UFC 101 Pre-Fight Press Conference Video
Posted by Kris Karkoski on Aug 6, 2009 at 10:31 am ET24 Comments
The UFC will hold its final pre-fight press conference today at 1pm ET/10am PT in Philadelphia for Saturday’s UFC 101 event, which is co-headlined by Anderson Silva’s return to the light heavyweight division to take on former champ Forrest Griffin and lightweight title-holder BJ Penn defending his belt against Kenny Florian.
Silva, Griffin, Penn, Florian, and UFC President Dana White are all expected to be in attendance for today’s press conference.
Watch the press conference live on MMAFrenzy.com by clicking here.
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BJ Penn looks better mentally and physically than he has in a long time. He seems to be more focused than before and more onfident. It’s going to be interesting to see what Kenny Florian has to say today when he see’s that Penn is ready to go. I think that Florian was hoping that the lazy undedicated Penn was going to show up to this fight, Florian was problably hoping for the Penn that got tko’d by Hughes, but too bad for him that’s not going to happen. Florian needs to come in ready to take a beating, his fortitude and his heart are going to be his biggest ally’s in this fight so he better bring out the best them. This fight however, shoutd be a very exciting fight being that both guys are very good and really well rounded fighters than can give us an entertaining fight on the ground as well as on their feet. Florian CAN pull off the upset, but i’m sticking with Penn to win this fight, either by tko or ref stoppage(same thing as tko i think).
Forrest Griffin doesn’t seem to be phased at all by the fact that he is about to fight Anderson Silva. He’s confident and has the right attitude towards this fight. In recent interviews regarding this fight Anderson Silva has said that he has nothing to lose and nothing to prove, but i honestly don’t believe him. If you see the “Countdown” show, he sounds like he feels he has a whole lot to prove and he doesn’t see as calm as he has been in the past so i think he does feel a bit of pressure to not only win, but win in spectacular fashion because he knows that he has more to lose than he’ll admit. If he loses he’ll get criticized again and he’ll have to deal with people speculating if he’s lost his edge or if he’s done and all that crap so he does have something to prove and he does have more to lose than he’ll admit. This fight can go either way depending on a lot of things, but i still think that Forrest has the advantage not only because he’s bigger and stronger and has better cardio, but he knows that he has nothing to lose and that Silva has the pressure to push the fight and win, Forrest is a smart fighter and can take advantage of any mistake Silva makes, but if Silva connects which he can, than Forrest is done, this should be one of the best fights this year and one of the best overall cards.
I think Florian would be thrilled if the whingy Penn that showed up for GSP shows up too.
i’m sure he would be thirlled also, but too bad for him, that Penn is not the Penn he’s going to fight this weekend.
I think forrest has what it takes to beat silva.Imo fear has been a factor in most of silva’s past fights…fighters fear the guy so much they lose focus on whats going on in the octagon and the sad thing is that silva knows they are scared so he plays with them…leites for example, the guy looked like a puppy dog rolling on the floor when it knows its done something wrong…no offence to the guy because i respect and like the guy…but he was just to damn scared! Forrest may be afraid to lose because he knows the citicism to come but not afraid of silva. I think forrest will put on a great performance if not win the fight! Oh and I hope kenflo beats bj!
“Obviously fear is not a factor” – Joe Rogan
forrest will beat anderson silva guaranteed!
All great posts! I really think that Anderson is going to try to make a statement and put on a show, which makes him vulnerable to a KO or guarantees that Forrest will be heading to the hospital with a 215 Area Code! “AFTER PARTY IN THE EMERGENCY ROOM, NOT THE CONTINENTAL”
I’m very excited for this fight…I’ve been saying it for a long time, Florian will be the next champ. I’ve considered P.J. a product of hype for years. (is that a “fighter bash”, hope not…)
I see Kenny winning and look forward to his rematch with Diego.
PS I’ll reach deep into my pocket and bet a $1 that Ken-Flo wins! Any takers??
I’ll bet! BJ!
You’re on!!!
i thought that too, then i realized he beat Sherk 3?-2, beat Matt Hugh (ended his run, and almost beat gsp (1st time)!
i’m really happy that Silva is going to fight someone that will actually be a CHALLENGE after his past 2 fights. win or lose, i think forrest will bring it and we’ll get a good show.
i didnt see it myself, but a guy i work with watched the countdown and said that BJ was looking very determined, working cardio…and actually wasnt making excuses about the poor showing against GSP (admitting that he got his ass kicked and he gassed in the first round and basically gave up). if he is actually changing his ways and focusing more on his training, watch out kenflo…
why odes penn have to step it up so much for kenflo. go kenflo!!
