Call Chuck Liddell old-fashioned, but he’s not much a fan of pre-fight theatrics.

Persona-driven fighters don’t do much for the former champ and UFC Hall of Famer when it comes to getting him excited about a matchup.

“It’s like Chael Sonnen,” Liddell told MMAjunkie this past week. “Chael’s a nice guy. I’ve met him and hung out with him. I like him, and he’s a nice guy. I can’t stand the way he promotes fights.

“I understand what he’s doing; he wasn’t the most exciting fighter, so he made himself exciting by promoting the fight really well, and he got himself a couple of title shots for it. It works, but that whole crazy WWE-type stuff, that over-the-top stuff when you’re fighting a guy, doesn’t make sense to me, and I don’t like it.

“But it is what it is. Some of the fans like it, and it gets people to watch fights, that’s fine.”

Liddell, who retired from active competition in 2010, doesn’t do much verbal sparring these days – that is, unless it involves his longtime rival, Tito Oritz. He came pretty close to WWE-style promotion in his near-trilogy of fights with the also-retired ex-champ and UFC Hall of Famer.

Liddell and Ortiz jawed at each other in the cage, after fights, on a reality-show set and in the media. Liddell came out ahead every time fists actually started flying, but the rivalry helped the UFC sell more than a million pay-per-view buys.

As beneficial as trash-talking has been to Liddell, however, he doesn’t like to see it in others. He couldn’t summon much of a response for expert trash-talker Michael Bisping, who at the time of the interview was about to fight Tim Kennedy after the two happily engaged each other in the media.

“I’ve kind of gotten over the persona thing; I haven’t paid much attention to what he’s been doing,” Liddell said. “But I’m one of those guys that if you’re doing something to get in my head and get me irritated, it’s real hard to get me irritated. Because I know that’s why you’re doing it. I’m not going to give you the satisfaction of getting me irritated. I know that’s what you’re trying to do, so whatever, guy.”

But Liddell also spoke of a line that shouldn’t be crossed to hype a fight, and he pointed out Sonnen as an example of someone whose verbal attacks have gone beyond fair game. Insults about nationality, in particular, were disrespectful.

Sonnen, of course, gave a series of infamous interviews in which he disparaged Brazilians in the buildup to a pair of fights with now-former middleweight champ Anderson Silva.

“Some of the things he said, as far as I’m concerned, are over the line,” Liddell said. “Unless you’re known as an actor or being a WWE guy, you can get away with some of that stuff because everybody knows it’s fake.”

Liddell initially suspected Sonnen’s recent brawl with Wanderlei Silva on “The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil 3” was staged and thought the UFC might have taken a “horrible” turn toward the types of hoaxes that are part and parcel of professional wrestling. He added that he would reserve judgement until he saw the footage.

The whole thing, however, was another example of how things have changed for Liddell as he looks at the sport with an outsider’s perspective.

“I’m sure [Sonnen] didn’t mean to start it, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he crossed the line and Wanderlei took a swing at him,” Liddell said. “Everyone has a line, and especially fighters.”

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