After every UFC event, there is a press conference where some of the main fighters are brought out to field questions from the media in attendance. While over the course of a presser you are bound to get many of the same questions repeated in slightly different ways by media members, they are always still interesting to watch if only because of the unique moment and that there are usually at least a few insightful comments given.
For example, in last night’s UFC 154 post presser we hear from and see a bruised, cut and battered Georges St. Pierre talk about how he feels just a few minutes after a successful long-awaited return bout that he once feared would never happen. We also see his beaten opponent, Carlos Condit, still eloquent though despondent after coming so close to realizing his professional dream only to have it violently taken from him by the returning champion.
Above we bring you just about the full presser from last night (it cuts out after about two minutes. When it does, go ahead and fast forward to about the 7:30 mark and it picks back up). Dana White and a few other fighters are also in attendance.
GSP discusses not finishing fights, ring rust, Anderson Silva and Johny Hendricks. Condit says how close he feels he was to beating St. Pierre in the third round and about making another title run in the future.
For those that like their information less complete and quicker, check out an additional video with highlights of St. Pierre and Condit’s comments after the jump.
After every UFC event, there is a press conference where some of the main fighters are brought out to field questions from the media in attendance. While over the course of a presser you are bound to get many of the same questions repeated in slightly different ways by media members, they are always still interesting to watch if only because of the unique moment and that there are usually at least a few insightful comments given.
For example, in last night’s UFC 154 post presser we hear from and see a bruised, cut and battered Georges St. Pierre talk about how he feels just a few minutes after a successful long-awaited return bout that he once feared would never happen. We also see his beaten opponent, Carlos Condit, still eloquent though despondent after coming so close to realizing his professional dream only to have it violently taken from him by the returning champion.
Above we bring you just about the full presser from last night (it cuts out after about two minutes. When it does, go ahead and fast forward to about the 7:30 mark and it picks back up). Dana White and a few other fighters are also in attendance.
GSP discusses not finishing fights, ring rust, Anderson Silva and Johny Hendricks. Condit says how close he feels he was to beating St. Pierre in the third round and about making another title run in the future.
For those that like their information less complete and quicker, check out an additional video with highlights of St. Pierre and Condit’s comments after the jump.
Strikeforce lightweight champion Gil Melendez‘ coach Cesar Gracie recently told Tatame that his fighter is still injured, not “training hard,” and will not fight on what many assume will be Strikeforce’s final event in January. “I think he never recovered from the shoulder injury and will not be able to fight in January,” Google Translator tells us that Gracie told the Portuguese outlet.
Melendez already pulled out of a no-win title defense against Pat Healy and, though we have no doubt he is still battling injury, has to also realize that other than the purse he’d get for fighting, he would be risking far more than he might gain by fighting one last time in the doomed organization. If Strikeforce is dissolved while Melendez is the champion he will almost certainly, at long last, be brought into the UFC fold.
Should he lose, he might still be brought over but if he is, he would be worth far less and would probably have a longer route to a UFC title shot. As Strikeforce champion, Gilbert could always make a claim for an immediate or close-to-immediate title shot under the “let’s unify this thing” type of argument made most recently and successfully by his teammate Nick Diaz.
We’ve loved Strikeforce for a long time but if it is going to continue to hobble along like this, we can only hope that the UFC figures out a way to shut them down and absorb the fighters asap.
Strikeforce lightweight champion Gil Melendez‘ coach Cesar Gracie recently told Tatame that his fighter is still injured, not “training hard,” and will not fight on what many assume will be Strikeforce’s final event in January. “I think he never recovered from the shoulder injury and will not be able to fight in January,” Google Translator tells us that Gracie told the Portuguese outlet.
Melendez already pulled out of a no-win title defense against Pat Healy and, though we have no doubt he is still battling injury, has to also realize that other than the purse he’d get for fighting, he would be risking far more than he might gain by fighting one last time in the doomed organization. If Strikeforce is dissolved while Melendez is the champion he will almost certainly, at long last, be brought into the UFC fold.
Should he lose, he might still be brought over but if he is, he would be worth far less and would probably have a longer route to a UFC title shot. As Strikeforce champion, Gilbert could always make a claim for an immediate or close-to-immediate title shot under the “let’s unify this thing” type of argument made most recently and successfully by his teammate Nick Diaz.
We’ve loved Strikeforce for a long time but if it is going to continue to hobble along like this, we can only hope that the UFC figures out a way to shut them down and absorb the fighters asap.
MMA Fighting interviewed Dana White yesterday and BLAF, per usual, had lots to talk about. Check out the video above for the full interview.
