Tag: quick quote

Dana White Names Date For Third Fox Show; Says Sao Paulo Likely To Host First Stadium Event In Brazil

Ultimate Fighting Championship president Dana White is currently in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in anticipation of tonight’s UFC 142: Aldo vs. Mendes event at the HSBC Arena. Despite all of the focus on the promotions second Brazil event in just six months, White naturally was inundated with questions from the media about when the UFC […]

(Photo by Victor Decolongon/Getty Images North America)

Ultimate Fighting Championship president Dana White is currently in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in anticipation of tonight’s UFC 142: Aldo vs. Mendes event at the HSBC Arena.

Despite all of the focus on the promotions second Brazil event in just six months, White naturally was inundated with questions from the media about when the UFC was returning to Brazil as well as news on other planned events.

White did confirm a date for the promotions third FOX event, targeting May 5 for UFC on FOX 3 show but did not offer a location for that show.

The UFC president told MMAjunkie.com that “May 5 is the date we’re holding for FOX. It has been for a while…. when you’re picking dates, you’ve got boxing, NFL, playoffs, college basketball. You’ve got everything. Every other sport that’s going on, everything that 18-to-34-year-olds are watching, there’s something else out there that’s going to compete with us. But it is what it is. If we sat around and stayed away from dates, we’d never go.”

When it came to identifying the UFC’s next Brazilian event, White spoke about heading to Sao Paulo for that next show saying the promotion is looking at a date in June and that they were hoping to make it a stadium event.

The UFC’s first stadium event took place last April in Toronto, Ontario and drew 55,724 fans to the Rogers Centre. The promotion would likely want to break that record in Sao Paulo, but the cities biggest stadium is undergoing renovations in anticipation of the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

Johnson Says He Lost Feeling In His Legs Before Doctor Stepped In To Stop Weight Cut

Ultimate Fighting Championship fighter Anthony ‘Rumble’ Johnson was only 1.5 pounds from his goal of making 186-lbs for making the middleweight Friday night for his UFC 142 bout versus Vitor Belfort. With about three hours to go before the weigh-ins at the HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, that’s when things apparently started going wrong […]

Anthony Johnson (Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)

Ultimate Fighting Championship fighter Anthony ‘Rumble’ Johnson was only 1.5 pounds from his goal of making 186-lbs for making the middleweight Friday night for his UFC 142 bout versus Vitor Belfort.

With about three hours to go before the weigh-ins at the HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, that’s when things apparently started going wrong for the young fighter.

According to Johnson, who posted a notice on his Facebook page, he started to feel weak and at one point lost the feeling in his legs.

That’s when UFC physician Jeff Davidson stepped in and ordered Johnson to consume a large quantity of fluids in an effort to rehydrate. By the time Johnson started to feel better, it was too late there wasn’t any time left to shed the weight he had just put on and stepped onto the scales at 197-lbs.

Despite his entire camp “freaking out” over the incident, Johnson laughed off the incident posting this message on Facebook (via BloodyElbow.com).

I’m already laughing at what ppl are saying. Yeah it was for medical reason and I did what the UFC Dr Told me to do. Believe it or don’t I give a f**k cuz the ppl close to me were freaking out but I’m still alive and something like this has never happen before. Say what you want I’m still gonna do my thang. You try not having feeling in your legs and can’t move then and see how you look at life after that

Meanwhile, Johnson’s manager Glenn Robinson explained the rest of the story to Sergio Non of USA Today.

“They called in the local doctor, who made him drink a bunch of fluids to see if that made him feel better,” Robinson said. “About an hour later he started feeling better. By the time he started feeling better, it was an hour to weigh-ins. … There was no time to shed the weight.”

Johnson will have to forfeit 20% of his purse to Belfort, with ‘The Phenom’ agreeing to a bout at light heavyweight if ‘Rumble’ weighs in at, or under, 205-lbs on fight day.

Alistair Overeem Feels Bad That He Was The Guy To Retire Brock Lesnar

It was just two weeks ago when former Strikeforce champ Alistair Overeem (36-11, 1NC) landed a left kick to Brock Lesnar’s midsection in the main event of UFC 141. Overeem was looking to make a statement to the entire world that he was the No. 1 heavyweight contender, but he certainly wasn’t looking to beat […]

(Photo by Donald Miralle/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)

It was just two weeks ago when former Strikeforce champ Alistair Overeem (36-11, 1NC) landed a left kick to Brock Lesnar’s midsection in the main event of UFC 141.

Overeem was looking to make a statement to the entire world that he was the No. 1 heavyweight contender, but he certainly wasn’t looking to beat Lesnar into retirement. It’s just the way things worked out, as Lesnar announced his retirement from the sport during the post fight interview.

It’s something that ‘The Demolition Man’ feels bad about, no really.

The Dutch fighter tells color commentator Mauro Ranallo that he feels “a little s**ty about sending Brock Lesnar into retirement” during Friday’s “The MMA Show”.

“I think Brock was great for the sport. I watched his fights. I would wake up in the morning and the first thing I did was watch his fights. Even thought he had a lot of criticism about his experience and behaviour, I think he was very enjoyable to watch. I’m going to miss him. I feel a little s***ty about sending him into retirement, but it’s a sport and you can either kill or be killed. I appreciate Brock’s time and I’m going to miss him.”

Click play to listen to the podcast, which also includes guests UFC heavyweight champ Junior dos Santos, Strikeforce fighter James Terry, and MMA Weekly’s Damon Martin.

