UFC 110 pre-fight press con summary
UFC president Dana White on Thursday said he thinks the trip down under will become an annual affair for the…
UFC president Dana White on Thursday said he thinks the trip down under will become an annual affair for the mixed martial arts juggernaut.
This will probably be an annual event, White told the media at the UFC 110 pre-fight press conference in Sydney.
Obviously if you see our track record, when we go somewhere and it’s very successful, we usually make it an annual event. Montreal, we did it in Columbus for a while, etc, added White.
The Ultimate Fighting Championship’s first trip to Australia has been so successful that even before the UFC 110 event takes place there’s been talks of the continent hosting a season of The Ultimate Fighter.
It’s absolutely possible, UFC president Dana White told members of the media at the UFC 110 pre-fight press conference.
We’ve been talking about taking ’The Ultimate Fighter’ internationally, and we’re working on that right now in a couple of different countries, said the UFC president.
It’s been so big here (in Australia) I could definitely see it happening here, added White.
At today’s pre-event press conference in Sydney, Australia, UFC president Dana White confirmed what many MMA observers had already suspected: an immediate title shot might hinge on the bout as well.
“Brock is back in the heavyweight division now,” White said. “He’s healthy, and he’s going to fight again. Mir and Carwin are going to fight for the interim title because that fight was already made before Brock said he was coming back.
“[Nogueira and Velasquez], the winner of this fight puts them right in the mix because something could happen to either Shane or Mir in that fight where they couldn’t fight Brock, so the winner of this fight would fight Brock.”
Bisping feels Wanderlei has disrespected, and underestimated him. Bisping says that he respects Wanderlei as a fighter, but not as a person.
Wanderlei says that talking is the easiest part of the show, and that both he and Bisping have done their fair share. Goes on to say that the time for talking is over and that he will have a great show on Saturday.
Nogueira said he is excited to fight in Australia and is amazed at the support the sport has gotten.
Cain is excited to fight in Sydney and in his first main event. Expects a war.
Cain brought in a lot of BJJ blackbelts to help train for Nogueira. Prepared by putting himself in bad positions on the ground.
Cain doesn’t feel any extra pressure being touted as the next big thing. His job is to go out and win fights.
Elvis said that it’s much easier to train now than it was in the early days. There are real MMA gyms to train at now, instead of going to a wrestling gym, then kickboxing gym, and trying to do each individually.
Nogueira says he knows that Cain will push the face the entire fight. He’s excited to fight new talent, and Cain is a big challenge for him. Worked hard on his wrestling and his boxing.
Bisping says he doesn’t need any kind of extra motivation for the fight. Reiterates how much he respects Wanderlei, and doesn’t know where Wanderlei got the idea that he doesn’t respect him from.
Wanderlei gets asked how he feels after Bisping said he will retire him. Wanderlei: Bisping is funny
Bisping interrupts Wanderlei and says you need to win fights in the business, and Wand hasn’t been doing that. Wanderlei tells him to shut up.
Nogueira doesn’t like to make fights personal.
Dana is asked if Wanderlei is in danger of being cut should he lose. Dana says he never thinks that way going into an event, and it’s all about how the fight plays out.
Dana puts over Wanderlei’s fighting style, saying that is what the fans, and he, love to see.
Dana says you won’t see a tournament style, multi-fight night happening anytime soon. Fighters are so beat up after one fight, he wouldn’t want them to have to fight more than once.
Dana says outdoor arenas scare him. Doesn’t want to do 100k seat arena’s because he likes the fans having an up close experience. The weather is also unpredictable.
Dana says Abu Dhabi will seat 11,600 in the arena.
Cain says if the fans haven’t given him a nickname yet, he’s fine with just Cain.
Cain thinks that if he is going to fight Brock Lesnar, a win over Noeugiera would be the right way to go about it.
Dana says Demian Maia is one of the best in the world, but Chael Sonnen should have had the shot after Vitor Belfort withdrew. Dana continues to say Sonnen is too banged up after his fight with Marquardt to compete at UFC 112.
Dana isn’t worried that Maia/Anderson will look like Leites/Anderson.
Bisping says there is a love/hate relationship between the English and the Australian, expects some backlash.
Cain says that in the days leading up to the fight he doesn’t feel a lot of pressure. Gets good workouts, and good meals in, keeps himself distracted.
Dana jokingly says Mirko Crocop is great with the media. Thinks Mirko is trying to find his head and knows how important his fight with Ben Rothwell is.
