Press Release – LOS ANGELES, CA – On this week’s UFC TONIGHT, we break down the fights from this weekend’s epic FOX UFC SATURDAY card. We interview Rampage Jackson before what could be his final fight in the Octagon. Plus, UFC women’s champ Ronda Rousey has a message for people who don’t think she should be the main event on Pay-Per-View and more.
Quote of the Week: UFC TONIGHT Analyst Kenny Florian on the title fight between Demetrious Johnson and John Dodson: “In a division where you see non-stop action, these two fighters are probably the most dynamic. This is going to be an unbelievable fight because of it. What makes Demetrious Johnson so amazing is he has some of the best footwork in the game. It’s the most underrated aspect in all of mixed martial arts. He works beautiful angles and has the ability to go left and right. When you want to hit him, he’s gone. When he wants to engage, he will hit you with his tremendous hand speed and footwork speed. He’s a nightmare for anyone at 125 pounds. To make things worse, he has wrestling ability. He can take you down when he wants and it all comes from his footwork. But, John Dodson is a nightmare in that division as well. He’s got some tremendous punching power. He can knock out anyone in that division. They say 125 pounders don’t have power, but John Dodson puts that myth to sleep. If he catches you, he can put you out for the count. He’s also one of the best athletes in the UFC, and at 5 foot 3, he can dunk a basketball. He has yet to be taken down in the UFC Octagon, which is amazing. Demetrious Johnson is going to have to watch out for those very fast and powerful hands. I cannot wait for this fight to happen.”
Demetrious Johnson on a weakness in John Dodson: “You look at my last three fights and they’ve all been against high caliber guys and we’ve gone the distance each time. I know I can push my body five rounds, and keep the pressure on somebody and go the distance. I haven’t seen him do that yet, so we’ll see how he does that night.”
John Dodson on how he’ll beat Johnson: “He wants to be the one to make sure he’s the aggressor. If he’s the fastest guy in the cage, he’ll have the most confidence. So I’m going to make sure I can throw him off his game and throw him off that little act of his. I’m excited because I’ll get to have millions of fans out there who haven’t seen flyweights and appreciate it, and they’re going to see me knock out Demetrious Johnson.”
Florian on his pick for Demetrious Johnson vs. John Dodson: “I’m going with Demetrious Johnson. Right now, he’s fighting with such a confidence. He has a lot of momentum heading into this fight. Also his speed, his footwork and his intelligence is going to win this fight. But if Dodson lands a punch, Demetrious could be out. But I don’t think he will. I’m sticking with Demetrious.”
Florian on Rampage Jackson vs. Glover Teixeira: “Both of these guys have serious knockout power. We know about Rampage’s ability to slam down people. You don’t want to get hit by his right hand or his left hand. Glover Teixeira is extremely well rounded. This is a guy who can strike and submit you on the ground. He has no mercy when he faces you. He’s very aggressive and I think it’s going to be fireworks in this one!”
Rampage Jackson on why Glover Teixeira has been disrespecting him: “He’s been talking a lot of smack about me and around his last fight he said that I’ve been talking a lot of smack about him, but I haven’t talked any smack about him at all. So it’s very disrespectful to fabricate a lie like that.”
Jackson on if he’s excited to fight Teixeira because of his style: “I could get excited about it. But it was brought to my attention by my manager that Glover is planning on going in there and taking me down and holding me against the cage and pretending to stand up with me to take me down, which is ok. I’m not surprised.”
Jackson on if Teixeira is afraid of standing and trading punches with him: “I don’t know what’s going through his head. He’s a great ground fighter, so if he wants to win why trade with me. Fight me on my weakest skill, which is on the ground. But he has a new thing coming because I’ve trained to take this fight anywhere. If he takes me down, I’ve trained to take this fight right back up. I feel like he’s going to have a hard time taking me down.”
Jackson on training in England: “I went because that’s where my team is and there are a lot of great sparring partners there. My jiu jitsu coach Tom Blackledge is one of the best I’ve ever been with and he taught me some great things. There are a lot of great training partners there. They’re tough. If I knock them out, they come back. Most times I knock someone out in America and they don’t come back.”
