The following quotes and videos are from tonight’s UFC 180 POSTFIGHT SHOW on FOX SPORTS 2. The show was hosted by Jay Glazer, with former UFC light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans and Kenny Florian providing analysis.Ariel Helwani conducted interviews on-site.
UFC ON FOX analyst Kenny Florian on Werdum vs. Hunt: “This is what makes this sport so exciting to watch. It seems like the fight was going one way and one little thing changes it. Mark Hunt was fighting the fight of his life, stopping the takedowns and landing shots. I was so impressed with how Hunt dominated the first round. He wasn’t allowing Fabricio to get anything going until Fabricio landed the knee.”
UFC ON FOX analyst Rashad Evans on Fabricio Werdum vs. Mark Hunt: “Hunt was controlling the pace of the fight and even went on the ground. You could see Fabricio get a little nervous. It was something that Hunt didn’t know Fabricio could throw that caught him. Fabricio almost conceded that this wasn’t going to be his night early on. He put a lot pressure on himself. You never underestimate your opponent.”
Fabricio Werdum on winning the interim heavyweight belt: “This is a special one. I’ve waiting a long time for this one. I’m very happy. He punched very hard. I had two months preparing for this here in Mexico. He was very strong in the first round and he’s very smart guy. I watched him in K1 and I trained very hard.
Werdum on how he ended the fight: “I faked a takedown and got the knee. He knew I was going to take him down, so I faked one.”
Werdum when he wants to fight Velasquez: “When he’s 100 percent. I’d like to do it here in Mexico or in my city in Brazil.”
Hunt on how he felt after the fight: “I feel like I was knocked out. My gas was starting to get to me. It was a good trick. He caught me. I got caught. I got a knee in my face. Congratulations to you Fabricio. In this division, if you get caught, you get caught.”
Hunt on what’s next for him: “I’ll be back. I’m still one of the best fighters in the world. I might have lost tonight and I’m one of the older guys, but I’m still keeping up.”
Evans on Kelvin Gastelum defeating Jake Ellenberger: “Kelvin comes out with great pressure right out of the gate. Now he’s definitely a top 10 fighter. Now he knows he can compete with the best of the best. He’s trained with GSP and Robbie Lawler and he knows he can fight them and it gives him a huge confidence builder.”
Florian on what went wrong for Ellenberger: “I’m a little concerned for Ellenberger. We’ve seen a lack of urgency. This fight isn’t going to help him. Jake hesitated for just one second. It seems like paralysis by analysis. Kelvin didn’t wait at all. He was the one mixing things up and looked like the veteran out there.”
Kelvin Gastelum on the importance of the win: “I just beat one of the top 10 guys and I believe I should be in the top 10. This is the biggest win of my life in front of thousands of fans.”
Gastelum on if he got hurt in the fight: “He tagged me, but in a fight, you’ve got to expect to get hit. But he didn’t really hurt me. I was prepared for a 15-minute war.”
UFC President Dana White on Werdum winning the title after being dropped by the UFC several years ago: “That’s the way it works. You fight in the big show and lose, get cut, go fight in other organizations and make it back some day. At the time, I never thought Fabricio would be back, but that’s how it works.”
White on if he was surprised by Werdum’s performance: “Werdum looked out of it right when he walked out. Then in the second round, he lands the most beautiful flying knee. You don’t see heavyweights do that.”
White on if Hunt had enough time to prepare for the fight: “I think it was the perfect way to play out. He fought in Japan in September and wasn’t hurt. Then he had three weeks off. As soon as he got the call for this fight, he flew right here. Mark Hunt’s not going to learn to fight any better at this point in his career. He just needed to get in shape.”
White on if Cain Velasquez will get stripped of his title in March: “That’s not what I said. I said if we ended up in a situation where he got severely injured again where he can’t fight for several more months, then we’d strip him.”
Florian Ricardo Lamas vs. Dennis Bermudez: “It was a shorter fight, but it showed why we were excited about it. They went right at it. Dennis is such a tough featherweight. But Lamas is just so tough and he has such good basics. He’s faced the best and knows what it’s going to take to win.”
Ricardo Lamas on if he was getting overlooked fighting Bermudez: “He deserved the recognition. He was on the seven-fight win streak. I know he’s a tough fighter and will come back tougher. I wanted to give the crowd a finish and exciting fight. That submission, I’ve been pulling off in the gym a lot. When he rolled to his back, which guys do in the gym, it only makes it tighter.”
Cain Velasquez on Fabricio Werdum: “Fabricio does everything and he does it well. He spins, he kicks and he does it all. I wish I could have fought him here, but I couldn’t. It was hard watching.”