The UFC hosted a media conference call with the stars of the upcoming UFC 146: DOS SANTOS vs. MIR card today.
UFC heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos and challenger Frank Mir will participate along with co-main event stars Cain Velasquez and Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva.
In the main event of UFC 146, reigning UFC heavyweight champion Junior Dos Santos will defend his crown against former two-time champion Frank Mir and former UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez – now fully healed from his knee injury – returns to action against the dangerous Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva.
Plus, in the first-ever all heavyweight UFC card, Roy Nelson takes on Dave Herman, unbeaten heavies Stipe Miocic and Shane Del Rosario collide and Mark Hunt battles Stefan Struve in a battle of the UFC’s shortest and tallest heavyweights.
Highlights below thanks to MMAmania.com.
Junior Dos Santos
- I don’t promote fights by talking trash. I feel that Frank Mir lacks heart and can’t get through rough spots in a fight. i don’t say things just to sell fights. If I say something, it’s because that’s what I believe.
- I had to make a few adjustments in my training camp including the people I brought into spar. They are very different fighters. Overeem is right handed and keeps it standing while Mir is left handed and may take it to the ground. They are both great fighters and I’ll be ready.
- I want to always have a strategy to go all five rounds. You don’t walk in thinking you’ll finish the fight right away. I hit him so hard and I was surprised, it took me a second to swarm him because I was surprised. Seeing the moment and being ready to capitalize on the moment, that’s what matters.
- Minotauro is not the sole source of information. Obviously I have my trainers and watching Frank Mir’s fights and preparing myself in that way.
- When Minotauro lost to Frank Mir, I was very upset and all of Brazil was upset to see that loss but what motivates me is to defend my belt. I’m in a good phase of my life and my only motivation in my life is to defend my title. Revenge doesn’t cross my mind and doesn’t do me any favors in helping me win.
Frank Mir
- Any time you go in as the underdog, it takes a lot of pressure off your shoulders. When not a lot is expected of you, you can concentrate on the task at hand.
- Nobody likes to hear anything negative said about them. I have no issues with him trying to sell the fight and stir the pot. Dos Santos has done better fighting in the Octagon as selling the fight but that’s a thing he’s getting more successful with.
- I think most people get stuck in how I fought one guy and they didn’t realize that who does well sometimes come down to style. With my style, I’ve done better against people who have striking or submission games. I’ve had more difficulty dealing with wrestling and top control guys than with submission guys.
- Cain Velasquez is more of a multi-faceted threat. He can lull you into a striking match and take you down or he can punch you in the face if you’re worried about the takedown. With Dos Santos, he basically concentrates on his best asset which is boxing but it’s hard to argue, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
- After the Nogueira fight I had a share of e-mails that I had to translate with google translate that weren’t very flattering. It wasn’t until the video game release where I was supposed to play Junior dos Santos that I realized that the Brazilian fans really disliked me and they put pressure on him not to face me.
- I’ll be closer to 255 for this fight. What taught me a lesson was Cain. I watched Cain Velasquez toss Brock Lesnar around like a rag doll and I realized that while Brock Lesnar could probably beat Cain in the weight room, there’s more to it than just being strong. I toned down my weight training and it’s more a supplement than the mainstay of my workout.
- You don’t have to worry about the weight class being divided up amongst promotions. There were times before where it was really stacked but I do think the heavyweight division is as deep as its ever been.
- When I first heard about the outcome of the drug test, I knew I was likely the first person in line to jump up. I actually started training for a five round fight when I signed up to fight Velasquez because his most dangerous skill is his motor. You saw that in the Cheick Kongo fight where he got hurt on the feet and was able to grind through. I knew if something were going to happen to the main event, I was likely going to step in to replace the main event fighter or if the fight got scrapped, I’d likely be facing Cain in a five round fight instead so I had to be ready.
Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva
- Things are going really well. For the first time I’m 270 pounds three weeks before the fight. I feel very fast and light and I’ve been working with Mike Dolce.
- I’m a part of Team Nogueira from Rio de Janeiro and American Top Team helped me by bringing in big wrestlers from Holland and it’s made things easier here so I don’t have to be away from my family during the camp.
- You only lose if you get up into the ring and fight. I probably will not be watching the Heavyweight Grand Prix finals because I’m focusing on Cain Velasquez but I’ll be rooting for Daniel Cormier.
- I faced three great opponents in Strikeforce, Werdum, Fedor and Arlovski and now I get to fight guys like Cain Velasquez. They’re all great fighters. I think in the UFC right now, all the best fighters in the world are in my category.
- It’s a dream come true. It’s a dream that any athlete in our sport wants to live out and everybody can be sure on the 26th of May that I will give out a great fight. I’m very relaxed and very well prepared. It’s a great opportunity the UFC is giving me for my first fight in the UFC against one of the tops in the world. I’m very comfortable.
- Cain Velasquez is a lighter and much faster fighter and I tried to come in a little bit lighter. I needed to increase my speed to counter his lightness.
- The real issue was that Overeem came to the Blackzilian camp and first of all he was going to fight Junior dos Santos who is a good friend of mine. Also, with us being in the same division, we were on a collision course and that was uncomfortable to me. With American top team they had nice strikers and wrestlers.