Jackson on his loyal fans: “My true fans know I don’t make excuses even though I’ve got excuses for every one of my last losses. They know, I’ve never not made weight before and my last fight I missed weight. They could tell something was wrong with me. I was truly injured and I should have got surgery, but I decided to get it after the last fight. I can tell them I’ve trained really hard and I’m 100 percent going into this fight. My last injury won’t give me any problems in this fight at all. They’re going to see me on Saturday giving 100 percent.”
Jackson on this being the last fight in the Octagon: “This will probably be the last time in UFC, but I’ll be still fighting. Wherever I go, you can still see me throw it down. At first I wanted to retire at 35, but I think I’ve got a couple more years. And I want to try boxing. I want to see if I can do that.”
Jackson on his Reebok sponsorship: “Reebok has come in and made me feel like a professional athlete. I’ve been in this sport for 13 years, and this is the biggest company to ever endorse me and have my back. They gave me this shoe, and it’s ridiculously good. It made me love running. I hate training. I love running in these. I ran 10 miles in these shoes. I’ve never run 10 miles in my life. Even when I was wrestling in college, the most I ever ran was seven miles. These shoes make me run and I ran 10 miles, all over the place, off road, on the street and over cars.”
Florian picks Jackson vs. Teixeira: “Jackson looks like he’s in great shape and confident, but because of consistency, I’m going with Glover. His head is in this and he’s really hungry.”
Florian picks Anthony Pettis over Donald Cerrone: “This is a fight I’ve wanted to watch for a long time. I have to go with Pettis in it. I think he’s been a little more consistent lately. Plus, his athleticism also separates him.”
Florian on Erik Koch vs. Ricardo Lamas: “I’m going with Lamas. He’s the underdog, but his style could create some real problems for Koch.”
Ariel Helwani reports on when Anderson Silva will fight next: “Last month on this show we reported that team Silva wasn’t betting the house on Bisping to win, so this result doesn’t throw a wrench in the plans. Silva will talk with his team later this week in Los Angeles and figure out what’s next. They’ve said they want big fights and they want legacy fights. And he’s not in any rush to come back. As for the supposed ten-fight contract, the UFC offered him an eight-fight deal and they came back and said they’d like a ten-fight deal, but they’re still talking.”
Helwani reports on who Silva might fight next: “As for who he could fight next, most people agree that Chris Weidman is the next in line to be the contender. He’s coming back from shoulder surgery. He says he wants to meet with UFC President Dana White this week in Chicago to make his case. Of course there’s also the Strikeforce Champion Luke Rockhold, who’s coming into the UFC and he says he wants to fight in April or May, which might not work with Silva’s timeline. There’s also Hector Lombard. After his fight with Yushin Okami, he says he wants Bisping next. There are some wild cards. We still have GSP, who Silva said he’d like to fight, but GSP is fighting Nick Diaz in March. And there’s Rashad Evans, who said he’d move down to 185 if he can get the fight with Silva. We also have Jon Jones who fights Chael Sonnen in April. I think one of those guys, if they win their next fights, could be very enticing for Anderson Silva.”
Rousey on fighting Liz Carmouche: “She is a really cool chick and I like her, but I am still going to give her a death stare when that day comes. I respect her a lot. She’s a veteran. She was close to taking the title from Marloes Coenen. It’s going to be an amazing fight. We are going to bring it. You don’t want to miss it and you don’t want to blink.”
Rousey on if she can beat Carmouche: “I obviously think that I am going to win. I am not going to assume I am going to win. No one is easy until after you beat them, and I am going to expect the best version of Liz Carmouche that has ever happened to me standing across from me on that day.”
Rousey on if she’s surprised people are questioning her being the main event at UFC 157: “It’s very cool [being the main fight], but I am not surprised [people are questioning it]. If they want me to be fighting for a title in the UFC, the title fight should be the main event regardless if I’m a guy or a girl. It shouldn’t have anything to do with my placement on the card.”
UFC TONIGHT
UFC TONIGHT is the official weekly news and information show of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. The show is co-hosted by veteran UFC fighter and multiple title contender Kenny Florian and UFC light heavyweight contender Chael Sonnen. Leeann Tweeden contributes, while three-time World MMA Awards Journalist of the Year Ariel Helwani adds insider news.
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