Tag: quick quote

Opponents will no longer have to fear “Right leg, hospital; left leg, cemetery” from former PRIDE champ Mirko ‘Cro Cop’ Filipovi? (27–10–2, 1NC) as the heavyweight announced his retirement following his loss to Roy ‘Big Country’ Nelson on the main card of UFC 137 last night.

Filipovi? faced Nelson on the pay-per-view card of the Las Vegas event, taking the fight into the third round. Despite putting the former “TUF 10″ winner on the ropes he was unable to finish the former IFL champ. In the third, Nelson would get the better of the Croatian, landing unanswered strikes from top position forcing the referee to step in at 1:30 to end the fight.

Speaking to the fans ‘Cro Cop’ announced his retirement to the world, thanking the fans and the UFC for everything they’ve given him.

“I wanted to say goodbye with a victory, but Roy was just the better fighter tonight. The UFC has been so good to me over the years, and it is hard to leave this company and this sport. Even though I didn’t do as well in the UFC as the rest of my career, I feel like I did everything that I could to have an overall successful career.”

Despite having great success as a K-1 kickboxer, and winning the PRIDE Open-Weight Grand Prix tournament in 2006, the Croatian fighter was not able to keep the momentum in the Ultimate Fighting Championship by going 4-6 overall and dropping his last three in the Octagon.

At the post fight press conference, UFC President Dana White expressed his admiration.

“Cro Cop’s been a good guy since day we signed him. Again, the guy is a warrior and legend, and done tons of great things in the sport. I know he’s very disappointed in his run in the UFC. But I said it to you guys at the press conference before. I’m 42. At 38, to still be fighting with guys a lot younger, faster and more explosive than you, he came out and did what he said he was going to do. At the press conference he said, ‘I’m going to give you guys a fight. Whether I win or I lose, it won’t be a boring fight like the Frank Mir was. And it was not.”

Most fans know UFC welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre as a soft spoken man who leaves his emotions outside of the Octagon, but last night the French-Canadian fighter was so angered by the comments made by Nick Diaz that he asked UFC President Dana White to fight him next instead of Carlos Condit.

At the conclusion of last nights UFC 137 main event, which saw Diaz earn a split decision over BJ Penn, the former Strikeforce champ told the crowd in the Mandalay Bay Events Center that “I don’t think St-Pierre is injured, I think he’s scared.”

GSP was in the crowd that evening, and according to White, rushed over to tell him he wanted Diaz next.

“I’ve known Georges St. Pierre since 2004. He’s one of the nicest guys I’ve ever met, and he’s always exactly the same no matter what the situation is, no matter who he’s fighting. Since 2004, I’ve never seen him like he was tonight. Georges St. Pierre flipped out tonight after Nick Diaz was in the ring, and Nick needs motivation, he’s got it. He’s going to fight Georges St. Pierre. Carlos Condit has agreed to step aside and get the next guy. (St. Pierre) said, and I quote — you’re going to think I’m full of sh*t but this is the truth — I quote, ‘He’s the most disrespectful human being I’ve ever met, and I’m going to put the worst beating you’ve ever seen on him in the UFC.’”

White spoke to Condit about making the fight happen, noting that the two had a “good conversation.”

“I didn’t call him up and say (you’re out). I like Carlos Condit. I respect him, and yeah. He’s getting the title shot. He’ll get the next shot at the guy, and he said he wants to fight on that card, too, so he’s going to fight on that card. It was a good conversation.”

Former high-flying Brazilian lightweight Charles ‘Do Bronx’ Oliveira (14-2, 1NC) was once thought of as one of the best 155-pound fighters in the world, having entered the UFC with a 12-0 record.

Oliveira showed promise by winning his first two UFC bouts, both by submission which earned him the “Submission of the Night” bonus in each fight.

Then ‘Do Bronx’ ran into Jim Miller at UFC 124, suffering his first loss, then the “No Contest” against Nik Lentz, and finally a first round TKO defeat to Donald Cerrone. Quite the reversal of fortunes for the young Brazilian.

Now coach Ericson Cardoza is confirming that Oliveira will drop to 145 lbs for 2012 in the hopes of regaining his lost momentum.

“In November we’ll start training for the featherweight class to see how he feels… Probably he’ll fight on the beginning of the year on the new weight class”, said Ericson, who coaches Charles along with Jorge Patino Macaco, explaining the change after five bouts on the Ultimate Fighting.

“Charles is naturally strong, he’s always been explosive, but we’ll feel this chance in UFC. Even when he won, his opponents were bigger than him. We had to options: make him stronger to remain among the lightweights or drop to the featherweight division, and we rather drop so he doesn’t lose his speed and explosion power”, argues.

“He has proven he can fight on the lightweight, but it’s a fresh start for him in the UFC”, complemented.

HT: Tatame.com for the quote

It was a simple question posed by a reporter to UFC heavyweight Brendan ‘The Hybrid’ Schaub (7-3), “Who would you like to fight next?”

The answer has apparently turned into something much bigger than Schaub would have ever imagined.

While doing an interview in Los Angeles, Schaub was asked that question while promoting the upcoming release of the UFC Undisputed video game. He answered by saying “Fabricio Werdum would be a fight that the UFC fans might like to see,” which made it’s way to the Brazilian.

Werdum (14-5-1) responded on Twitter (@fabriciowerdum) late Monday night saying “@BrendanSchaub I’m ready for you, anytime, anywhere!” which has set fans of both fighters into a frenzy by Tweeting their support, and calling on UFC President Dana White to make the fight happen.

Speaking to MMAFighting.com on Tuesday, Schaub offered his thoughts on how a simple comment has spiraled into possibly meeting his next opponent.

“I wasn’t calling him out, but man, he got word of that and I guess he just ran with it. I woke up this morning to all these Twitter mentions and text messages and I thought, what’s going on? Sure enough, I come to find out that he’s saying, ‘I’m ready to fight Brendan.’ Hey, I’m all for it, man.”

“I don’t really care. To fight a guy like Werdum would be great. Me mentioning his name is nothing disrespectful at all. I’ve got nothing but respect for him. I think he’s ranked number five in the world and he’s one of the biggest names out there. That’s why I brought his name up, and I think he’d be one hell of a challenge for me. Tell me where to sign.”

Schaub is coming off a knockout loss to Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira this past August at UFC 134, ending a four fight win streak for the TUF 10 finalist.

Werdum meanwhile, has been campaigning for a return to the UFC and may be latching onto this as an opportunity to get him back into the Octagon. The Brazilian lost a unanimous decision to Alistair Overeem this past June, ending a three fight win streak which included his upset victory over Fedor Emelianenko.