Dana White held his customary UFC 168 pre-fight media scrum yesterday after the pre-fight press conference and you can read keynotes from the session below, plus scroll down to watch it in full for yourselves.
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– White states that if either Silva or Weidman has a decisive victory on Saturday night then they will go on to fight Vitor Belfort next.
– Fabricio Werdum won’t be allowed to just sit around and wait to fight the champ Cain Velasquez who’s going to be out for most of 2014 due to injury, so he’ll have to fight again.
– He was “bummed out” by the fact that Antonio Silva tested positive for elevated levels of testosterone following his bout with Mark Hunt, though he still thinks it was a great fight.
– White says there’s “a lot of big things” planned for 2014 and he’s hoping to announce some of them on Saturday night.
His plan is to to do better next year than they did in 2013 which will be a tall order as he states his belief that they delivered the best fights they’ve ever done this year.
– He thinks that Uriah Hall Vs Chris Leben is a great fight for both men. He notes that Hall actually liked what he had to say about him not having the ‘killer instinct’ after his last fight, texting the UFC president to say that it had motivated him.
Though he’s a big fan of Leben, White does wonder whether he might be getting to the stage where it’s time for him to retire. Whatever happens he thinks Leben’s had a great run in the UFC.
– He thinks Miesha Tate is very tough and is a ‘live dog’ in her second fight with Rousey.
– With just a few single tickets left to sell ahead of the show, White says they have already amassed a gate of around $6.3 million which is very impressive.
– Cat Zingano could be back by the summer if she stays healthy and if so she remains the No.1 contender to fight the winner of Rousey Vs Tate II.
– Sara McMann is another fighter who’s highly regarded in the division and while she took some time off for personal issues recently, she will return soon after the turn of the year.
– White claims that ‘Bigfoot’ Silva took an extra shot of testosterone after his final pre-fight drugs test from the UFC the week of the fight and that’s what sent him over the limit and resulted in him getting in trouble when it was discovered during his post-fight test.
– Mark Hunt actually cheered White up about the Silva incident by telling him that no matter what his opponent had done, they still put on a great fight and that’s what matters in the end.
– It’s been rumored that Brock Lesnar could be in attendance on Saturday night, but as to why he might be there, White claims he doesn’t know…but a slight smile on his face suggests that maybe there’s something going on behind the scenes.
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