WHITE: “THESE ARE 16 OF THE BADDEST 115 POUNDERS FIGHTING FOR THE TITLE.”
UFC President White Talks New Season of THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER and more, Plus Cormier and Schaub Guest Host on UFC TONIGHT
LOS ANGELES, CA – On UFC TONIGHT, Kenny Florian and Karyn Bryant are joined in the studio by guest hosts Daniel Cormier and Brendan Schaub. They interview UFC President Dana White. Plus, Helwani and Bryant add reports.
UFC TONIGHT Guest Host Brendan Schaub on his upcoming fight against Travis Browne: “It’s a big one. It doesn’t get much bigger than this. You win this and you’re right in the contender spot.”
Schaub on the upcoming heavyweight fight between Bigfoot Silva and Andrei Arlovski: “I’m hoping Arlovski doesn’t bring the same attitude as he did against me. He seemed scared and tentative against me. Bigfoot is a monster. Andrei was flat footed. Bigfoot’s going to come out, take him down, and TKO him.”
UFC TONIGHT Guest Host Daniel Cormier on Arlovski’s return to the UFC: “He has to be the guy we remember from back in the day. He can’t do what he did in the last fight against Bigfoot. Bigfoot out-boxed him. I know he’s a better boxer than Bigfoot. Andrei has to change something. He hasn’t showed me he’s improved since being gone from the UFC. Bigfoot has all the skills to go in there and smash him.”
UFC President Dana White on how this season of THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER is different: “We’ve never done a season like this. We usually bring in unknowns to the show. This time these are 16 of the baddest 115 pounders in the world, fighting for the title.”
White on where this season stacks up among the others: “It’s a great season because of what’s at stake. I love the fights that happened. When you do a season, I get excited when I see people who have the ability to be great and become big stars. There’s one person who I think could be the next Ronda Rousey on this season.”
White on what makes the next Ronda Rousey: “One of the things I admire about Ronda, she’s a mean and nasty individual when she fights. There’s a girl on the show like that. There are actually a few girls on the show with that personality, but one who has the personality and skill level to go with it.”
White on what’s next for Alistair Overeem after his recent loss: “He is still one of the top 10 ranked heavyweights in the world. We’ll give him another fight.”
White on Thiago Silva coming back to the UFC: “When I said he’d never work in the UFC again, the SWAT team was surrounding his house, and he looked like he was in trouble. The guy hasn’t been charged with anything. There are two sides to this story. Since it happened, he’s said it’s not true. His manager and he have told us what’s happened. But if you believe in the legal process in the United States, he was put through it and was charged with nothing in the end. There’s no proof or evidence that he did anything wrong. If there was a tape that popped up like Ray Rice, that would be a different story.”
White on Hector Lombard fighting Tyron Woodley: “Woodley doesn’t want that fight. Tyron just stepped up on short notice and fought in China. I’ll give him a pass right now.”
White on Ben Askren: “I thought Tito was the dumbest human being alive. This guy is an absolute moron. He’s copying everything that Tito does. You get a lot of attention if you talk about the UFC. If he’s that happy fighting in Asia, than what’s he talking about me for?”
VIDEO: Dana White on reinstating Thiago Silva
VIDEO: White talks new season of THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER
UFC TONIGHT Insider Ariel Helwani reports on an upcoming fight for Jacare Souza: “His plan is to be the UFC’s Plan B. He’s going into a full training camp for the Weidman vs. Belfort fight. If something happens on one day’s notice, one week’s notice, he’ll be ready to fight for the title fight. There’s no other opponent out there who makes sense for him to fight right now.”
Helwani on Lyoto Machida’s next fight: “I’m hearing Lyoto Machida vs. C.B. Dalloway on December 20 in Brazil. Both sides are interested.”
Helwani on UFC 178 random testing: “I found out that both Demetrious Johnson and Chris Cariaso were both randomly tested a few weeks ago. I was also told if a fighter is fighting at UFC 178 and hasn’t gotten his license yet, he is still subject to testing.”
Helwani on Khabib Nurmagomedov’s recent knee surgery: “He didn’t know that the UFC would help him with his medical bills. When Lorenzo Fertitta heard this, he flew him to LA to have the surgery with the same doctor as GSP. Khabib is hoping to come back in February. He considers himself the number-one contender. He says he would like to fight for the title, but would also fight Cowboy Cerrone because of some of the things he’s said. And he considers Anthony Pettis to be easy money because he has no wrestling and no good defense.”
Anthony Pettis on getting back in the Octagon: “I want to show guys why my last three fights were combined eight minutes long.”
VIDEO: Anthony Pettis on TUF coaching
VIDEO: Dancing with the UFC Stars
http://youtu.be/SkYThPSXCpg
VIDEO: FOX Sports 1 rolls out the red carpet for a new season of TUF