UFC 120 holds a conference call for fighters
The Ultimate Fighting Championship 120 will take place on Saturday, October 16 at the O2 Arena in London, England.
Recently, the UFC held a conference call with four of the fighters that will participate at UFC 120. Present for the conference call were Michael Bisping, Yoshihiro Akiyama, Dan Hardy,
Carlos Condit and Marshall Zelaznik, president of the U.K division of UFC.
Marshall Zelaznik responded to one of the first questions regarding how he came into his position with the UFC. He explained, “I actually used to work in Pay-Per-View television in the
U.S., and became acquainted with Dana and Lorenzo through negotiations for the licensing of the rights in the U.S. and I found out through a couple of sources that they were looking to expand in the U.K., and then, ultimately, was offered the job through that
relationship.”
Next on the line was Michael Bisping, who was asked if he ever found the attention he received in his home country of England distracting. “I live in a small town in the northwest of England,
and I live with the same, you know, the same friends and family that I’ve grown up with my entire life. So, to be honest, nothing’s changed.”
Yoshihiro Akiyama was asked about his loss to Chris Leben at UFC 116 and responded through his interpreter, who said, “He felt as though whether it was striking or grappling, Akiyama had
the advantage over Chris Leben, and it was his strategy. However, there were certain things that were holding him back from fighting his best in that fight.”
When asked to go into more detail about what was holding him back, the response was, “He felt like he didn’t have enough time to prepare for his opponent. And so, during the fight he wasn’t
able to come up with a strategy that is specifically for Chris Leben.”
Bisping was then asked how his opponent (Akiyama) training with Greg Jackson would impact his preparation. Bisping answered, “In terms of preparation, it doesn’t change anything. With
respect, I couldn’t care less who he trains with. He can train with anyone. What I’m focusing on these days is what I do, focusing on my training…so, to answer your question, I couldn’t care less.”
Dan Hardy, who will compete against Carlos Condit, was asked about his loss to Georges St. Pierre at UFC 111. Hardy had this to say about where he fell short and how he has improved, “…it’s
pretty obvious. I mean, my wrestling wasn’t up to scratch, and my offensive jujitsu wasn’t there. You know, I couldn’t threaten him on the ground at all and I could hardly get back to my feet. So, you know, they are the things I’ve been working mainly on.
Just working solid on my jujitsu and traveling around working with different wrestling coaches and just getting some good input on that.”
One of the final questions went to Condit who was asked why he specifically wanted a fight with Hardy. Condit said, “Hardy’s got status in the UFC right now. You know, he was the number
one contender. You know, so a win over him would, you know, probably catapult me up the rankings. But, in addition to that, you know, he’s the kind of fighter that, you know, that I want to fight. You know, he puts on exciting fights. You know, he comes to
– comes to finish guys, and, you know, I want to be an exciting fight, so I want to give the fans a show. And that’s probably the main reason.”
The call ended with with Hardy imploring Condit to “Get on the plane…so I can knock you out."
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