Jones, just after open training session on Wednesday in Toronto, Canada / Photo: UFC.
The press conference in Toronto, for some reason or another, was a lot more fun than usual. Could be because of the local press, which produces half-English journalism, somewhat different from the American way it’s done. For UFC 140, the battery of questions asked of Dana White and his athletes was again of the highest level, and GRACIEMAG.com brings you the snippets of the best of what they had to say, in the order in which they occurred.
12. Jon Jones tells a pint-sized fan he isn’t afraid of losing his belt. “There’s always a risk, but I’m not the least bit afraid, little buddy.”
11. Lyoto Machida remembered how at such times he doesn’t think about anything. “It’s my moment in there, I don’t think about family, friends, fans or anything, just what I have to do in the fight.”
10. “Who will face Jones if he beats Lyoto?” asked one fan. “Jon will get to take some time off to relax. If Rashad beats Phil Davis, he gets Jones. If Davis wins, then we’ll analyze what to do,” said Dana White.
9. Rogério Minotouro, in answering another fan: “This is surely the most important fight of my career. I’m ready and won’t lose this chance against Ortiz. I lost the last few fights, and I’m going to win this one.”
8. Lyoto Machida says he didn’t train with Anderson this time, but he did talk to him a lot over the phone, and Silva sent him some videos with suggestions for training. “We talked a lot and he gave me videos with ideas on how to train,” said Machida.
7. Jon Jones said he didn’t do any karate training at all in preparing for Lyoto, but he quipped that he would use his knowledge of taekwondo, a martial art he practiced as a child. “He’s a taekwondo specialist, as you can tell,” joked White.
6. “My coaches are so much better at the different styles – Jiu-Jitsu, boxing – that I’m always discovering new things,” said Jon Jones, answering a question about what motivates him now that he has been voted the best MMA fighter of the year.
5. Mino remarked on how important it was to train with his brother Minotouro: “As Mir is a lefty, training with Rogério was even more helpful this time around. I helped him a lot in training standup for Tito, as well.”
4. Dana defended the UFC fans: “When a UFC event is over the fans don’t go and set the city on fire, you can rest assured.” A bit of sarcasm from the promotional top dog, regarding the chaos in the streets of Vancouver following the ice hockey final, when the local team lost and the streets of the city were literally set ablaze.
3. Dana White commented on the UFC in São Paulo, likely at Morumbi stadium. “We’ll probably hold a big event in Brazil mid year; we’ll put together a card worthy of a big crowd if we do.”
2. Tito declared his love for his fans, and said he’s a changed man. “I have kids. That bad-boy image is done because it doesn’t make sense anymore. But I always paid a lot of attention to my fans; I’d give autographs for seven hours straight.” Dana then confirmed that his relationship with Ortiz has improved considerably. A reporter reminded them of how the first time Dana White and Ortiz were together at a press conference in the USA, there were just ten fans in attendance. “And they were all from the Hispanic community, and when Ortiz opened his mouth and they saw he didn’t speak Spanish, half of them left.”
1. Dana White said he’ll be in Brazil next week to pick the cast of the inaugural season of the Brazilian TUF reality show. There’s also the UFC 142 press conference on Tuesday.
Now what do you think, who wins at UFC 140? And who wins the prize for submission of the night? Comment below.
