UFC on FOX 5 – Post Fuel TV Show Quotes

Press Release – LOS ANGELES, CA – The following quotes are from today’s UFC POSTFIGHT SHOW ON FUEL TV, for UFC ON FOX: HENDERSON VS. DIAZ. Hosted by Jay Glazer, UFC Middleweight Brian Stann and UFC TONIGHT’s Kenny Florian offered analysis from FUEL TV’s Los Angeles studios. Two-time MMA Journalist of the Year Ariel Helwani conducted fighter interviews on-site in Montreal.

Quote of the show: UFC President Dana White on what’s next for BJ Penn: “BJ will probably retire. I wouldn’t mind seeing that. Rory looked better than he’s ever looked. You don’t see body punches like that. BJ is a warrior who doesn’t give up. I’ve got so much respect for him. I’d like to see him retire. He’s got plenty of money, he’s got babies, he has nothing to prove to anyone.”

UFC POSTFIGHT SHOW ON FUEL TV Analyst Kenny Florian on Benson Henderson’s victory: “From the beginning, Benson Henderson did what he needed to do to win. He stuck to game plan. The whole fight Benson was varying his strikes and getting it down with wrestling, applying non-stop pressure. Henderson showed he’s at a different level of conditioning. He’s really maturing.” He was at different level the whole night. We really saw the evolution of Benson Henderson here. He showed a more diverse striking game, setting different things up, lots of knock-downs, and he showcased his athleticism. Before he’s been a one-or-two punch-and-kick combination kind of guy, but tonight he was much more fluid, setting up different traps for Diaz on the feet. This kid is just plain old strong. Very rarely do you see a guy who’s this strong and flexible, who’s got this kind of endurance and he’s barely breathing heavy at the end of the fight. He even had a toothpick in his mouth.”

UFC POSTFIGHT SHOW ON FUEL TV Analyst Brian Stann on Henderson dominating the fight: “Henderson is so difficult to submit. He was in the clinch and kept his cool. He showed a more diverse striking game tonight. He had a lot of tricks. He’s an extremely strong lightweight. This guy is very muscular, but he doesn’t gas out. Henderson controlled and slowed down the pace of the fight.”

Stann on Henderson’s ability to shut Nate Diaz down: “Benson never let Diaz get in his head, whether it was with the pre-fight talk, or the weigh-ins or during the fight when Diaz was talking trash. Benson stuck to his game plan and executed beautifully. He never let Diaz get started, whether it was mixing up the strikes or dominating in the clinch with his wrestling. Nate Diaz was trying to go for a few submissions attempts, but Benson was always in control, always calm and really pressured Diaz nonstop in the fight; landing knockdowns, wrestling take-downs. He was just really on another level tonight.”

Benson Henderson on if he was hurt in the fight: “Not too bad. I really don’t like getting hit in the face and I try and avoid that as much as possible. I brought my shades [sunglasses], actually because I thought I was going to have two big black eyes and I was going to need those big ol’ shades to hide behind, but thankfully I don’t need them.”

Henderson on what he worked on in camp to be so explosive: “Specifically, just attacking the legs. You know, eyebrows down, going forward. I’ve got the greatest coaches and they all are PECs – they’re performance-enhancing coaches. I’ve got the best coaching staff that guys don’t talk about. It takes all those people for me to have that sort of 25-minute performance.”

Henderson on if he saw the fight going this way and if he executed everything he worked on in training: “I do a lot of visualization. I see the fight playing out myriad ways; literally a thousand ways – from ending in the first five seconds after throwing a big overhand left and the fight’s over, to me being beat up for five entire rounds and getting triangle choked in the last seven seconds like Anderson Silva. So did it go the way I saw it going? It did because I saw it going a thousand ways.”

Henderson on if he prepared in camp to deal with Nate Diaz’s trash talk: “Yeah. It’s something I actually had a little bit of a hard time with, but once my training partners got together, they all started talking crap to me in the middle of sparring and I’d get angry. They helped control it and I did a pretty good job of being very focused and not letting that affect my emotional state in the middle of the fight.”

Henderson on if he planned his jab to the thigh against Diaz: “I actually planned that. I’ve got to thank Alex Caceres on that one – he came up to the MMA Lab and he did it to me and it actually hurt. He’s a 135-pounder, he weighs 150 pounds soaking wet, and he did it to me and it hurt me. I started using it and did it to my sparring partners and it hurt them. They asked me to stop because it hurt too much. It worked; I stole it from Alex and thank him very much. It was effective. You saw it against Nate Diaz and it was pretty effective. I’m always trying to add new tricks, work on my fundamentals, and get better and improve.”

