Dana White starts the press conference by reading off the numbers for the event. The event was a sellout with over 10,000 in attendance and a $2.27 million gate. He went over the Fight of the Night bonuses which were $60,000 each. "Fight of the Night" was awarded to Chael Sonnen and Nate Marquardt, "Knockout of the Night" went to Matt Serra, and "Submission of the Night" went to Paulo Thiago.
Amadi's Analysis: Interesting that Randy Couture didn't get it for choking out Mark Coleman, but Thiago deserved it more, and I doubt with how much bread Couture is raking in for his performances that he needs the bonuses as much.
First question of the night goes to Chael Sonnen after his dominating performance over Nate Marquardt. When asked about his confidence going into the fight, and whether he felt wrestling was the difference was between he and Marquardt Sonnen, he said, "Yeah, that's what it turned out to be, that wasn't how I saw the fight going." He mentioned how he worked out with Marquardt five years ago and wasn't able to take Nate down once, and how he was actually outwrestled by Nate. He was surprised that he was able to control the wrestling so easily.
Amadi's Analysis: Anyone who saw this fight knows Sonnen basically did whatever he wanted in the fight and didn't stand much with Nate at all because he knew what his advantage was and exploited it. He was completely dominant with the wrestling and battered Nate on the ground. Nate wasn't able to do much of anything off of his back and was overwhelmed by Sonnen from bell to bell. If and when Georges St. Pierre moves up to middleweight, I think Sonnen would be a nightmare match up for him. Oh yeah, he gets a shot at that Anderson Silva guy everyone is talking about, should Silva get past Vitor Belfort at UFC 112.
Next question was for Matt Serra: Would he return to action sooner than his typical once-a-year approach. Serra replied with a laugh and said: "You want me back right away, don't you buddy." Cute. He went on to talk about the opening of his new jiu jitsu school in Long Island. He said he'd think about it after that
Amadi's Analysis: If anyone takes a gander at Serra's record, there's usually a long gap between his fights, mostly because he makes a comfortable living with his jiu jitsu schools and doesn't necessarily need to fight as often as other fighters. Kudos to Matt Serra for having options.
Questions for Demian Maia followed. He was asked about how it felt to rebound with a victory after his crushing KO loss to Nate Marquardt in August. Demian responded: "It's always sweet when you have a victory after a loss, especially for me now. I just want to prove myself, and prove to everyone that I could fight standing up. I was just doing Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, that's what I do, and that's what I always will do, but I need to feel I'm a complete fighter, not just in training, but in the Octagon. That's why I didn't try to shoot all the time, and I wanted to try my boxing, and it works at least." Later in the conference Maia was asked if he was surprised at how difficult Miller was to takedown and how good his BJJ was. Maia stated that he didn't really try too hard to get into a jiu jitsu battle with him, and that if he wanted to, he could have just pulled guard like he has in the past.
Amadi's Analysis: It wasn't pretty, but it's good to see that he's at least competent standing up. What was so unique and so interesting about him before was that he was submitting guys left and right, with no striking to speak of. When Nate Marquardt introduced his face to a solid shot, he was forced to become a really complete fighter, and that's a plus for his career. Unfortunately for viewers, we didn't get to see his professional ground game, and were forced to sit through his amateurish boxing.
Chael Sonnen was then asked if Oregon was ready for an "Ultimate Fighting Politician." I really hate the phrase "Ultimate Fighting," for the record. It has a negative connotation, dating back to the "human cockfighting" days. Chael went into politician mode and excitedly replied: "Yeah, absolutely. You know, politics are important and that's a tough job. Some people in our industry need to get out there and do it in a professional matter." He went on to say that it's time someone from the company go out and do that. By "that" I assume he means run for the House of Representatives in Oregon. Later Chael went on to describe the fight with Marquardt as a "miserable experience" and said that when he took a big knee from Nate, everything "went white for a second."
