Tag: Frankie Edgar

Florian Takes Exception to Maynard Comments, Questions ‘Bully’s’ Will

Filed under: UFCBOSTON — Kenny Florian is the type of cerebral fighter who doesn’t waste time getting overly invested in back-and-forth pre-fight chatter. In fact, it’s downright unusual to hear Florian spout negatives about his opponent. He tends to …

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BOSTON — Kenny Florian is the type of cerebral fighter who doesn’t waste time getting overly invested in back-and-forth pre-fight chatter. In fact, it’s downright unusual to hear Florian spout negatives about his opponent. He tends to stress his foe’s strengths, realizing they are hurdles for him to jump.

Yet one comment made by UFC 118 opponent Gray Maynard seemed to have gotten under Florian’s skin. In a recent interview, Maynard voiced a belief that Florian tends to wilt under pressure. It was a comment to which the two-time top contender in the division took exception.

“I’m not sure where he got that from,” Florian said following a media workout on Thursday. “When I had minimal skills and experience, I fought Sean Sherk for five rounds, and he beat me up good, but I was there until the end, trying to win with an arm lock or trying to knock his head off; whatever I could. I don’t know what he’s talking about. He’s ‘The Bully.’ He’s the guy who needs to be concerned with what happens if his will gets broken.

Lightweight Champion Frankie Edgar Comfortable in Underdog Role Again

Filed under: MMA Videos, UFC, FanHouse Exclusive, VideosBOSTON — MMA Fighting spoke to Frankie Edgar at Thursday’s UFC 118 media workout session about Saturday’s title defense against BJ Penn.

Edgar talked about being the underdog despite holding a w…

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BOSTON — MMA Fighting spoke to Frankie Edgar at Thursday’s UFC 118 media workout session about Saturday’s title defense against BJ Penn.

Edgar talked about being the underdog despite holding a win over Penn in April, how he has adjusted to life as champion and his game plan going into the fight.

Check out the video interview below.

Suddenly Soft-Spoken, BJ Penn Tries to Return Emphasis to Fighting Roots

Filed under: UFCBOSTON — At 31 years old, BJ Penn feels time slipping away. Almost a decade ago, he was a 22-year-old wunderkind who seemed like the one-man evolution of a nascent sport. Since then, at times, he was the guy who seemed to come up short…

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BOSTON — At 31 years old, BJ Penn feels time slipping away. Almost a decade ago, he was a 22-year-old wunderkind who seemed like the one-man evolution of a nascent sport. Since then, at times, he was the guy who seemed to come up short in the big fight. Later, he became a two-division champion. Now, he’s practically an elder statesman.

For all his prodigious talent, Penn has had the epic career to go with it, though this “epic” has as much to do with peaks and valleys of high drama as it does the casual “epic” currently tossed around by this generation to signify something amazing. Penn’s most recent setback came in April, when he was upset by massive underdog Frankie Edgar in Abu Dhabi.

Since then, Penn’s been preternaturally quiet. This is the guy who told Georges St. Pierre he was ready to fight “to the death,” told Sean Sherk he’d punish him for using steroids and once spent a whole season of “The Ultimate Fighter” antagonizing Jens Pulver. Yet, in the leadup to his rematch with Edgar, Penn’s had surprisingly little to say. And when he has spoken, he’s been alternately self-critical, self-aware and, at times, brutally blunt.

Quote of the Day: BJ Penn Calls James Toney ‘God’s Gift to MMA’

(Behold, James Toney’s new UFC 118 walkout shirt design) 
Fanhouse’s Ariel Helwani caught up with BJ Penn in Boston today ahead of his UFC 118 showdown with Frankie Edgar and he asked the former UFC lightweight champion if he thought James Toney…

(Behold, James Toney’s new UFC 118 walkout shirt design) 
Fanhouse’s Ariel Helwani caught up with BJ Penn in Boston today ahead of his UFC 118 showdown with Frankie Edgar and he asked the former UFC lightweight champion if he thought James Toney beating Randy Couture would set the sport back.

In typical Penn fashion, "The Prodigy" had an interesting take on the situation.

"What’s worse than having the WWF champ [as] our heavyweight champ? That ain’t worse than having James Toney come out and win a fight. It’s great for the sport. James Toney is God’s gift to MMA right now," BJ asserted. "He’s promoting the sport; he’s telling everyone to go out and buy tickets, You can’t ask for a better guy than that. What James Toney is doing is putting more money in everybody’s pocket."

Penn also spoke about his rematch with Edgar Saturday night and his strained relationship with UFC president Dana White, which stem from some comments he made about his business dealings with Zuffa in his biography, "Why I fight."

Here’s the interview in its entirety:

(Video courtesy YouTube/Fanhouse)

Dana White: Kenny Florian-Gray Maynard Winner Guaranteed Title Shot

Filed under: UFC, NewsBOSTON — Fighting for the first time in his UFC career in his native state of Massachusetts, Kenny Florian already has plenty of incentive and motivation to beat Gray Maynard.

On Wednesday, he got one more reason.

UFC president…

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BOSTON — Fighting for the first time in his UFC career in his native state of Massachusetts, Kenny Florian already has plenty of incentive and motivation to beat Gray Maynard.

On Wednesday, he got one more reason.

UFC president Dana White confirmed that the winner of the Florian-Gray Maynard UFC 118 fight will indeed be guaranteed the next crack at the UFC lightweight championship.

UFC 118 Press Conference Video

Filed under: UFCUFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar, former champion B.J. Penn, UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture and former boxing champion James Toney will all meet the press, joined by UFC President Dana White, at Wednesday’s UFC 118 pre-fight pres…

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UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar, former champion B.J. Penn, UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture and former boxing champion James Toney will all meet the press, joined by UFC President Dana White, at Wednesday’s UFC 118 pre-fight press conference. And if you can’t be there in person in Boston, you can watch it right here at MMAFighting.com.

The star of the show is likely to be Toney, who will draw plenty of mainstream media attention and talk plenty of trash about Couture. It’s going to be easy to forget that Edgar-Penn 2 is actually the main event.

The UFC 118 pre-fight press conference begins Wednesday at 3PM ET and the video is below.