The UFC held their traditional pre-fight press conference today for UFC 155 at the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.
In attendance were UFC President Dana White, as well as heavyweight champ Junior dos Santos and former champ Cain Velasquez.
Check out the highlights below thanks to MMAmania.com.
Dana White
- The winner of Saturday night’s fight gets a brand new Harley Davidson motorcycle
- It was a very weird year. We hung in there. A lot of milestones in 2012 but one of them was the most injuries ever.
- Brazil has been crazy. Brazil took off like a rocket, like the way I thought Mexico would but it didn’t. There’s no doubt that this guy right here Cain Velasquez, they were telling me that whenever Fox Mundo has Cain Velasquez on, the numbers go through the roof. He has a lot of Mexican fans.
- There’s no doubt more people know who these guys are than they did before that fight. There’s a lot of distractions going on with the holidays but it should be a good pay-per-view.
- You can’t throw the first fight out. He won by knockout but there’s no doubt I think you’ll see a different Cain Velasquez this fight. Junior dos Santos hits you with hard shots and his jab is awesome. Cain Velasquez has a chin. One knockout doesn’t mean he doesn’t have a chin. I’m not his strategy coach or anything but I’m sure you’ll see Cain trying to take him to the ground.
- People that have problems with the Brown Pride tattoo are morons.
- Junior dos Santos is a well-rounded mixed martial artist. Sure he knocks people out but these wrestlers can’t take him down. Junior dos Santos has a good ground game too. They both have everything.
Junior dos Santos
- I had problems in Brazil. My flight from Salvador to Sao Paulo was normally 2 hours but this time it was 6 hours so I lost my connection to here. I had some problems to fix everything there. It was a little bit frustrating but now I’m feeling good. It’s already in the past and I don’t care too much about it.
- I’m training very hard like always. I think I did the best camp I ever did. It was really good, everything was really good for me. I’m feeling stronger, faster with more experience so I think I’m better now.
- I think it will be longer than the first time for sure. Cain Velasquez is very well prepared for this fight. I’m very well prepared. The heavyweight division is very dangerous so you have to be careful.
- I’m very well prepared for this fight. I know he’s got really good wrestling skills for sure he’s gonna try to take me down. I know that. I train a lot with my takedown defense and my jiu-jitsu too so I’m ready to fight on the ground if that happens, I think I will do very well. For sure, my intention for this fight is to knock him out again.
- I think 50 percent each, Mexican and Brazilian fans. I already saw a lot of Brazilians here at the hotel and for sure a lot of Mexicans are coming. For sure it’s gonna be a good show. They will be rooting for us and I think some Mexicans will be rooting for me too.
- I’m enjoying a lot for sure Nike is the biggest and best sports company in the world. It’s very important for me to be representing them. It’s an honor. I think it’s really good for me. I want to make them proud of the decision.
- It’s better to go in as a champion than the challenger. My life changed a lot. I’m giving a better life to my family. It’s going good and I love to be where I am so I want to keep everything like that.
- This is more of a rematch for Cain than for me. I’m 100 percent to go there and keep my belt.
Cain Velasquez
- He wanted to keep the fight standing and he did with Frank and he picked him apart on the feet.
- He earned it. With this fight, I get to go and redeem myself.
- I wish it had never came out. You don’t make excuses for yourself. Let’s stop talking about that old fight because this is a while new one.
- The odds don’t matter to me. What matters is Saturday night and what happens there. What happens beforehand doesn’t matter.
- I’m very grateful for my parents. Without them having their dream, I wouldn’t be having mine. It has a lot to do with them and their hard work and everything.
- It feels good. I’m proud of where I came from, where my parents came from and that I can mean that much to all those people. It’s a blessing.
- It’s a great motivation. I definitely want to step up and deliver a great performance like Marquez did. We both were on a plane to Mexico City and we talked for a bit there.
- The whole reason I got into this sport was to be the best, to be champion and that’s the only goal I have in this sport is to hold this title.
- I have been thinking about this fight for a year. I had a long training camp and a good one. It’s a lot better now that we learned from the first fight. We took that into the fight with Bigfoot and the training camp as well.
- I just took the stuff I did wrong in the first fight. You have to learn from a loss instead of dwelling on it. You can’t get down on yourself and make the best out of it.
- My fighting style and everything speaks for itself. I’m kind of private in everything else and I think my fighting speaks for itself. It’s a big question everyone brings up. You answer it 100 times, it’s fine.
- Just from working out with a guy like Daniel, you have to get better. Both guys push each other. We spar each other three times a week so we are always going to elevate our game.
- For me, it means everything but as far as a rivalry, if we see each other again, fight each other again, it’s a possibility.
- I don’t have a favorite performance. All my wins are special to me. I was well prepared and definitely hungry, but prepared. I was ready all around and just did what I normally do (against Bigfoot).