Nate Marquardt And BAMMA Go Their Separate Ways Following Delay In Event Date

Former UFC vet Nate ‘The Great’ Marquardt (31-10-2), and the British based BAMMA promotion, have gone their separate ways following the organization rescheduling the date of their next event. ‘The Great’ made a total total of zero appearances in a BAMMA cage since signing last July. The news was fist reported by MMAFighting.com who confirmed […]

Former UFC vet Nate ‘The Great’ Marquardt (31-10-2), and the British based BAMMA promotion, have gone their separate ways following the organization rescheduling the date of their next event.

‘The Great’ made a total total of zero appearances in a BAMMA cage since signing last July.

The news was fist reported by MMAFighting.com who confirmed the details with Marquardt’s manager Lex McMahon.

“Nate is disappointed that he has not been able to fight for BAMMA and the UK fans,” McMahon said. “However, given the situation that BAMMA removed him as the headliner from BAMMA 8 and have elected to reschedule BAMMA 9 to March 24, 2012 all parties concerned feel that it is in Nate’s best interest to explore other options at this stage. Nate is one of the best fighters in the world and looks forward to fighting the best competition possible. Both Nate and I wish BAMMA all the best in their future endeavors.”

The delay was the second time BAMMA had postponed Marquardt’s debut, having first scheduled him to appear at BAMMA 8 last year, and then at BAMMA 9, which will take place on March 24th instead of February 11th.

Marquardt is now a free agent and can explore other options such as Bellator, DREAM, or possibly ONE FC.

Alexander Gustafsson Didn’t Think Twice When It Came To Accepting Rogerio Nogueira Fight

Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight fighter Alexander ‘The Mauler’ Gustafsson (13-1) has seen his stock steadily rising with the world’s top mixed martial arts promotion, and when he was offered a fight against Antônio Rogério Nogueira (20-5) he didn’t think twice about accepting the fight. It didn’t hurt that UFC officials also offered him the […]

Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight fighter Alexander ‘The Mauler’ Gustafsson (13-1) has seen his stock steadily rising with the world’s top mixed martial arts promotion, and when he was offered a fight against Antônio Rogério Nogueira (20-5) he didn’t think twice about accepting the fight.

It didn’t hurt that UFC officials also offered him the main event spot on the UFC on Fuel TV 2 card, and a chance to fight in front of his countrymen in Sweden this coming April.

It made fairly big news this past Tuesday night when it was revealed that former Strikeforce champ Dan Henderson had turned down the Nogueira fight, but it will make for even bigger news in Sweden now that Gustafsson is set to headline.

Speaking to mma media personality Mauro Ranallo on The MMA Show, Gustafsson couldn’t hold back his excitement for the bout.

(Hit play to listen to the podcast for the Jan. 12, 2012 show and scroll to the bottom to see the full guest list)

“It’s going to be sick. It’s going to be an awesome fight and I can’t wait to step into the cage,” Gustafsson said. “I’m super happy as it’s a big thing for me and Swedish MMA. It’s a dream for me to fight on home ground in front of all my fans here.”

And while Dan Henderson may have turned down a bout with Nogueira, stating he didn’t think it would be a fight the fans wanted to see, Gustafsson said he didn’t have to think twice about it.

“Nogueira is a legend,” the Swede said. “When I was a kid I saw him fighting, so for me it’s an honour fighting him and it’s even better that it’s on my home ground.”

“MMA is getting bigger here in Sweden and fans are starting to recognize me,” Gustafsson said. “But when the UFC comes here, it’s going to be a sold-0ut arena and it’s going to be even better.”

Gustafsson and Nogueira are set to square off at the UFC on Fuel TV: Gustafsson vs. Nogueira (aka UFC on Fuel TV 2) event, scheduled to take place on April 14, 2012 at the Ericsson Globe Arena in Stockholm, Sweden.

Also featured on the Jan. 12, 2012 MMA Show podcast besides Gustafsson was UFC featherweight Antonio Carvalho, Strikeforce middleweight champ Luke Rockhold, Tristar coach Firas Zahabi, Alliance MMA head trainer Eric Del Fierro, and AKA head trainer Bob Cook.

Kenny Florian Talking Possible Retirement Due To Back Injury

Ultimate Fighting Championship veteran, and current co-host of the UFC Tonight program on Fuel TV, Kenny Florian (14-6) has been taking some time off since his last fight, a unanimous decision loss to featherweight champ Jose Aldo last October at UFC 136. One of the reasons for the extended delay from training is due to […]

Photo via UFC.com

Ultimate Fighting Championship veteran, and current co-host of the UFC Tonight program on Fuel TV, Kenny Florian (14-6) has been taking some time off since his last fight, a unanimous decision loss to featherweight champ Jose Aldo last October at UFC 136.

One of the reasons for the extended delay from training is due to his back, which has plagued him throughout his career. Florian told the Boston Herald that in November 2011 he suffered a new back injury while lifting weights, he says he is still experiencing numbness and tingling down his right leg since the initial injury which has prevented him from training.

“It’s possible, unfortunately,” Florian said of his career ending. “I’ve kind of been going back-and-forth with some of the doctors, so it’s possible. I’m going to see. As of right now, obviously I can’t compete and train like I was at all. I’m just kind of doing what I can and hoping that things heal up and get better. I’m just kind of in a holding pattern. That’s why I decided to do this commentary for the time being and take this next six months to really heal up and try to make some money on the side. It sucks. The last couple of months I’ve just been figuring out what’s going on and what I’m going to do.”

Florian also says that his doctors have told him to retire but is holding out hope that he can get better and return for one more title run.

His loss to Aldo was his third title fight in the UFC, having lost twice in lightweight title fights. The first to Sean Sherk back in 2006 at UFC 64, and the second against B.J Penn at UFC 101 in August 2009.