I love how people are saying how focused Bj is and how he’s training different blah, blah.
Yes, he brought in some new trainers and all that good stuff. My point is he did the same thing for GSP and everyone said the same thing for that fight. {Look at Bj run under water with those big rocks} he’s in the best shape of his life, he’s training for real this time, hilarious. So now he did the same thing maybe, a lil different and there will be the same result a “L”.
Florian by submission round 3
I honestly give Forrest NO chance to win this fight.
1. No punching power
2. No submissions {Except an out of shape Shogun}
3. What I believe is a suspect chin “I’m sure others will disagree”
Ways for Forrest to win:
1. Outpoint Anderson = Win a decision
2. Maybe just maybe he can land some of those devastating leg kicks and hurt him that way
3. Just don’t fight
Anderson Second round K.O.
Turk,
i can see your point, however Forrest has a waayy better chance than you think. Forrest is a lot bigger and stronger than Silva. Yes Griffin doesn’t have one punch ko power, BUT he does have enough punching power to “rock” Silva and then finish him, he also has better leg kicks. As far as his chin, i agree that Forrest has shown that he doesn’t have the best chin, but he took a lot of hard shots from Rampage including a huge uppercut and he still survived to win the title. Anderson Silva doesn’t have the power that Rampage does so even if he does get some clean shots in, Griffin has shown that he can come back from that.
As far as his sub skills..”out of shape Shogun” as you put it, come on, Forrest has really good sub skills and has an overall really good fround game, he has one of the best guards at 205. And one thing to not forget and Onlytrue1, if your out there you know what i’m talking about when i say that TRAVIS FU*KING LUTTER!!! MOUNTED Anderson Silva, so if anything you should question Silva’s overall ground game. Leites and Henderson took him down quite easy, so i’m giving the grouund advantage to Griffin.
Silva is going to fight a guy who has waaayy better cardio then him so that alone gives Griffin a chance, and consider the fact that Silva has never gone 3 rounds where his opponent really pushes the pace on him, well this time he will and we havn’t seen if his gas tank can hang with a guy who has great cardio like Griffin, so before you count Forrest out make sure you look at the whole picture.
You should hit up the Forums Marvel if your so opinioneated on this topic we could use ya there.
Good idea, carls.
Over in the forums we discuss this stuff in a lot greater detail, and with the added benefit that people posting in the forum area tend to do their research, and therefore know their sh!t, and it shows in their posts…
Where is the press conference? I just keep getting 101 Promos.
I’ll be shocked and amazed if Forrest were to win. I hope he does, but I doubt it…
marvelknight4,
You say in your first post that Forrest knows he has more to lose than he’s implying, then your rationale for him winning is that he knows he has nothing to lose. So which one is it? I do agree that Forrest brings they type of fight that Anderson has not seen in some time, it should be a great one.
Turk,
I believe that part of the subplot to the pre-fight countdown to St. Pierre vs. Penn was that B.J. was vacationing with his girlfriend and not training that hard. I’m not saying that B.J. is busting his hump this time around, but I don’t think too many people have said he has in the past. Again, should be a great fight, but I see B.J. getting this one.
Seems that the two champs in this event are underdogs on this board. Good matchmaking by the UFC.
RLT,
dude check my post again because i said that Silva NOT Forrest knows he has more to lose. I agree this will be a great fight.
Gotcha, I mis-read your post. So your thought is that Anderson is under pressure, while Forrest has nothing to lose. Can’t disagree, Anderson has his “P4P #1″ title that Dana gave him on the line, and Griffin doesn’t lose much face with a loss, but everything to gain with a win.
By the way, isn’t it nice to talk about fighters that are willing to test themselves against the best.
I really wanted BJ Penn to show up at the presser wearing a “did he really say that sh!t?” t-shirt.
Oh well, maybe the slogan will be on his walkout wear…
BJ will unfortunately beat kenflo even though kenflo has a better ground game then the other lightweights that bj has fought. The only way i see ken flo beating BJ is in the championship rounds and lets remember bj hasn’t been a full five rounds like kenflo has. But its good to see bj actually defending his belt and if he wins he can finally be a true champ. No matter who wins the belt i hope we see it doesnt collect dust and gets defended before next year.
For silva and forrest, cmon you really going to bet against Silva? Forrest might have a better chance than Hendo had a year ago since he’s the much bigger opponent, but they said about the Irvin to before everybody laughed at him getting his ass kicked. Then again forrest isn’t Irving so i’m still excited for this fight.
Amir and whoever he’s fighting should be good and we can finally see what amir has to offer to the against the welterweights. Hopefully the sakara and leites fight ends fast so they can slip that in the broadcast cuz its going to end in a leites submission or a sakara knockout.