| UFC 70 Press Conference |
From mma411 News and Notes from the UFC 70 Pre-Fight Media Conference Call
Mirko Cro Cop:
- Stated he enjoyed his time working for the Croatian Special Police. "It was a great time of my life, I enjoyed it very much" but had to quit when he joined Parliament. Is strongly considering joining again when he is done with his Parliament duties around November. Being in the Special Forces makes him very happy, and that is what is most important. He will be doing classroom work as well as field work, but it won’t conflict with his job as a fighter.
- Is at one hundred percent health wise and ready to fight on Saturday.
- Will not be using the PRIDE theme music this time, going back "Wild Boys" when he enters. Declined to specify why he chose the PRIDE song for his first UFC bout, stating that it was personal.
- When asked if he’d do anything differently in a rematch with Fedor, Mirko said he would like to have a rematch scheduled, but is currently focused on his next fight, and then on capturing the UFC title. From there, we will see, but it is a fight he wants.
- Regarding Randy’s age and if it will be a factor if/when they fight for the belt: "I don’t think so, Randy has shown that age has nothing to do with the result. He was excellently prepared which is amazing for a man 43 years old."
- On the differences between the cage and ring, Mirko said the cage is bigger and you can’t push your opponent into a corner nor will the ref restart the fight in the middle of the ring. That being said, "I have already adapted."
- Question: Did Serra beating Georges St. Pierre help keep you from becoming overconfident?
Mirko: I did not see the fight.
- About his fight with Gonzaga: "Gonzaga won’t have answers on everything I can offer him."
- Mirko essentially brought MMA to Croatia. It was first seen in Croatia while he was fighting in PRIDE. He brought it there, and now it is very, very popular and many people are watching it.
- Has no preference who he fights next in the UFC, but has a feeling he will be fighting Big Nog very soon and is ready for that fight.
- Stated he is unable to cut weight to 205 for a fight with Chuck Liddell. "I have no space to go down, maybe if I chop off my hand or something. I definitely can’t go down."
- Question: Mirko, you always seem calm and relaxed before your fights. Why is that?
Mirko: "I don’t know, I don’t know. I just feel that way. I am calm and concentrated. I honestly don’t know how to answer. I have no nerves, nothing special. Every fighter has a feeling before the fight, but it is nothing special, it is just my job and it is a job I like to do. No special feelings."
- Question: Mirko, what did you think of the Randy Couture and Tim Sylvia fight?
Mirko: "I couldn’t see the whole fight, just a few minutes on YouTube, I couldn’t get the DVD. I just saw the first minutes of the first round… *pause* my manager just gave it to me… *pause* I will watch it tonight."
- Said it he doesn’t like talking about Randy when he has a fight with Gonzaga first and believes it is a jinx to do so. He is taking Gonzaga seriously and after that fight we can discuss all the details of a Randy Couture fight.
- Regarding his Jiu-Jitsu: "I have trained Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu a lot, have experts in my gym, I feel comfortable even on the ground. I am aware he (Gonzaga) is a jiu-jitsu world champion, but I am pretty versed in ground fighting now, of course my basis is stand up, but even if we go to the ground, I am not scared."
- Question: What are the biggest problems Gonzaga presents in this fight?
Mirko: "Gonzaga is a solid, good fighter. He is a tough guy. He won’t hesitate to fight toe to toe. He is a first class fighter. I will of course try to keep it in a stand up position. I don’t want to underestimate him."
- Stated he felt Sanchez avoided the fight when they faced each other. Said it was hard and his first time fighting in a cage and that it is bigger than the ring and a little different. Plus Sanchez was running away so he had to run after him, which Mirko did not like.
Dana White:
- The reason Big Nog was brought into the UFC was he was without a contract and he’d been negotiating with him for the past month. It is a very new deal and they don’t have a time or opponent figured out yet.
- Confirms once again that PRIDE will be conforming to the unified rules and round structures and weight classes, but they want PRIDE to be the same.
- The Ireland show will be on either PPV or Spike TV.
- The Lightweight Grand Prix weight class has not yet been decided on either 155lbs or 170lbs. There will be no UFC fighters in the tournament. The UFC and PRIDE are completely separate companies. "You won’t see UFC vs. PRIDE until we do the big event."
- Wanderlei Silva vs. Chuck Liddell was the biggest fight in MMA until Silva was knocked out by Cro Cop and Henderson. Silva is a tough guy and a great fighter, but he will need to put together a few wins before he is able to fight Chuck Liddell.
- PRIDE will be keeping the ring and stay exactly the same… it will just go under unified rules.