Henderson on his mom’s reaction during the fight: “I heard her again this fight. I heard her going crazy this whole fight. After the fight they brought her up cage-side and she was going crazy. She was getting hysterical and was going to give herself a heart attack, I had to tell her to calm down and breathe, relax, and ‘it’s ok. I already won, the fight’s over, you’re going to give yourself a heart attack. I already have two now, but I’m going to do 10 more of these [title fights] to catch up to Anderson Silva, so don’t go crazy. Let’s keep ourselves composed a little bit.’”

Henderson on if he fights with a toothpick in his mouth: “It’s a bad habit of mine. I started doing it when I was younger – when I started wrestling in high school and college, and my coach would just look at me and shake his head. I just kept doing it. It is what it is. I know one of these days I’ll probably choke on it, but hopefully I won’t choke and die.”

Henderson on who he’d like to fight next: “The list of guys is so long. Really, I heard talk from these guys thinking that I was going to lose and that Nate was better than me. They’re entitled to their opinions and can think whatever they want to think, but if they want the 155-pound belt in the next three years, they’re going to have to win it from me. I’m not going anywhere. If you want win that belt, you’re not going to win it from somebody else. You’re going to have to win it from me. I’m not going anywhere, guys.”

UFC President Dana White on Henderson’s victory over Diaz: “When I talked about the fight tonight, I said Henderson’s wrestling and his leg kicks will win it for him and he did it tonight. This should be the fight to get him the respect he’s due. People love finishes, but Nate is tough as nails. When he’s on the ground, his guard is good and he gets back to his feet. Nate told me he lost sight in the eye in the first round and that really hurt him.”

White on who will fight Henderson next: “I have no idea. Pettis deserves it. We’ll see what happens.”

Florian on who he wants to see Henderson fight next: “I think Gilbert Melendez will make a very interesting fight. Obviously, he’s been a champion in Strikeforce at the 155-pound division for a while and I think that’d be a real interesting fight. He’s a heavy handed fighter and also comes from a wrestling background.”

Stann on who he wants to see Henderson fight next: “I’d like to see the winner of Anthony Pettis vs. Donald Cerrone take on Benson Henderson next. Anthony Pettis was the last man to beat Henderson. But all three of these guys have evolved since their days in the WEC. Their games are much more diverse than they once were and that’s why I think that matchup would be so intriguing. I don’t think anybody has improved as much as the champ, Benson Henderson.”

Nate Diaz on his eye injury in the fight: “I got punched in the eye early in the fight and it got blurry. I waited for it to come back and then I thought I’d come back strong. Ben did great. He landed a good shot early. I did what I could. My vision was blurry, I was screwed. I was a soldier representing my team. I was trying to wait for the eye to recover, trying to see straight, and that’s what happens. Good fight, Ben.”

Stann on Alexander Gustafsson’s victory over Shogun Rua: “This was the biggest test of Alexander Gustafsson’s career yet. This was a more diverse and evolved game for him. He varied up his strikes. And he was impressive as he ate some shots from Shogun and showed a good chin.”

Florian on Gustafsson’s improved wrestling skills: “If there’s been a knock against Gustafsson, it was on the ground with his wrestling. He showed great skills defensively on the ground with his wrestling this time against Shogun. It’s rare in MMA that guys show their dedication to the sport. He sought out his former opponent, Phil Davis, and learned wrestling from him.”

Helwani asks Gustafsson on how he felt about his victory: “I feel good. Except for my victory in Sweden, this feels better than any other fight. It was an honor to be in the cage with Shogun. I’m just bruised up, but he never hurt me.”

Gustafsson on his performance: “I have mixed feelings. I’m a striker and an MMA fighter. My hands weren’t there. It was a good fight. I was prepared for a toughest guy and got that in Shogun. He brought everything to the table. It was a fair fight. It was my day today.”

Gustafsson on who he wants to fight next: “I want to fight for the title. I’ll take the fight the UFC gives me, either Jon Jones or Chael Sonnen.”

White on Alexander Gustafsson beating Shogun: “I though Gustafsson looked great tonight. He beat a war horse.”

White on what Shogun should do next: “That’s up to him. He always comes to fight, he’s tough as nails and I’ve got a lot of respect for him.”

