The UFC held a public press conference today for UFC 154: St-Pierre vs. Condit.
The press conference took place at the Montreal Science Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Which is the same city the event is scheduled for on November 17.
At today’s conference were UFC Canada’s Tom Wright, as well as main event fighters Georges St-Pierre and Carlos Condit.
Check out highlights from the conference below thanks to MMAmania.com.
Tom Wright
- We’ve obviously missed Georges not only being in the Octagon but also as the number one pay-per-view draw. For the fans, it’s about seeing the best athletes performing at their best at the same time. This is the two best welterweights in the world competing.
- Our plans are to establish Montreal and Toronto as tentpole events every year. It’s important to have consistency to our schedule.
Georges St-Pierre
- Most importantly, I’m happy right now because I can do what I love to do for a living. When you get hurt, you realize health is the most important thing. The UFC really took care of me like a king. They helped me choose the best surgeon, the best rehab and everything for my knee. If I came back today the way I am now, it’s because of the UFC and the way they took care of me. I changed a lot of stuff in my training and my life and I’ve never been so pumped up in my life to step into the Octagon again.
- Greg told us he won’t be helping either of us. At the tactical point, he won’t help. Carlos is training in Albuquerque and I’m training in Montreal. On November 17th, we’ll be alone in the cage and the best man will win.
- Before I used to fight guys that had parts they weren’t comfortable but Carlos is comfortable everywhere. I’m going to focus on where I’m strong and what I’m going to do to him rather than worry about what he’s gonna do to me. If I see the opportunity for the finish, the finish will come but I’m preparing for five rounds.
- The last year I’ve been able to take a break mentally and physically. I’d lost the fire and passion a little bit. After everything I’ve been through, I’ve come back motivated and stronger and I’ve rekindled the fire.
- I like to have Greg in my corner but to tell you the truth, we both have the same problem. Corner doesn’t really matter in a fight but even if the pope would be in my corner or my grandmother, the truth is when you come back in the round you’re exhausted. You’ve got a window of 20 seconds to get information and the rest of the time you’re just trying to recover your breath. What happens in the fight, it’s not the corner that matters, it’s the instinct and the training from before the fight that helps you more. The best man will win.
- I was at a point before my injury where I went to train because I had to, not because I wanted to. I lost motivation. I learned in my career that sometimes you need to break something to fix it before it breaks by itself. I don’t need to lose a fight to improve my training. I need to stay on top of the game before the fight game catches up on me. The long layoff allowed me to think about stuff. I needed to make my training more efficient for myself.
- I have two challenges. I’m fighting the most dangerous guy I’ve fought, the most well-rounded mixed martial artist and I’m also coming back from a very long period of inactivity. As a real mixed martial artist, a top competitor, I don’t ask for anything less than a fight against a champion in Carlos.
- In my contract, I was supposed to defend my title every year and I didn’t do it. For me, I see Carlos Condit as the champion and I’m getting a title shot.
- Carlos is a true gentleman. I’m a gentleman but come fight night, we’ll try to knock each other out.
- It’s a dangerous sport. It’s a full contact sport. The key to have more finishes is to be more opportunistic. Not take more punches or have less defense but to think more for the finish. I’m coming into that fight. The ultimate goal is to entertain you want to win. You want to hurt your opponent.
- The quiet guys are the most dangerous guys. When I grew up I used to get bullied so when people talk trash, it gets me motivated. The guys that are quiet are the ones that are motivated and they surprise you on the day of the fight. I cannot have more motivation than fighting Carlos Condit. I’m ready to go.
- It’s up to the UFC how much I will fight in 2013. I’m there to fight.
- Enjoy your carer and have fun. You have to have fun to have success in life. That’s what life taught me. Enjoy the process.
Carlos Condit
- The only market that comes close is when I fought Dan Hardy in the O2 Arena. I enjoy being the bad guy coming into hostile territory.
- I think that I have a skill-set that matches up well with Georges. I’ve in the past been able to present opponents with problems they weren’t able to have with other guys both standing and on the ground. I’m thinking my well-rounded abilities are going to be able to come in handy.
- Heading up my camp for this fight is going to be Chris Latrell, one of the founding members of Jackson’s. Nobody in particular didn’t abstain from training with me because of the relationship with Georges. I think teh guys that are really close with Georges train elsewhere and come to Jackson’s for specific training.
- In the past, people think they have seen weaknesses in Georges St. Pierre and I think that’s the wrong approach. I’m approaching this by trying to come in November as the best that I can be.
- My goal in this sport is to be the best in the world and Georges St. Pierre is the best and has proven that time and time again. To be the best I have to beat Georges. I feel like I did the right thing in waiting for Georges. As far as how I used my time, there was a lot of things in my game that I felt I needed to improve on. When you feel like you know everything, that’s when you plateau. Recently I’ve figured out there’s a lot I don’t know. There’s a whole new breed of techniques in training that’s out there and I’ve been trying to incorporate that into my game as well as improve my strength and athleticism.
- We’ll find out. I don’t think so. Like Georges said, it’s just me and him in there. A cornerman can maybe motivate you and give you different insight but I feel very confident in the people that will be cornering me in November.
- Georges has been such a dominant champion over the last couple years that until somebody beats him, he’s the official champion. Until I beat him, I don’t feel like I’m the true champion.
- I have respect for anybody that I step into the cage against. Georges is someone I aspire to be but that goes out the window on fight night. We’re coming to fight. There’s no dancing around that issue.
- I think I derive my motivation from different sources. If I guy is talking trash or if fans are talking trashes, I can obtain my goal and that’s motivation enough. I don’t need trash talk to really fire me up.
- I fought Rory MacDonald in Vancouver so it’s something that I’ve experienced before. It’s me and Georges fighting in the cage. The crowd is an afterthought.
- Get a well-rounded skillset and when it comes to the fight, keep your hands up and your chin down and try to beat the other guy up.
