LOS ANGELES, CA – The
following quotes are from today’s UFC POSTFIGHT SHOW ON FUEL TV, for UFC ON
FOX: HENDERSON VS. DIAZ. Hosted by Jay Glazer, UFC Middleweight Brian Stann and
UFC TONIGHT’s Kenny Florian offered analysis from FUEL TV’s Los Angeles studios.
Two-time MMA Journalist of the Year Ariel Helwani conducted fighter interviews
on-site in Montreal.
Quote of the show: UFC
President Dana White on what’s next for BJ Penn: “BJ will probably retire. I
wouldn’t mind seeing that. Rory looked better than he’s ever looked. You don’t
see body punches like that. BJ is a warrior who doesn’t give up. I’ve got so
much respect for him. I’d like to see him retire. He’s got plenty of money,
he’s got babies, he has nothing to prove to anyone.”
UFC POSTFIGHT SHOW ON FUEL TV
Analyst Kenny Florian on Benson Henderson’s victory: “From the beginning,
Benson Henderson did what he needed to do to win. He stuck to game plan. The
whole fight Benson was varying his strikes and getting it down with wrestling,
applying non-stop pressure. Henderson showed he’s at a different level of
conditioning. He’s really maturing.” He was at different level the whole night.
We really saw the evolution of Benson Henderson here. He showed a more diverse
striking game, setting different things up, lots of knock-downs, and he
showcased his athleticism. Before he’s been a one-or-two punch-and-kick
combination kind of guy, but tonight he was much more fluid, setting up
different traps for Diaz on the feet. This kid is just plain old strong. Very
rarely do you see a guy who’s this strong and flexible, who’s got this kind of
endurance and he’s barely breathing heavy at the end of the fight. He even had
a toothpick in his mouth.”
UFC POSTFIGHT SHOW ON FUEL TV
Analyst Brian Stann on Henderson dominating the fight: “Henderson is so
difficult to submit. He was in the clinch and kept his cool. He showed a more
diverse striking game tonight. He had a lot of tricks. He’s an extremely strong
lightweight. This guy is very muscular, but he doesn’t gas out. Henderson
controlled and slowed down the pace of the fight.”
Stann on Henderson’s ability
to shut Nate Diaz down: “Benson never let Diaz get in his head, whether it was
with the pre-fight talk, or the weigh-ins or during the fight when Diaz was
talking trash. Benson stuck to his game plan and executed beautifully. He never
let Diaz get started, whether it was mixing up the strikes or dominating in the
clinch with his wrestling. Nate Diaz was trying to go for a few submissions
attempts, but Benson was always in control, always calm and really pressured
Diaz nonstop in the fight; landing knockdowns, wrestling take-downs. He was
just really on another level tonight.”
Benson Henderson on if he was
hurt in the fight: “Not too bad. I really don’t like getting hit in the face
and I try and avoid that as much as possible. I brought my shades [sunglasses],
actually because I thought I was going to have two big black eyes and I was
going to need those big ol’ shades to hide behind, but thankfully I don’t need
them.”
Henderson on what he worked
on in camp to be so explosive: “Specifically, just attacking the legs. You
know, eyebrows down, going forward. I’ve got the greatest coaches and they all
are PECs – they’re performance-enhancing coaches. I’ve got the best coaching
staff that guys don’t talk about. It takes all those people for me to have that
sort of 25-minute performance.”
Henderson on if he saw the
fight going this way and if he executed everything he worked on in training: “I
do a lot of visualization. I see the fight playing out myriad ways; literally a
thousand ways – from ending in the first five seconds after throwing a big
overhand left and the fight’s over, to me being beat up for five entire rounds
and getting triangle choked in the last seven seconds like Anderson Silva. So
did it go the way I saw it going? It did because I saw it going a thousand
ways.”
Henderson on if he prepared
in camp to deal with Nate Diaz’s trash talk: “Yeah. It’s something I actually
had a little bit of a hard time with, but once my training partners got
together, they all started talking crap to me in the middle of sparring and I’d
get angry. They helped control it and I did a pretty good job of being very
focused and not letting that affect my emotional state in the middle of the
fight.”
Henderson on if he planned
his jab to the thigh against Diaz: “I actually planned that. I’ve got to thank
Alex Caceres on that one – he came up to the MMA Lab and he did it to me and it
actually hurt. He’s a 135-pounder, he weighs 150 pounds soaking wet, and he did
it to me and it hurt me. I started using it and did it to my sparring partners
and it hurt them. They asked me to stop because it hurt too much. It worked; I
stole it from Alex and thank him very much. It was effective. You saw it
against Nate Diaz and it was pretty effective. I’m always trying to add new
tricks, work on my fundamentals, and get better and improve.”
