Wednesday's UFC 140: Jones vs. Machida press conference was held at 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT from the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Canada, and hosted by UFC President Dana White and Director of Canadian Operations Tom Wright. The presser panel consisted of UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones and top title challenger Lyoto Machida. All proceedings were open to the public as well as streamed live on UFC.com.
Much of the conference revolved around the UFC's return to Canada and Jones' thoughts going into his second title defense. Both fighters were highly respectful of each other as White spoke glowingly about the young champion's willingness to accept his fourth fight of the year on such a short turnaround.
UFC 140 is slated for December 10, 2011 at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Canada. For more analysis, follow MMA Nation (@MMANation) on Twitter.
Here are partial notes from each participant. Video will be posted as soon as it is available.
Dana White:
- I never said (the title shot) was going to Rashad. You guys said it was going to be Rashad. Rashad was hurt. Lyoto stepped up. I told you guys I would set up a main event for Canada.
- We want to go to strong markets, and this without a doubt the strongest market on the planet.
- This is fun one. I like this fight stylistically.
- I've said it many times that this guy is the whole package. At such a young age, taking on the names and beating the guys that he has.
- He might not be a household name, but when (Jones) beat Matyushenko, I was blown away with how he's done it. He's dealing with a lot of stuff that puts a lot of pressure on people and at a very young age.
- He's got a long way to go. You're not in your prime until you're 27, 28, 29 years old. It's incredible. You've got to respect what Jon Jones is doing.
- We'll do another massive fight here when we have the right event. Toronto is quickly becoming the fight capital of the world.
- I couldn't really tell you how proud I am with what (Jones) has been able to do and overcome.
- Anderson (Silva) is going to continue to fight. He'll probably fight Chael Sonnen.
- Jon's only 24 years old, he's got some business to take care of first before he can think of Anderson Silva.
- Rory's awesome and even Georges St. Pierre says that he's the next Georges St. Pierre. That's a tough fight.
- Mir and Nogueira are excited for this fight. Mir says he wants to get out there and start fighting more.
Jon Jones:
- (on his war of words with Rampage Jackson) I defintely didn't bother me at all. If anything it educated me on how to become a better professional and deal with adversity. But I would prefer fights to be more respectful, it is mixed martial arts after all.
- I feel my biggest advantage is my youth, my versatility, and the way I approach the sport.
- I'm taught don't fight the legend, fight the body. But with Rashad, it's different. I don't want to lose that fight.
- The way I plan on dealing with Lyoto's style is just being myself. The name of the game is really just studying and figuring out tendencies, and take it from there.
- There's not really too many negatives that come with a dream come true. I guess the only negative is having to be so careful with the words I say because I get scrutinized with everything little thing, but other than that it's been great.
- I think Steven Seagal came back to say high and offer words of encouragement (at UFC 135). I appreciate the gesture but I'm glad I made the decision that I did.
Lyoto Machida:
- Maybe my experience will speak louder in this fight, but I'm not sure.
- (The title shot) really caught me by surprise but I'm a guy that thinks everything happens for a reason.
- I am very confident I can overcome his athleticism with my technique.
- I'm very excited to be back in Toronto and fighting in front of this crowd.
- Anderson (Silva) has already called me and told me he wants to come out to my hometown and train me and show me some things.