Author: Luke Thomas

ATLANTA — UFC heavyweight Ben Rothwell spoke to MMA Fighting after his win over Brendan Schaub at UFC 145 on Saturday night. Rothwell confessed had he not won that fight he would’ve ended his career in professional MMA. He also challenged the idea he was rocked by Schaub, explained the reason for his physical change and told the story of how UFC fans got him to believe in himself again.

ATLANTA — UFC bantamweight contender Michael McDonald spoke to MMA Fighting after his UFC 145 win over Miguel Torres on Saturday night. McDonald talked about the fight ending uppercut, where this achievement ranks in his MMA career, what his turnaround time might be for another fight in the UFC and whether he’d be interested in a fight with fellow bantamweight standout Brad Pickett.

ATLANTA — UFC lightweight Mark Bocek spoke to the media after his UFC 145 win over John Alessio on Saturday night. The jiu-jitsu black belt talked about how defensively tough Alessio was everywhere, wanting to make his fight with him as much of a wrestling match as possible, trying to hold position on the ground for as long as possible and much more.

Atlanta — UFC welterweight Chris Clements spoke to the media on Saturday about his victory and UFC debut over Keith Wisniewski at UFC 145. Clements argued his punching power and attacks to the body were what made the difference, discussed the controversial stand-up by referee Fernando Yamasaki and talked the joy of making it to the UFC and winning in his debut.

ATLANTA — UFC middleweight contender Chael Sonnen used his time at the fan Q&A at the Fox Theater before the UFC 145 weigh-ins to ‘sing’ a song to UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva as well as his training partners like former UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida and many other Brazilian mixed martial artists in an effort to demean them.

ATLANTA — UFC bantamweight contender Michael McDonald spoke to MMA Fighting at today’s UFC 145 pre-fight open workouts about his bout on Saturday with former WEC bantamweight champion Miguel Torres. McDonald elaborated on his previous comments that Torres abandoned his style of fighting after losing to Brian Bowles. He also discusses whether athleticism is rewarded in MMA fighting as much as it does other sports. The rising prospect further explains why he believes he and Torres are similar, tries to understand why oddsmakers are having a hard time forecasting an outcome in this fight, and why staying with the same MMA team is critical to his success.