Included on the call are Jon Jones, Rampage Jackson, Matt Hughes and Josh Koscheck. Jon Jones and Rampage Jackson are joining us from LA where they’re doing Jimmy Kimmel Live tonight.
-First question is for Hughes asking he has memories of early UFC’s back in Denver. Hughes thinks it’s cool but wasn’t part of the UFC at the time. None of the others were part of the UFC at the time nad the reporter notes Jones probably wasn’t born yet.
-Koscheck asked how long it took after the GSP fight to get back to full training and if the Hughes fight was the kind of fight he needed. Koscheck said he rested for 3 months and has been training for 4 months. Worked with a lot of the Strikeforce guys at AKA. Mentions Luke Rockhold, King Mo and Daniel Cormier. He thinks Hughes is a good comeback fight and the fans deserved it a long time ago.
-Kos asked if he was planning on fighting in San Jose. Said he wanted the San Jose fight after fighting in Canada twice but had the opportunity for Hughes after Sanchez’s injury and took it. Says he is in shape and ready and it’s a big fight for both of them.
-Kos asked about his gyms his Fresno. Kos says he has opened AKA Fresno and plugs his two gyms.
– Hughes asked about running Hit Squad. Hughes got tired of the hour commute. Had a partner that ran most of the business aspects, but admitted he isn’t much of a businessman.
-Hughes asked about his feelings with Koscheck replacing Sanchez. Hughes talked to Dana and originally thought the replacement was Fitch, but then DW called back later and said it was Kos.
-Kos asked about fighting at 185. Kos says he was looking at 185 because everyone at 170 was tied up. He thought about Leben or Wanderlei as possible opponents. When Diego went down, Kos immediately called Dana and asked for the fight. Dana mentioned Fitch first but Kos said Fitch has been hurt and Kos is healthy and argued for the fight. It went from there.
-Jones asked about coming off as being intimidated on the Spike TV interview during Fight Night. Jones says it’s possible people might think that because he took the backseat in interview. He’s not there to prove he’s better at talking and insulting. His goal is the fight, if it was up to him he’d do as little media as possible. His job is to out-fight and not out-talk him. He’s aware of what Rampage does and he’s not letting it bother him.
-Jones asked how he’s responded to trash-talking. Jones said the only thing that bothered him is “Spygate”. He can’t believe anyone would buy that “ludicrousness”. He’s aware of what he’s up against and it’s educating him and will help him in the future.
-Rampage asked if he thinks he’s in Jones ‘head. Rampage says he doesn’t care. He reacts towards his opponents the way they act towards him. He said Jones was disrespectful towards him, so he doesn’t give Jones any respect. He doesn’t care if he’s in Jones’ head or not.
-Kos asked if he was gun-shy at all coming back from injury. Kos says he got right back in there and worked with the AKA crew and he’s ready. He’s been ready for a while but wanted to take some personal time and he’s anticipating to come back stronger.
-Kos asked what’s the longest he’s been on the sidelines with an injury. In wrestling he had Fusion 5/6 vertebare in his neck and was out 6-7 months. He came back from that healthy. He’s always 2-3 weeks away from being ready to fight.
-Kos asked about any nervous energy and excitement coming back. Kos says he misses the crowd and is super-excited to perform and get a big victory.
-Matt and Josh asked about preparing for the altitude. Matt made sure he was in shape and trained in salt lake city. Josh doesn’t say that he did anything particularily different but has fought in altitude before and knows what to expect.
-Kos asked if taking the time off was good for him in this point in his career. Kos agrees and says he got to focus a lot of other areas besides fighting.
-Kos asked if he worked on newer techniques or sharpening his game. Kos says it was nice to slow down and become a student of the game again. Working with his old muay thai coach again for months.
-Matt asked what keeps him interested in the fight game at this stage in his career. Hughes says it’s competition and that’s what drives most people in the UFC. The drive of just one man competing against someone else. Loves going to the gyn, and travelling with his buddies.
-Matt asked about his long layoff. Hughes enjoys the time off because it gives him a chance to train more and not be focused on being in fight shape all the time.
