Following this evening’s UFC 145 event some of the stars of the show attended the post-fight press conference to talk to the press about the night’s big talking points.
See our keynotes from the presser below.
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– Dana White says it was an awesome show, that the fighters delivered and he was delighted with how it worked out.
– Dana thought Jon Jones fought a great fight and what was most pleasing was that he went the full five rounds and also continued to show a lot of creativity in his striking output.
He also gives props to Rashad Evans though and says he’s underrated and deserves recognition for what he’s accomplished and has still only been beaten twice in his career by high level opponents.
– Dana likes the internet chatter from people after the fight that Dan Henderson isthe guy to beat Jones. As long as people are looking forward to the next fight he’s happy.
– Despite Jones impressive performances Dana still thinks that until Anderson Silva loses he’ll be ranked as the pound-for-pound best fighter in the sport.
– Travis Browne says this win was for his kids and admits it was tough not getting to see them a lot during this camp.
Browne would be ready to fight on the all-heavyweight UFC 146 main card if he was called up for it.
– Dana expected the co-main event to be a “dog-fight”, but Rory MacDonald proved he was the real deal by running through Che Mills.
– The UFC president admits they were worried that the event was going to go over it’s alloted PPV time slot due to their 6 fight main card which is why they cut out the fighter walk-ins and post-fight interviews in some of the early fights.
– Puerto Rico is a market the UFC would like to break into in the future and at the moment they are trying to grow the sport there, getting the events in bars and such like.
– Dana thinks Mark Hominick is a great fighter, but he did score the fight 2-1 rounds in favor of Eddie Yagin.
– Dan Henderson will get the next title fight against Jon Jones.
– Ben Rothwell changed up his training camp with new coaches and that helped him to transform himself physically for this fight.
Rothwell wasn’t happy with his initial fights in the UFC and is just grateful that the UFC have been patient with him and they got to see what he can really do tonight.
– Rashad Evans says he’ll continue at 205lbs and feels he can still make another run at the title.
– Michael McDonald hopes that his win over Miguel Torres solidifies him as a genuine fighter now and not just a kid.
Dana certainly seems convinced, admitting that it was “a huge win” for McDonald.
– Evans is disappointed with his performance and wishes he could have another chance to revist certain moments in the fight when he think he could have done better.
– Jones says Evans was a very worthy opponent in a number of different ways. He feels winning the fight against his former training partner elevated him to a different level. However he confesses to “slight insecurities” in his game which meant he didn’t fight as cleanly and confidently as he wanted to.
Jones admits he was wobbled at one point, but says it didn’t hurt, though he confesses that the leg kicks did hurt him which surprised him as kicking is not Evan’s strongest suit.
– Dana was pleased to see Matt Brown getting a win, saying he’s a fighter who always puts on wars. He’s not too critical of Stephen Thomspon though, pointing out that this was only his second UFC fight.
– Dana respects the fact that Ben Rothwell came in great shape for this event.
– Jones laughs at the memory of Evans showboating at one point in the fight and says it didn’t annoy him. He recalls thinking at that moment Evans is “a smooth operator”.
– Jones gives his props to his training camp and felt it was important to defend their honor in this fight.
– Jones is glad that he’s got “another mission” in the shape of Dan Henderson who he thinks is an awesome opponent with “extreme knockout power.” He fully expects that Hendo’s fanbase will mean that he’ll get more haters in the lead-up to the fight and he’s ok with that.
– Jones admits Evans did “big brother” him a few times in training and that was what caused his insecurities during the fight.
– Jones hopes that he can rekindle some kind of respect and relationship with Evans in private in the future.
Evans seems ok with that idea, though he still hopes to one day have a chance to fight him again so they’ll have to still keep their relationship at a certain level where they can still battle each other in the future.
– Evans admits it was difficult to fight Jones due to his reach and creative output. He says he was hurt at times but didn’t want to let Jones see it as there was a lot of pride at stake in this encounter.
He felt he was “outslicked” by Jones on the night. He could sense that Jones timing was a little off and felt that he was a little nervous but he couldn’t capitalize on it.
– Rory MacDonald is happy he won but he still feels there’s some things he could improve upon based on his performance tonight.
MacDonald wants to fight more regularly, but isn’t concerned about who he faces.
– Dana admits that he isn’t optimistic about Alistair Overeem’s chances of being granted a fighter license in Nevada on Tuesday. He says they also took him off the main event of UFC 146 because they had deadlines in terms of promoting the fight and couldn’t wait any longer.
– Despite not achieving his goal of finishing all his fights in 2012 Jones still believes in the benefits of setting goals for himself and will still target a finish against Dan Henderson.
– MacDonald would take a rematch with Carlos Condit anytime and looks forward to that opportunity when it comes.
– Rothwell says this was the biggest night of his career.
– Evans doesn’t have anyone in mind for his next fight, but he’s a fighter and will be happy to go up against anyone they provide and sees himself going on another winning run.