- The UFC is currently working on figuring out Fedor’s status. Fedor’s contract isn’t exclusive to PRIDE, while Zuffa won’t accept non-exclusive contracts for its fighters. (To clarify, Fedor does have a contract with PRIDE currently, but Zuffa won’t accept it in its non-exclusive state.)
- Dana was asked if New Jersey allows knee strikes to a downed opponent’s head, will Nevada follow suit. Said that is interesting as New Jersey was initially the state that didn’t want them, but that is the one rule that is left that needs to be added.
- Question: What will keep MMA and the UFC from becoming a temporary fad?
Dana: We are growing in the US and all over the world, with the acquisition of PRIDE, we are aggressive guys and have big plans. A lot of the boxing promoters have reached in and pulled the life from the sport of boxing. We are doing the exact opposite and are dumping all the money we are making back into growing the industry.
- The UFC will debut on HBO this summer (It was unclear how certain of a deal this is, though Dana sounded rather confident it was going to be finalized in time). Dana was reluctant to give details, but eventually said that HBO will be doing the production and announcing of the UFC events on HBO and it wasn’t easy for Dana to give that up to them, but he wouldn’t sign something he wasn’t comfortable with.
- ESPN will now be covering the UFC on a regular basis, including weigh ins and results.
- Regarding how the PPV events, HBO, and Spike shows will work together, Dana described HBO as the starting off point for well known international stars brought to the UFC, TUF winners, and guys who have battled through the ranks on Spike TV. The Ultimate Fight Nights would then be made up of other guys from TUF who are trying to climb the ranks. Obviously the PPV events would be the top of the ladder.
- "I’ll go out on a limb here and guarantee that we will have a huge TV deal for PRIDE in the United States and Japan."
- Chicago, Washington D.C., Boston, and Atlanta are all being looked at to host UFC events in the near future.
- Inside the UFC isn’t dead, they are currently working on a timetable on when to bring it back.
- About Cage Rage: The UFC and Pride need organizations like Cage Rage. We don’t think they are going head to head with us, but we are not trying to stomp them out. We aren’t trying to go head to head with them. They feed us fighters that will end up in the UFC and Pride.
- Question: If Fedor were to sign with another promotion, would you stop him from doing that and slap on an injunction?
Dana: Absolutely, he is not a free agent. I would pursue an injunction.
- If Arlovski wins, he will probably fight winner of Cro Cop/Couture.
- Sherk will fight on July 7th with Hermes Franca. Tito Ortiz and Evans, and the Anderson Silva fight in Sacramento.
- Not sure what will happen with the Dan Henderson title situation, but he won’t be stripped of a belt. All PRIDE guys will stay in PRIDE.
- Question: With all the upsets that have been taking place lately, how difficult does that make your job?
Dana: It’s hard. I can never really plan ahead. This isn’t the WWE. But it is what makes the sport so exciting. Everyone went into the fight knowing GSP would beat Serra. When that doesn’t happen it is exciting.
- GSP will most likely be fighting next in August, not sure against who.
- Question: Shogun said he signed a contract for two UFC fights and two PRIDE fights, is that true?
Dana: I have no idea what he means. It’s not true.
- Wanderlei Silva currently has four fights left in his six fight deal he signed.
- Regarding comments Tito Ortiz made about Dana White being a disgrace to fighters and the boxing match: Tito is living in a fucking bubble right now. You saw what happened. I showed up, he didn’t. He’s not afraid of me, but he has people around him telling him it was a bad idea. He is out there making himself look like a jackass. He should shut his face and worry about Rashad Evans.
- PRIDE show cards will be announced earlier, ala the UFC.
- There are not enough heavyweights out there to even pursue a super-heavyweight division. Pride won’t be having crazy matchups anymore. PRIDE is still going to be the Japanese show that the fans of PRIDE liked. The things that will be changing will be on the business side. It won’t change the actual show. All the PRIDE employees will be staying in place.
- PRIDE should be coming to the United States for an event this year still.
- Florida should be getting another event soon as well. Maybe an Ultimate Fight Night.
- Regarding Jerry Millen: "No hard feelings. I told him what was comin, he didn’t want to listen. *laughs* I don’t just say shit and not have it happen."
- PRIDE will be receiving a new announce team, this includes Frank Trigg being replaced.
- As far as Dana knows, Sakuraba is not a part of PRIDE and was not clear on what the purpose was for bringing him out at PRIDE 34.
| " | Dana White talks about Fedor, Pride, and more. Cro-Cop talks about saturdays Fight and the future! |
