Great Dana White interview: Rampage coming to UFC???

[Lt. Al Giardello 0]

http://msn.foxsports.com/boxing/story/5917002

 

On why Liddell-Wanderlei Silva match isn't going to happen, at least not yet: "They talk a lot of s-- but never back it up. I'm here I'm ready, Chuck's here, he's ready. It's not that Wanderlei doesn't want the fight, he's a fighter. No disrespect to him. You know who I'm talking about. I've been trying to do this for five years. I sent (Liddell) over to Japan and he fought three or four times over there. They like to yap but they don't like to back it up.

 

Asked if Liddell would fight Silva on PRIDE's show in Las Vegas in October: Hell no. Absolutely not. That's ridiculous. I've done it three times already. They like to talk. (Liddell added: "I fought a couple times over there and they could have matched me up with Wanderlei and they didn't.") .... Obviously this is a good fight. I think it would be a great fight and it would be a sin if it didn't happen, but it's the best fight out there. ...

 

They suck. They talk too much. They don't back it up. They like to talk. They're in trouble over there and they're trying to make a splash over here. They're trying to talk s-- with me to get it. I think they're going to have a tough run over here. Anyone who can rub two nickels together is trying to get into the MMA business right now. It's not an easy business to be in. It took us six years to figure this out. It's going to be tough for them. It's a different market. It would be like me trying to do a show in Japan tomorrow. I wouldn't know what to do. I think they're going to burn through a lot of cash and I don't think they're going to make any money.

 

Tito (Ortiz) has wanted to fight Chuck, Chuck wants to fight Tito, it will probably happen. It would be in Vegas. December 30th at the MGM Grand. Tito feels he can beat Chuck, feels he didn't have the right game plan (when they last fought), he had injuries, typical Tito stuff every time he fights.

 

On Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, who was at UFC 62: I'd love to have him. We're talking to him. We always want to make the best fights happen with the best fighters. It's gonna happen, it's just a matter of time.

 

On Stephan Bonnar-Forrest Griffin II: I think people were expecting the same as the first fight, but they've matured as fighters and picked their spots and had a good fight. I thought Forrest won the first round, I thought Stephan Bonnar won the second round, and the first half of the second round, but I thought Forrest pulled it out in the second half of the third round and was stronger than Stephan was in the first half and pulled it out at the end.

 

On Griffin: I think Forrest is an exciting fighter. I don't think he's ready for a title shot yet. He had trouble with Stephan tonight. (Liddell jumps in at this point: "Give him some time. He's a tough kid. He's learning, he's coming along. He's not ready now, trust me")

 

On Cheick Kongo, the most promising heavyweight in the UFC in quite some time: I don't think he's ready for Tim Sylvia yet, but he's definitely a promising candidate. It was impressive how he got out of that armbar tonight (in his win over Christian Wellisch). It looked like he was going to get caught, but he stepped over and got out of it. He has a lot of potential and I like him a lot.

 

On Georges St. Pierre-Matt Hughes and Hughes-B.J. Penn: It's unfortunate. Georges St. Pierre has wanted this fight so bad for so long. We're really fortunate that when a main event of that caliber falls out we're able to replace it with one that's just as big an event. This is the type of guy Matt Hughes is. B.J. Penn is the only guy whose beaten him since he's been the champion. Three weeks before the fight, the fight falls out, I call him and say "what do you want to do." Believe me when I tell you a lot of guys in the fight business wouldn't have taken the fight. Matt doesn't care. Matt says "No problem, I'll fight B.J." B.J. wants to prove his win wasn't a fluke, Matt wants to prove it was and get that blemish off his record. It's a good fight. ... (Will St. Pierre will get the winner?) Yes. No doubt. As soon as he heals. He has a groin injury which probably will be healed in two weeks, but it's not worth risking for such a big fight

 

On Diego Sanchez's standing in the welterweight division: Diego is in there. Diego is definitely in the mix. That Karo Parisyan-Diego Sanchez fight was one of the best fights I've ever seen. He keeps proving he's for real. He's in the mix.

