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"It's getting scary. Georges is getting better and better, believe it or not. If I compare him to last year he is far beyond where he was. He's a very scary individual. I can't even put him in with anybody his size. I have to bring in guys who are much bigger, much stronger. I had Nate Marquardt and Rashad Evans come in last week to challenge Georges. It's getting very tricky now. I can't put him with another welterweight because there is no other welterweight right now I can bring in who can make Georges sweat. We're looking to bring in Gegard Mousasi who is at 205 to work with Georges. I'm reaching out for big, strong guys to challenge him... A lot of people are calling this an easy fight and asking how the UFC can even put this fight together. That he doesn't deserve it. I'm always quick to say that's not the case. This guy, if you watch his fight with Swick, he's very sharp. He caught Swick was some very tricky counter punches. He's working with Freddie Roach, he's working with Eddie Bravo for his jiu jitsu. This guy's going to come prepared. He has a world title fight. He's not crazy. He's not going to give up this opportunity. He's going to walk in there ready. All the coaches are going to have to make sure Georges in 100 percent ready for this fight, because Hardy is a dangerous guy...That guy didn't get his spot for free. He worked his way there. People can't forget that. Hardy earned his spot, he's there, and he's a force to be reckoned with. Georges is doing more than just get prepared. He is doign [sic] everything he can to get ready for this fight."
-GSP trainer Firas Zahabi talks to Jonathan Snowden at Heavy.com about GSP's preparation for his bout with Dan Hardy on March 27th at UFC 111.
Penick's Analysis: It's great to see that no matter the opponent, GSP does nothing but prepare himself to be the best Champion he can be. We're going to get an even closer look at what Firas has described here in March with the return of the Primetime series, and it will be extremely exciting to see just how much the Welterweight Champ manhandles guys bigger than him while training on a constant basis. I think this should also get people off of the "Dan Hardy doesn't deserve this shot" bandwagon. If the Champ is taking him seriously and is giving him his due, the fans can as well. I say good luck to Hardy because he'll need it, but I'm getting more excited for this fight the more we see things like this. The Primetime special is going to be a great three week build to this one, that's for sure.
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"There's still a large contingent of people, that they just want to see these guys almost die, or the other guy almost die and come back, and sometimes fights are like that. Certainly they are. But sometimes you get technical masterpieces too, and to hate a beautiful, technical fight - you're not really a fight fan...
Diaz has a granite chin, possesses perhaps the best recovery in the sport, his pace and conditioning are second to none and he sets records with the volume of his punches almost every time he steps into the cage. Nick Diaz is simply designed to fight the way he fights, and not many other fighters are...
"There was a lot of poison going on around there and I'm really disappointed because we had a good thing going. It was a good thing and I think people's egos got in the way. Well, not people just Javier, his ego got in the way, and too many cameras in the gym and him trying to build himself up and his brand, his AKA brand...
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