Henderson on his mom’s
reaction during the fight: “I heard her again this fight. I heard her going
crazy this whole fight. After the fight they brought her up cage-side and she
was going crazy. She was getting hysterical and was going to give herself a
heart attack, I had to tell her to calm down and breathe, relax, and ‘it’s ok.
I already won, the fight’s over, you’re going to give yourself a heart attack.
I already have two now, but I’m going to do 10 more of these [title fights] to
catch up to Anderson Silva, so don’t go crazy. Let’s keep ourselves composed a
little bit.’”
Henderson on if he fights
with a toothpick in his mouth: “It’s a bad habit of mine. I started doing it
when I was younger – when I started wrestling in high school and college, and
my coach would just look at me and shake his head. I just kept doing it. It is
what it is. I know one of these days I’ll probably choke on it, but hopefully I
won’t choke and die.”
Henderson on who he’d like to
fight next: “The list of guys is so long. Really, I heard talk from these guys
thinking that I was going to lose and that Nate was better than me. They’re
entitled to their opinions and can think whatever they want to think, but if
they want the 155-pound belt in the next three years, they’re going to have to
win it from me. I’m not going anywhere. If you want win that belt, you’re not
going to win it from somebody else. You’re going to have to win it from me. I’m
not going anywhere, guys.”
UFC President Dana White on
Henderson’s victory over Diaz: “When I talked about the fight tonight, I said
Henderson’s wrestling and his leg kicks will win it for him and he did it
tonight. This should be the fight to get him the respect he’s due. People love
finishes, but Nate is tough as nails. When he’s on the ground, his guard is
good and he gets back to his feet. Nate told me he lost sight in the eye in the
first round and that really hurt him.”
White on who will fight
Henderson next: “I have no idea. Pettis deserves it. We’ll see what happens.”
Florian on who he wants to
see Henderson fight next: “I think Gilbert Melendez will make a very interesting
fight. Obviously, he’s been a champion in Strikeforce at the 155-pound division
for a while and I think that’d be a real interesting fight. He’s a heavy handed
fighter and also comes from a wrestling background.”
Stann on who he wants to see
Henderson fight next: “I’d like to see the winner of Anthony Pettis vs. Donald
Cerrone take on Benson Henderson next. Anthony Pettis was the last man to beat
Henderson. But all three of these guys have evolved since their days in the
WEC. Their games are much more diverse than they once were and that’s why I
think that matchup would be so intriguing. I don’t think anybody has improved
as much as the champ, Benson Henderson.”
Nate Diaz on his eye injury
in the fight: “I got punched in the eye early in the fight and it got blurry. I
waited for it to come back and then I thought I’d come back strong. Ben did
great. He landed a good shot early. I did what I could. My vision was blurry, I
was screwed. I was a soldier representing my team. I was trying to wait for the
eye to recover, trying to see straight, and that’s what happens. Good fight,
Ben.”
Stann on Alexander
Gustafsson’s victory over Shogun Rua: “This was the biggest test of Alexander
Gustafsson’s career yet. This was a more diverse and evolved game for him. He
varied up his strikes. And he was impressive as he ate some shots from Shogun
and showed a good chin.”
Florian on Gustafsson’s
improved wrestling skills: “If there’s been a knock against Gustafsson, it was
on the ground with his wrestling. He showed great skills defensively on the
ground with his wrestling this time against Shogun. It’s rare in MMA that guys
show their dedication to the sport. He sought out his former opponent, Phil
Davis, and learned wrestling from him.”
Helwani asks Gustafsson on
how he felt about his victory: “I feel good. Except for my victory in Sweden,
this feels better than any other fight. It was an honor to be in the cage with
Shogun. I’m just bruised up, but he never hurt me.”
Gustafsson on his
performance: “I have mixed feelings. I’m a striker and an MMA fighter. My hands
weren’t there. It was a good fight. I was prepared for a toughest guy and got
that in Shogun. He brought everything to the table. It was a fair fight. It was
my day today.”
Gustafsson on who he wants to
fight next: “I want to fight for the title. I’ll take the fight the UFC gives
me, either Jon Jones or Chael Sonnen.”
White on Alexander Gustafsson
beating Shogun: “I though Gustafsson looked great tonight. He beat a war
horse.”
White on what Shogun should
do next: “That’s up to him. He always comes to fight, he’s tough as nails and
I’ve got a lot of respect for him.”