 

On Renato Sobral: We tried hard to let everyone know who Babalu was and how good he really is. People who really know the sport know who Babalu is and how good he is, but Chuck just destroyed him.

 

On Michael Bisping: He's hurt right now. He got hurt, or he would have been on the Ken-Tito fight (in October). A lot of the guys from season three will be on that show.

 

On Ortiz-Shamrock III: No one's more tired of the Ken and Tito drama than I am. A lot of people invested 13 weeks into the TV show, it was a great season, and I felt like people didn't get a payoff at the end. I was a boxing fan for many years and you'd wait for the big fight on Saturday night pay your $44.95, and the fight sucked, and you were let down. After that fight, that's the first time, I've never, in the six years we've owned the company, that's the first time that's ever happened where people were so angry they were throwing things. I'd go out to the supermarket and people would tell me it was horrible and the show sucked and they felt like they got robbed. I don't ever want our fans to feel that way after a show. So we're going to put this on TV for free and we're going to finish it. That's why its happening.

 

On scheduling a show on Nov. 18 in Las Vegas, head-to-head with Manny Pacquiao-Erik Morales III: We're doing a pay per view a month, sometimes two shows a month. Everyone thinks I sit in my office masterminding all these dates. There's only so many dates available for pay per view. We ended up going at the same time. I think boxing and MMA can co-exist. There will be a lot of fans who will watch the boxing fight, and a lot who will watch UFC. We're going to trample over each other sometimes. The other things we go up against, the NBA playoffs, the World Series, there's a lot of other things out there we have to watch out for.

 

On Andrei Arlovski: Andrei's a good fighter. In his last fight he fought to not get knocked out, and you didn't see the best of Andrei Arlovski. You never know, some fights break guys. Randy Couture destroyed Perdo Rizzo in their second fight, and Pedro Rizzo was never the same fighter after that. Is Andrei in the same position? We'll find out.

 

On the middleweight title match between Rich Franklin and Anderson Silva on Oct. 14: An awesome fight, A great fight. I couldn't pick a winner right now, honestly. This is going to be the first real test for Rich Franklin.

 

And finally, this exchange between White and Liddell:

 

Liddell, on how he'd prepare for Ortiz: I don't give him a shot at beating me. Not in the slightest. I'm going to be in the best shape of my life.

White: Way to sell a fight, Chuck. Way to sell a fight. (Laughter busts out in the room).

Liddell: OK, I'm going to beat him for five rounds. I'm going to try to beat him for five rounds.

White: There you go, now you're talking.

Liddell: I'm serious. I want to punsh him. I want to shut him up for good. I'm going to punish him.

[Guest DRH 502]

Good read thanks for posting this.

 

Can't wait for Silva-Franklin and BJ-Hughes. I agree with Chuck, Tito has no chance of beating him...discuss.

[I like Forums 0]

I think Tito needs a better tune up than Forrest and Shamrock X2.

[starvenger 0]

I think Tito needs a better tune up than Forrest and Shamrock X2.

I don't know about that. Beating the crap out of Shamrock again has to be a good confidence booster. If not, feed Rashad to him.

[Lord of The Curry 0]

Rashad, Blanketing, Unanimous Decison.

 

Bank on it.

[Hawkius Maximus 0]

The problem with Dana trashing PRIDE is...it doesn't matter. From what I've read, it was UFC refusing to pay Silva for the fight, and instead insisted on PRIDE doing so for UFC. Which to me, seems rather silly but who knows the full story

 

In any event, the fact is PRIDE got exactly what they wanted. Silva came out, was treated as a gigantic star and now they've had their mention on their biggest rival's show. Genius. PRIDE basicly used UFC to get exposure, and in the mid-term made them look foolish. PRIDE looses nothing from this, only gains.

[Lord of The Curry 0]

Rampage still has two fights left on his contract with WFA, IIRC. It's going to take a serious amount of money to buy him out.