-Jones asked if this is the biggest media attention he’s got. He thinks the pressure for the Shogun title fight was greater. The “In the Moment” camera crew was a big distraction before the Shogun fight. because they followed him around all day. He brought coaches with him and he’s working out between media commitments.
-Rampage asked if he’s concerned about being ko’d. Rampage refuses to answer the question.
-Jones asked if Rampage’s chin makes him change his style of fighting. Jones says no, he’s not worried if he doesn’t knock Rampage out. He thinks his style will beat Rampage.
-Jones asked if he saw The A-Team. He did and thought Rampage did a great job. Says he respects Rampage and watched him while he was in college. He says it’s nothing personal and looking at it as skills vs. skills.
-Matt asked about training with BJ Penn. Hughes said he picked up a lot, BJ’s a very intelligent fighter and great grappler. He worked on his footwork a lot. Boxing footwork is very different than wrestling footwork and it was difficult for him to adjust.
-Matt asked if the outcome of this fight affects his next move. Matt says it’s the last fight on his contract. Win or lose afterwards, he’ll talk to UFC and see what they want to do. Hughes’ wife wanted him to quit after the BJ fight but he’ll see how he feels.
-Jones asked if he has the same level of admiration for rampage as he did for Shogun. Shogun was an inspiration because he was champion so young and showed Jones he could do it too. There wasn’t the war of words between Shogun and Jones. It’s still an honor to fight Rampage and beating him will be huge in many ways.
-Rampage asked about fighting younger, less experienced fighters. He thinks his experience is an advantage. Rampage wants to be the first to beat Jones. He feels confident that people are underestimating him. After he beats Jones, Jones will go on to be a better fighter because the pressure will be less.
-Rampage asked what Jones did to annoy him. Rampage said Jones was disrespectful and cocky at the initial press conference and that’s what made him mad. He says both Jones and Rashad started trash-talking first and that’s why he’s responded.
-Jones asked about that press conference. Jones says he doesn’t know what he did that was out of line. He says he wants someone to show him a quote where he was disrespectful. Rampage jumps in and says Jones was saying a lot of smart remarks. Can’t remember the exact quote.
-Rampage and Jones asked if they would caoach the first Ultimate Fighter on FX against Rashad. Rampage says no. He’s not even looking forward to fighting Rashad. Rashad let down the fans in their first fight. Rashad talked a lot of smack and didn’t back up. He doesn’t like coaching the Ultimate Fighter and wonders how the fighters get through it. Jones says he’s not focused on any other opponents other than Rampage.
-Jones asked if he’s ever had a verbal battle pre-fight before. Jones says the only other time was against Vera, with Vera saying Jones thinks he’s the second coming of Christ. Jones admits Vera got under his skin and it’s something he’s trying to work on.
-Jones asked if being angry makes him better. Jones thinks the anger makes him fight better because he prepares better. He knows every statement he makes he’ll have to back up. That’s why he doesn’t trash talk and just speaks the truth. Says he has no anger going into this fight. He will keep his composure.
-Rampage asked if Jones will be one of the greatest ever of if it’s too early to look at him that way. Rampage says Jones has skills but the only one he’s fought has been Shogun and Shogun was coming off an injury and was rusty. He’s not putting Jones on that level yet.
-Rampage asked why he thinks jones is fake. Rampage thinks a lot of people say it. He says Jones has a good boy act in front of the cameras but he thinks his head’s getting big. He says it’s nothing personal but he likes for people to be real all the time. He says Jones is humble in front of the cameras but cocky in person.
-Kos asked about saying his eye injury being as painful losing a toe. Kos tells the story about cutting his toe off with a hatchet as a child and that his orbital bone injury was more painful then that. Kos credits pain pills and morphine for getting him through the pain from the orbital bone injury. Kos says it made him work on head movement more to not get punched in the face as much.
-Kos asked if he always knew he was coming back. Kos says of course. He saw the right doctors. Saw Dr. Maria Tribulus in Boston that works with the Patriots. Now he’s back and just has to prove he’s back.
This concludes the conference call and we are reminded to watch Jones and Rampage tonight on Jimmy Kimmel.
