UFC 135 is this Saturday, September 24, in the Pepsi Center at Denver, Colorado. Today UFC President Dana White, light heavyweight champion Jon Jones, challenger Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, welterweight legend Matt Hughes and Josh Koscheck held a press conference in the Ridgeline Restaurant at the Pepsi Center.
Following are incomplete notes from the statements by each of the PC's major participants.
Dana White
- Rampage winning would be anything but the biggest upset in UFC history. Anyone saying that is insane.
- This Jon Jones/Rampage fight is a breakthrough fight for us. Everyone is interested in this one. Celebrities are coming to Denver for this fight. It's one that people care about.
- I've never called Matt Hughes and had him turn down a fight.
- Jon Olav Einemo is back in the UFC and we're working on a return to Sweden, hoping for next year.
- Showtime will decide whether they want to keep Strikeforce around or not. The ball's in their court.
- There aren't enough good women around to create an entire division. You can put on good fights here and there.
Jon Jones
- I'm positive I have never stated that Rampage doesn't have the tools to beat me. I'm not underestimating Rampage at all. It would be a very very ignorant thing to do for me to underestimate someone with such a great record and such great status.
- Getting knocked out is something that happens more as you age. I'm a 24 year old guy, I'm still growing pubic hair and I think I have a very fresh chin and a fresh passion and a fresh heart. That will get me out of a lot of things. I don't even like to get hit. I train hard and take the sport seriously and focus my training on evasiveness.
- Think about all the Jiu-Jitsu gyms and wrestling gyms that love to see grappling. For people who don't like to see grappling I say watch K-1.
- My life hasn't changed at all since winning the belt except to raise my expectations for myself. At Greg Jackson's I try to be the one eating the healthiest, running the fastest, working the hardest.
- The fake thing is part of my image now. I know that I'm a good person and try to do the right thing. I still have a strong support base so it's whatever.
- My personal goal is to finish Rampage, be the first person in the UFC to do it.
Quinton "Rampage" Jackson
- I'm glad Jon Jones is underestimating me. He'll be very surprised come Saturday.
- This has been the best camp of my career because I'm very motivated. I have a great facility and once I saw the gym I was really excited.
- Jones is a great wrestler. I've fought great wrestlers. He's a creative striker but I've fought taller guys in K-1 and I don't think his Jiu-Jitsu is anything special.
- Shogun is the toughest guy he's fought and he was rusty and coming off an injury. I went to the Denver Zoo yesterday and saw a little monkey that reminded me of Jones. Had the pubic hair on his face and everything.
- I do my talking in the Octagon. He's never been in the championship rounds, I don't think he's got the ass to do it in the 4th and 5th rounds.
Matt Hughes
- I brought Jeremy Horn, Robbie Lawler, Pat Miletich, B.J. Penn, DaMarques Johnson in to help me train. The more guys I have around me the happier I am. My cornermen will be Robbie Lawler, Jeremy Horn, and Pat Miletich.
- (When asked about not fighting Josh Koscheck in the past) Ask Dana, I've never turned down a fight. I never got the call for the fight before.
- I have not made a decision about retiring. I'm going to talk with the UFC after this and we'll see. I'm 37. I don't want to be in my 40's and fighting. I'm definitely not signing another 4 fight deal.
Josh Koscheck
- When the UFC first came out I didn't even know what it was. I didn't know until maybe 2003, 2004. For me it's definitely exciting to be part of this. I'd like to thank Matt Hughes and the UFC for bringing me in and letting me be part of this history.
- This is a fight that should have happened a long time ago. I'm not sure why it is only happening now.
- I don't need a title shot to be motivated. What a great test I have on Saturday, taking this fight on 19 days notice. I've been training with the Strikeforce guys: King Mo, Daniel Cormier, Luke Rockhold, etc and I'm ready.
- I walk around usually like 195 to 197. I'm a little short for 185 but I think with my wrestling skills there are some fun matchups for me. Right now I'm focused on Matt Hughes and I'm not thinking about middleweight.
- Usually my fights have all the drama, this time it's (Jones and Rampage) having the drama.
- I saw a couple of eye doctors and they said everything's good. Didn't have to do anything special for this one.
- It's hard to say which division is more stacked. The reason I wanted to go to 185 was that there was no one really catching my eye that I wanted to fight at 170. I want big fights. When I got the call to fight Matt Hughes, I was like "let's do it." He's a great opponent, a great test.
- I had no intention of disrespecting Matt Hughes, he's been a great representative of the sport.