Amadi's Analysis: Chael Sonnen reminds me of a nerdy pro wrestling heel, but in the best way possible. He really turned up the trash talk (pretty much about everyone on the UFC roster) before this fight, which was smart. He got a lot of attention on himself from the media, he won his fight in a dominating fashion, he's running for the House of Representatives, and he comes off squeaky clean (aside from the gaping head wound Marquardt managed to deliver) in the process.
Talk finally moves on to Randy Couture, who was victorious in the UFC 109 main event, after a dominant performance over Mark Coleman. Randy detailed his gameplan, and suggested that everything went according to plan, and that he knew Coleman hadn't changed his game a lot, and wanted to get into the clinch and make it difficult for Coleman to get a takedown. He went on to chronicle the fight in brilliant detail. Later in the conference, Couture said that the close proximity of his fights and training camps have been productive and really helped raise his overall skill.
Dana was asked what was next for Randy, and Dana didn't answer definitively, but gave his usual "in the mix" line.
Amadi's Analysis: Hardcore fans like to rag on Randy Couture because he has a record of 18-10 and because he has been gifted a few title opportunities, but this performance should put a lot of discussion to rest. Mark Coleman is a year younger than Randy Couture, and Couture performed as if he was twenty years his junior. He is a very special athlete and belongs with the top fighters in his division, and not the Mark Coleman's of the world. Especially at light heavyweight, Couture has the ability and the strength to give a lot of fighters problems and is definitely one of the top guys in his division.
Questions moved back to Dana White regarding whether or not Anderson Silva would remain at 185 lbs. in the event of a victory over Vitor Belfort. Dana talked up Chael Sonnen as top competition for either Vitor or Anderson, and notes that Chael is perhaps the final fight Anderson needs to clean out the Middleweight Division. When Chael was asked whom he'd rather fight, Chael responded: "I hope Anderson wins, because I think Vitor is a much tougher fighter." Oh boy. He said Vitor has never lost a fight in the stand up realm. Chael went on to rip StrikeForce when he said, "If you want to be a fighter, get in the cage, and be a big deal at your local strip club, go to Showtime." Dana White loved this, and Chael got a big laugh from the room.
Amadi's Analysis: I love Chael Sonnen.
Paulo Thiago's presence at the conference was finally taken advantage of, as he was asked why he went for the submission rather than follow up with a few punches more for the TKO stoppage. Silly question, yes, but Thiago, through his translator responded: "The possibility for submission is much bigger." Dana White then heaped praise on Thiago as well.
Amadi's Analysis: The American Kickboxing Academy must now hate this guy. I wouldn't be surprised if Herschel Walker and Cain Valasquez plan on throwing down the challenge as well after he stopped Koscheck and Swick. Frankly, Mike Swick needs to go back to middleweight. He looks too skinny and drawn out at welterweight, and probably should have never made the drop to begin with. I think he made a poor decision after being manhandled by the enormous Yushin Okami, and is now getting beaten up by top welterweights as a result.
Dana kind of shrugged off questions on Tito Ortiz following his berating of Mark Coleman. This was probably in an effort not to ruffle Tito's feathers now that they've become BFF's again.
Amadi's Analysis: Tito Ortiz is desperately trying to keep his name out there and be mentioned as much as possible now that he's gone years without a victory. It's sad that Tito would go to these lengths to try to get a fight with Coleman after he lost in such decisive fashion to Randy Couture. I suppose you have to get wins wherever you think you can.
Dumbest question of the night was asked to Paulo Thiago. Thiago was asked whether being a special officer in Brazil or an MMA fighter was "more fun." In true badass style without cracking a smile, he said through a translator that he loves both, but the emotion he felt in the Octagon that night was priceless.
Final question went to Dana White, and was on the subject of Donald Cerrone or Ben Henderson possibly fighting B.J. Penn in the UFC, and Dana responded: "We own both companies, obviously that's not impossible."