Dana White says that the UFC isn’t looking past Carlos Condit even though, you know, if St. Pierre wins tonight at UFC 154 he will definitely fight Anderson Silva and Dana has a month in mind and three possible locations for the fight to happen (May, in either Toronto, Brazil or Dallas). If Condit wins, however, he’ll take on the winner of Martin Kampmann vs. Johny Hendricks.
The UFC President also describes what he says is St. Pierre’s extra nervousness and irritability this week. For example, White says St. Pierre is refusing to touch people for fear of getting sick. Interesting.
Speaking of sick, White talks about being sick and tired of guys like Dan Henderson pulling out of fights and complaining about Chael Sonnen getting title shots. Oh yeah, Dana says that Cyborg is ducking Ronda Rousey. Its a good view and listen, so check out the full video to help you wait for UFC 154 tonight.
MMA Fighting interviewed Dana White yesterday and BLAF, per usual, had lots to talk about. Check out the video above for the full interview.
Dana White says that the UFC isn’t looking past Carlos Condit even though, you know, if St. Pierre wins tonight at UFC 154 he will definitely fight Anderson Silva and Dana has a month in mind and three possible locations for the fight to happen (May, in either Toronto, Brazil or Dallas). If Condit wins, however, he’ll take on the winner of Martin Kampmann vs. Johny Hendricks.
The UFC President also describes what he says is St. Pierre’s extra nervousness and irritability this week. For example, White says St. Pierre is refusing to touch people for fear of getting sick. Interesting.
Speaking of sick, White talks about being sick and tired of guys like Dan Henderson pulling out of fights and complaining about Chael Sonnen getting title shots. Oh yeah, Dana says that Cyborg is ducking Ronda Rousey. Its a good view and listen, so check out the full video to help you wait for UFC 154 tonight.
We brought you episode 1 and 2 earlier and now the third and final episode of the latest UFC Primetime documentary mini-series is out. Tonight, Georges St. Pierre and Carlos Condit fight at UFC 154 to decide the one and only world welterweight champion.
UFC Primetime brings you into the final moments of their respective camps as they train for the biggest fight of their careers. Condit talks about the motivation his young son gives him and St. Pierre and his team ponder the effects of his long lay off.
Oh yeah, Anderson Silva shows up in Montreal along with Condit and St. Pierre to fuck with everyone’s head. Between fighting in St. Pierre’s home town and the money the UFC can make off of a super fight between GSP and “The Spider” I’d be real nervous about my chances of winning a decision at UFC 154 tonight if I were Carlos Condit.
In any case, check out all of this great Primetime series, tune in to UFC 154 tonight and join us for our play by play coverage.
We brought you episode 1 and 2 earlier and now the third and final episode of the latest UFC Primetime documentary mini-series is out. Tonight, Georges St. Pierre and Carlos Condit fight at UFC 154 to decide the one and only world welterweight champion.
UFC Primetime brings you into the final moments of their respective camps as they train for the biggest fight of their careers. Condit talks about the motivation his young son gives him and St. Pierre and his team ponder the effects of his long lay off.
Oh yeah, Anderson Silva shows up in Montreal along with Condit and St. Pierre to fuck with everyone’s head. Between fighting in St. Pierre’s home town and the money the UFC can make off of a super fight between GSP and “The Spider” I’d be real nervous about my chances of winning a decision at UFC 154 tonight if I were Carlos Condit.
In any case, check out all of this great Primetime series, tune in to UFC 154 tonight and join us for our play by play coverage.
(Kru Phil Nurse on the left with his student, Georges St. Pierre)
By Elias Cepeda
Despite being one of the very best trainers in MMA, Phil Nurse gets relatively little press and up until now very little has been publicly known about his life, careers …
(Kru Phil Nurse on the left with his student, Georges St. Pierre)
Despite being one of the very best trainers in MMA, Phil Nurse gets relatively little press and up until now very little has been publicly known about his life, careers and philosophies. He coaches Georges St. Pierre, Frankie Edgar and Jon Jones, just to name a few UFC fighters.
As we discovered when we visited Nurse at his downtown Manhattan gym, however, the Kru is much more than his impressive resume. He is a combat genius and is able to convey his unique perspective and vision to his students with calm clarity. It is no wonder that some of the best fighters in the world seek him out to become even better.
With Georges St. Pierre returning to action after a year and a half at UFC 154 this Saturday in Montreal, it is a perfect time to hear from one of his coaches and corner men in Nurse. After the jump, sit with us and listen to the newest episode of The Conversation where Nurse talk about his unlikely path to Muay Thai, his own fighting career, meeting Georges St. Pierre and the spirituality that can be found through fight training.
Leading up to this Saturday’s UFC 154, it has, at times, seemed as if co-main event opponents Martin Kampmann and Johny Hendricks have had to field more questions about past and possible future opponents than one another. The two welterweights square off in what should be a #1 contender’s fight in Montreal for the right to face the winner of the headliner between champion Georges St. Pierre and interim champ Carlos Condit.
