UFC 118 Pre-Fight Press Conference Notes
Boston — The entire HeavyMMA team is on hand in Boston for today’s UFC 118 pre-fight press conference. Follow along with our live blog of all the best quotes from Frankie Edgar, B.J. Penn, Randy Couture, James Toney, Gray Maynard, Kenny Florian and UFC President Dana White.
– The fighters and Dana White make their way to the stage to huge cheers from the fans in attendance. This venue is really, really cool. It’s called the Great Hall and it’s a historic building.
– James Toney is wearing some serious bling around both of his wrists. He says he’s a warrior and something else. I need live subtitles for this man. Says he’s going nowhere when the cage closes.
– Penn says when you come out and star beating people the way he did ten years ago, people are going to put expectations on you. All of the pressure that people put on him over the years made him stronger today, and he feels like he’s going to blow a lot of people away on Saturday night. People will be surprised at just how good B.J. Penn is.
– Florian says Boston is one of the most passionate sports towns in the entire world and he expects the Garden to be a crazy atmosphere on Saturday night. White agrees, saying that while the UFC is great on television, it doesn’t compare to being in attendance.
– Penn says he just wants to go out and fight the biggest fights he can. He doesn’t want to be known as a champion any more because he already has eight belts at home and doesn’t need any more.
– Edgar would love to finish Penn on Saturday night because it would add credibility to his title reign, but he’s expecting a tough fight.
– Couture says he doesn’t feel any pressure to defend MMA against boxing. The sport will continue to explode whether he wins or loses.
– How did Toney finally convince Dana to allow him to fight? “I broke into his house,” Toney says. White says Toney chased him around the country because he wanted a fight, so he signed him to a fight. He has more knockouts as a boxer than Randy has fights.
– “I don’t hate MMA. I love what the UFC has done. But I’m the heavyweight champion of the world, which means I’m the best fighter in the world, period,” says Toney.
– Dana says he has no idea when they will bring the UFC to Hawaii. He says the next major market they’re going to target is Toronto.
– Toney says he’s a different kind of animal and he adapts to his atmosphere, so it doesn’t matter if he’s in a ring or in a cage. Toney may not have much of a chance on Saturday night, but he’s certainly entertaining today.
– Dana White says that MMA is the biggest combat sport in the world, and James Toney emphatically says “no it is not.”
– Kenny Florian wins the Tequila Cazadores award for the month. And that wraps up our press conference for the day. Stay tuned for photos and videos from today, all coming to Heavy.com tonight!