BJ's next opponent named. Photos: Josh Hedges.
Following the heated disputes from this Saturday in Detroit, the fighters cooled off and made themselves heard at the traditional post-event press conference. After admitting in the octagon that he was surprised with the result from his fight with Lyoto Machida – resulting in a scolding from Dana White – Quinton Jackson changed his tone a bit.
“My trainers said I won. When I was fighting, all I had in my head was knocking him out. In the third round, he came at me and I forgot about what happened in the first two rounds,” he commented.
Rampage surprised with win.
Before the showdown, Rampage voiced criticism regarding Machida’s style of fighting – monotonous in his view. In practice, now he has a different opinion.
“Fighting Machida is different from watching him. Now I have more respect for his style. I’d like to be able to move like he does. I have more respect for his style, but I still don’t like watching him,” he said.
On the possibility of the rematch Quinton mentioned in the octagon, Dana White put to rest any talk of one in the near future.
The heavily-anticipated match between BJ Penn and Matt Hughes – their third – broke the tie in score.
“I’m not thinking about becoming champion, I don’t want that type of thing in my head. Now I just want to fight,” said BJ, who according to White, will face Jon Fitch at UFC 127 in Australia.
“When I saw Matt on the ground, I thought: I have to finish this now and not let him get up. I kept hitting until the referee intervened. What do I want to remember? I want to remember what happened this evening. Matt’s my idol and always will be,” added the Jiu-Jitsu black belt.
“He hit me hard. I thought it was a knee or a kick,” stated Hughes.
- Falcão high kick
Promotional first-timer Maiquel Falcão surprised everyone who didn’t know him, with his win over Gerald Harris, who was undefeated in the UFC in three fights.
“He was a great adversary and the UFC is now within me. I love this here and today was a perfect day for me. I used strategy, and that was the patch to victory,” he said in analysis.
George Sotiropoulos carries on with his impressive ways – now counting seven wins in the UFC –, with his submission over Joe Lauzon. The fighter isn’t yet lined up for a shot at the title, but he’ll be able to fight at home again, in the Land Down Under.
“I’m really pleased about being able to fight in Australia for my next fight. After a few days of rest, I’ll be back in training. I can hardly wait!” said the submission savant, who now has Dennis Siver ahead of him.