There’s good reason that the Dane is getting lots of questions about his past and future even though he’s got Hendricks in front of him. Kampmann, like Hendricks, is on a tear in the welterweight division and also owns a win over Condit.
“It doesn’t matter what fight it is,” Kampmann tells CagePotato. “Everybody tries to be like, ‘you beat this guy,’ ‘what are you going to do after this fight?’ My main thing right now is Johny Hendricks. That’s what I’m training hard for.”
And it’s the training that keeps Martin focused throughout all the potentially distracting media attention and questions he’s fielded over the past few months.
“This started as a hobby for me so I like the grind,” Kampmann explains. “I like to get in the gym. When you have a fight you have to get in the gym a lot but I still enjoy it. Of course some days you want to be in the gym more than others, but overall my motivation is really good. Even when I don’t have a fight I’m in the gym training because I love to train. I enjoy training and I have fun doing it.”
Leading up to this Saturday’s UFC 154, it has, at times, seemed as if co-main event opponents Martin Kampmann and Johny Hendricks have had to field more questions about past and possible future opponents than one another. The two welterweights square off in what should be a #1 contender’s fight in Montreal for the right to face the winner of the headliner between champion Georges St. Pierre and interim champ Carlos Condit.
There’s good reason that the Dane is getting lots of questions about his past and future even though he’s got Hendricks in front of him. Kampmann, like Hendricks, is on a tear in the welterweight division and also owns a win over Condit.
“It doesn’t matter what fight it is,” Kampmann tells CagePotato. “Everybody tries to be like, ‘you beat this guy,’ ‘what are you going to do after this fight?’ My main thing right now is Johny Hendricks. That’s what I’m training hard for.”
And it’s the training that keeps Martin focused throughout all the potentially distracting media attention and questions he’s fielded over the past few months.
“This started as a hobby for me so I like the grind,” Kampmann explains. “I like to get in the gym. When you have a fight you have to get in the gym a lot but I still enjoy it. Of course some days you want to be in the gym more than others, but overall my motivation is really good. Even when I don’t have a fight I’m in the gym training because I love to train. I enjoy training and I have fun doing it.”
Its something that he and Hendricks did a lot together, in fact. A while back the two adversaries were, in fact, training partners. Kampmann helped the college wrestling superstar with his striking and Hendricks worked with Martin on his wrestling.
“We trained together some years ago when he started fighting. He was fighting in the WEC. He was here in Vegas for a couple of years, I think. In the beginning he was training at Xtreme Couture a lot, and then he was training more at [Marc] Laimon’s gym. I still knew him a little bit and we trained quite a lot together,” Kampmann details.
“He was helping me with my wrestling, helping me a lot actually, and I was helping him with his stand-up. There was mutual benefit for both of us but I’m still confident that I can beat him.”
When asked if the familiarity with one another will work in his favor or not, Kampmann is thoughtful and honest.
“I’m not sure if it’s good or bad. I don’t know.”
What he does know is that Hendricks is no joke and that he can’t look past him.
“The things that stood out in training with him were the same things that stand out when he fights. He’s got a heavy left hand and he’s got great wrestling. That’s his main strength. He had decided to learn, had decided to get better. He’s a hard worker. That’s what has gotten him from the WEC all the way to the top of the UFC welterweight division. He’s been working hard,” Kampmann allows.
The opponent and the stakes of the fight create a lot of pressure but Kampmann says he relishes big fights and the pressure that comes with them. “I’ve been in big fights before and done well. The big fights are the ones I want.”
If Kampmann beats Hendricks he will likely take on St. Pierre or Condit for the unified world title. The Xtreme Couture fighter makes it clear that it is the belt that he’s gunning for, and not any particular fighter.
“Right now GSP is considered the best so right now I want to fight GSP,” Kampmann says. “If Condit beats him I want to fight him. I want to fight for the real belt.”
At first Kampmann picked St. Pierre to beat Condit but says that his opinion has changed recently. “I used to think GSP would win but now I’m leaning for Condit to win the fight,” he says.
“Condit can finish it. Condit is not going to quit. I think he might be able to hurt GSP and make him quit.”
“The Natural Born Killer” at least is more of a known commodity to Kampmann. They fought one another in a close and thrilling 2009 bout where Kampmann came out on top via decision.
“Our first fight was a war so I’m sure the fans wouldn’t mind seeing another one with two more rounds,” he says.
If Condit does manage to upset St. Pierre in his hometown at UFC 154, Kampmann is confident that he will beat the champion much more decisively than he did before.
“I feel confident in that fight and I feel confident that I’d be able to finish him the next time.”
