Anderson / Photo: UFC
Never before has the crowd participated so much at a UFC event, Dana White would tweet, while the show was rolling along. Even more importantly, this Saturday evening at the HSBC Arena was packed with great battles, which just further escalated the excitement of those fortunate enough to be in the arena. At the end of the party, Rodrigo Minotauro, one of the standouts on the night, made his way through the ocean of fans on his way to the press conference.
Check out some of the highlights from the presser:
Dana White: “I’d do another UFC in Brazil next weekend! The event was a success even before it happened; tickets sold out and these fighters delivered the goods.
Dana White: “I’ve been doing events around the world for ten years and Brazil’s crowd wins. The first fight already seemed like a title fight.”
Shogun: “Today the UFC is my motivation and the fans are my gasoline.”
Dana White: “Anderson Silva’s next opponent?”
Forrest Griffin: “For his next fight, Anderson has to face two fighters at the same time! (cackles).”
Dana White: “For sure Anderson is the best pound for pound fighter on the planet. His division has lots of good fighters but he’s fantastic and makes the others look easy.
Dana White: “There are still a lot of fights for Anderson to do in his division and Georges Saint-Pierre too. But it’s about time for it to happen. I don’t know if we have a stadium that could handle a fight like that.”
Anderson: “I got my start fighting here in Brazil but hadn’t fought here in a long time. Thank God, I got to do it again while in the midst of great fighters, having people like Pedro Rizzo and the people of Brazil on my side.”
Minotauro: “It was a dream come true. I had to stop for a year, undergo surgeries, use crutches to walk… Today was a dream. When I was walking to the ring I was so nervous that I didn’t even look around or notice the noise they were making.”
Dana White: “We’re looking at a number of cities in Brazil as possibilities and we could hold one anywhere. We want more events, in Rio too.”
Forrest Griffin: “I don’t know what happened. I had opportunities, trained hard, and it was unpleasant. I know I could have fought better.”
Dana White: “I’m really thankful to Forrest for being here. His wife is about to have a baby and even so he’s here.”
Dana White: “I always say it and I’ll say it again, Okami is an excellent fighter.”
Forrest Griffin: “If everyone who loses to Anderson gets fired, there wouldn’t be anyone left in his division in the UFC.
The post UFC Rio: statements from the winners – and losers, too first appeared on Graciemag.