White on if Gustafsson will
wait for the winner of Jon Jones and Chael Sonnen to fight for the title: “If I
was him, I’d want to get another fight in before taking on Jon Jones. He could
fight again. I’m hearing Dan Henderson’s knee isn’t better, so maybe Gustafsson
should fight Machida next.”
Florian on Rory MacDonald’s
domination over BJ Penn: “Not many people go in there against BJ Penn and
dominate from start to finish like Rory MacDonald did. He went in there,
established his range – it all started with his jab – and once he got in his
jab, he used his elbow. How many people can land an elbow like that and time it
so well? BJ Penn was in serious trouble from the start. We do not see him
stumble like that. BJ has an iron jaw and MacDonald really hurt him a couple
times with one jab to the face, one to the body. Rory MacDonald was very
dominant and for me, on a personal note, even though Rory MacDonald is a buddy
of mine, it was hard for me to see BJ Penn go out like that.”
Stann on MacDonald’s victory
over Penn: “BJ is one of the nicest guys and a true legend, but Rory MacDonald
dominated from the start and I think he took BJ out of this fight in the first
round. The range was very difficult for BJ Penn to close and Rory fought the
entire fight at his jab’s range, really set up whatever he wanted and showed a
very diverse, in-depth striking game.”
Stann on MacDonald’s pure MMA
skills: “To add to all of his skill sets, one of the things that impresses me
about this kid is he has a unique mindset. He walks into the arena knowing that
he’s going to win the fight. He walked into his UFC debut against Carlos Condit
thinking he was going to win the fight. The other thing we have to credit is
his coach Firas Zahabi. He’s been the engineer behind creating this total
package fighter at such a young age.”
Rory MacDonald on if he was
happy with his performance: “I was happy with a lot of it. I’m pissed I didn’t
finish him though. I aim to finish and I didn’t, so the job’s not done for me.
It’s bittersweet but I’m happy.”
MacDonald on if he was
surprised that Penn didn’t go down: “No. I know he’s a tough guy – he’s a
juggernaut – and I knew it would take everything I had to put him down, so it
was what I expected pretty much.”
MacDonald on if he was
showboating in the third round: “That wasn’t showboating. It was just variety,
trying to mix it up. Different distances. It’s not showboating; it’s part of
martial arts.
MacDonald wanting to fight
Carlos Condit next: “I was humiliated and embarrassed after that fight and I
think about that fight all the time. It haunts me. I really need to get passed
that chapter in my life.”
MacDonald on if he thinks
Condit will fight him: “Well, my challenge is out there. It’s up to Carlos to
accept my challenge. And I know he’s a warrior and I don’t think he’d decline.
He’s coming off a loss and he has to fight somebody. It might as well be me.”
Stann on who he’d like to see
MacDonald fight next: “Other than Carlos Condit, I’d like to see him fight
Johny Hendricks. It’s always a true testament to the striker, to a guy who’s
diverse, but can he defeat a guy with the wrestling and the one-punch knockout
power like Johny Hendricks. He hasn’t showcased much of his wrestling skills
lately, but trust me, you see it in the highlights and he has it. This guy’s
got multiple national titles and championships in collegiate wrestling. So
let’s see if Rory MacDonald can beat this guy and who will challenge the title
next.”
Florian on who he’d like to
see MacDonald fight next: “You have to give him Carlos Condit. Did you see when
he took the mic from Joe Rogan? You could see the intensity in his eyes. He had
it all set up, he knew exactly what he wanted to do, he deserves to fight a guy
like Carlos Condit, who’s a true veteran, a true class fighter, and that would
be an absolute war that I’d pay a lot of money to see.”
Florian on if MacDonald can
be beat: “He’s so well-rounded. I think part of his offensive wrestling could
use some work. He’s not a GSP kind of wrestler – not many people are – but if
there’s one thing, I guess I’ll go with wrestling. But don’t tell Rory.”
Stann on Condit getting
called out: “Let me tell you something. One guy who’s not scared of him right
now is Carlos Condit. Condit is the type of guy I’ve trained with for many
years. He’s the type of guy who’s watching his TV and when he heard his name
called out, he accepted immediately. This kid is a natural born killer; he’s a
tough as they come.”
White on if MacDonald will
fight Carlos Condit next: “If that’s the fight he wants, we’ll try to make it.”
Florian on if BJ Penn should
retire: “I feel BJ Penn could come back at 155. I think he should have come
back, but chose the wrong weight. He faced a very large and dangerous Rory MacDonald.
I hate seeing legends getting beat up like that. He’s from the old school. He’s
a true warrior. If he retired, nobody can say anything. I’d love to see him
compete again.”
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