White on if Gustafsson will wait for the winner of Jon Jones and Chael Sonnen to fight for the title: “If I was him, I’d want to get another fight in before taking on Jon Jones. He could fight again. I’m hearing Dan Henderson’s knee isn’t better, so maybe Gustafsson should fight Machida next.”

Florian on Rory MacDonald’s domination over BJ Penn: “Not many people go in there against BJ Penn and dominate from start to finish like Rory MacDonald did. He went in there, established his range – it all started with his jab – and once he got in his jab, he used his elbow. How many people can land an elbow like that and time it so well? BJ Penn was in serious trouble from the start. We do not see him stumble like that. BJ has an iron jaw and MacDonald really hurt him a couple times with one jab to the face, one to the body. Rory MacDonald was very dominant and for me, on a personal note, even though Rory MacDonald is a buddy of mine, it was hard for me to see BJ Penn go out like that.”

Stann on MacDonald’s victory over Penn: “BJ is one of the nicest guys and a true legend, but Rory MacDonald dominated from the start and I think he took BJ out of this fight in the first round. The range was very difficult for BJ Penn to close and Rory fought the entire fight at his jab’s range, really set up whatever he wanted and showed a very diverse, in-depth striking game.”

Stann on MacDonald’s pure MMA skills: “To add to all of his skill sets, one of the things that impresses me about this kid is he has a unique mindset. He walks into the arena knowing that he’s going to win the fight. He walked into his UFC debut against Carlos Condit thinking he was going to win the fight. The other thing we have to credit is his coach Firas Zahabi. He’s been the engineer behind creating this total package fighter at such a young age.”

Rory MacDonald on if he was happy with his performance: “I was happy with a lot of it. I’m pissed I didn’t finish him though. I aim to finish and I didn’t, so the job’s not done for me. It’s bittersweet but I’m happy.”

MacDonald on if he was surprised that Penn didn’t go down: “No. I know he’s a tough guy – he’s a juggernaut – and I knew it would take everything I had to put him down, so it was what I expected pretty much.”

MacDonald on if he was showboating in the third round: “That wasn’t showboating. It was just variety, trying to mix it up. Different distances. It’s not showboating; it’s part of martial arts.

MacDonald wanting to fight Carlos Condit next: “I was humiliated and embarrassed after that fight and I think about that fight all the time. It haunts me. I really need to get passed that chapter in my life.”

MacDonald on if he thinks Condit will fight him: “Well, my challenge is out there. It’s up to Carlos to accept my challenge. And I know he’s a warrior and I don’t think he’d decline. He’s coming off a loss and he has to fight somebody. It might as well be me.”

Stann on who he’d like to see MacDonald fight next: “Other than Carlos Condit, I’d like to see him fight Johny Hendricks. It’s always a true testament to the striker, to a guy who’s diverse, but can he defeat a guy with the wrestling and the one-punch knockout power like Johny Hendricks. He hasn’t showcased much of his wrestling skills lately, but trust me, you see it in the highlights and he has it. This guy’s got multiple national titles and championships in collegiate wrestling. So let’s see if Rory MacDonald can beat this guy and who will challenge the title next.”

Florian on who he’d like to see MacDonald fight next: “You have to give him Carlos Condit. Did you see when he took the mic from Joe Rogan? You could see the intensity in his eyes. He had it all set up, he knew exactly what he wanted to do, he deserves to fight a guy like Carlos Condit, who’s a true veteran, a true class fighter, and that would be an absolute war that I’d pay a lot of money to see.”

Florian on if MacDonald can be beat: “He’s so well-rounded. I think part of his offensive wrestling could use some work. He’s not a GSP kind of wrestler – not many people are – but if there’s one thing, I guess I’ll go with wrestling. But don’t tell Rory.”

Stann on Condit getting called out: “Let me tell you something. One guy who’s not scared of him right now is Carlos Condit. Condit is the type of guy I’ve trained with for many years. He’s the type of guy who’s watching his TV and when he heard his name called out, he accepted immediately. This kid is a natural born killer; he’s a tough as they come.”

White on if MacDonald will fight Carlos Condit next: “If that’s the fight he wants, we’ll try to make it.”

Florian on if BJ Penn should retire: “I feel BJ Penn could come back at 155. I think he should have come back, but chose the wrong weight. He faced a very large and dangerous Rory MacDonald. I hate seeing legends getting beat up like that. He’s from the old school. He’s a true warrior. If he retired, nobody can say anything. I’d love to see him compete again.”

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