothered me," Liddell stated in an interview with Ariel Helwani of Fanhouse.com. "Yeah you know, I kind of knew going to fight him again, that he was going to say something to piss me off. I just thought it would take a little bit longer. I mean I was taking it as a tuneup fight. I mean I knocked the guy out twice. I mean what is there to get motivated for? But now I'm going to try to kill him. So good job Tito. Good job.

"I don't know what his problem is," he continued. "I don't know why he would say it. If it were true, it's an [expletive] thing to say. If it isn't true which it isn't, it's doubly bad so I don't know what his problem is. I don't know why he's running his mouth like that. But he always says something stupid. What else is he going to say? You know he runs his mouth trying to get attention. That's what he does."

When asked about how he felt to be returning to the Octagon after the long layoff, Liddell responded, "I'm very excited. I'm pumped and ready to go. I'm already getting ready. Like I said, he lit a fire under me, he's gonna get hurt."

Liddell believes the path to beating Ortiz again is simple. When asked what he needs to do, he said, "Be me. I go out there, I train hard. I get ready. I'll be in shape for the fight. There's nothing he can do to me. I'm going to go out there and hurt him."