Jennifer Wenk, the Public
Relations Director of the UFC, provided us with the entire media conference call:
Operator: Good day and welcome to the UFC conference call. At this time I would like to turn the call over to Jennifer Wenk, Public
Relations Director for opening remarks and introductions. Please go ahead.
Jennifer Wenk: All right; we had an unusual high number of people ((inaudible))
we’ve had and patching through to the call this morning. We do have all the fighters on line for you. We have middle-weight champion Anderson Silva with his manager/translator Ed
Soares on the line as well as his opponent Rich Franklin. We also have Brandon Vera and Tim Sylvia on the line and Dana White, our UFC President is standing by to host. So I will turn the call over to Dana now to host our UFC 77 pre-fight media
conference call.
Dana White: Good morning everybody. Thank you for calling in today. Appreciate
it. We can start with questions now. Like she said we have Anderson Sylvia, Rich Franklin,
Brandon Vera and Tim Sylvia on the phone.
Operator: If you’d like to ask a question, you may signal to do so by pressing
star one at this time. If you have called in on a speakerphone, please make sure your mute function is
disabled to allow your signal to reach our equipment. Once again, that is star one and we’ll pause for
just a few moments to assemble the queue. And our first question comes from Jeff Potts with Times Leader.
Jeff Potts: Hey Rich; how you doing buddy?
Rich Franklin: Good; how’s it going today?
Jeff Potts: Not bad man. Hey, this is — this is kind of a two part question
and I also want to give the same question to
Anderson
as well. Rich, how much have you changed your training from your first fight with
Anderson
until now?
Rich Franklin: I actually changed quite a bit. For this fight I took an entire
camp out of
Cincinnati
since the fight was in
Cincinnati
.
It was very distracting being in my hometown. So we left my hometown, came out to the mountains, changed some altitude. I brought Matt Hume
out to work with me which is something to an addition as well as the coaches that I’ve been
working with. And we’ve made some changes and that’s a little bit better.
Jeff Potts: And Rich the final part of that is how much, you know, I’ve heard
you talk a lot of times, you’ve said that you are — that you love to knock people out. You’ve said before that
you were in the business of knocking people out. But knowing, you know, I imagine you’ve
probably watched a little bit of the film now and in preparing for the rematch. Can you foresee a
situation where you would want to take this fight to the ground where it — where it looks like you
have probably the stronger advantage?
Rich Franklin: We, you know, as far as this fight goes, I mean I’m going to
walk out there and start throwing punches like I always do. And of course I have a game plan but
ultimately I’m just going to take the path of least resistance and if that means keeping it up fine. If
we end up on the ground then that’s fine as well.
Jeff Potts: All right, Rich, thanks a lot buddy. Best of luck.
Rich Franklin: Thank you.
Operator: And our next question comes from Franklin McNeil with the Star
Ledger.
Franklin McNeil: All right. My question is for
Anderson
.
Anderson
, you’re coming in having won the
fight, but how are you — are you a different fighter this time? And is there — if
there is any difference, will you be — are you a better fighter today than you were then? And if so
why?
Edward Soares: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
Anderson Silva: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
Edward Soares: He feels that he’s a lot more experienced now than he was when
he fought Rich the first time. He says he doesn’t feel that he’s necessarily better than anybody but
every time he fights he feels that he trains harder and he gains experience and he’s ready to go on
October 20th.
Franklin McNeil: And one more question. How does fighting in — does fighting
in Rich’s hometown, is that going to affect him in any way?
Edward Soares: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
Anderson Silva: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
Edward Soares: He said yes, this is a different situation for him and it’s also
going to be a different situation for Rich. But both of them being great professionals like they are,
they know, he knows that they’re, once they get, you know, once the Octagon door closes they’re
going to be in there and there’s not going to be much difference. But he says that the fans can
expect a phenomenal fight because I know both of us are well trained and we’re going to leave it
all in the Octagon on the 20th.
Franklin McNeil: OK, thanks a lot. Take care Dana.
Operator: Our next question comes from Brett Robinson with Komi Pro Magazine.
Brett Robinson: Question is actually for Dana. In the press release about the
closing of PRIDE’s office it was said that former directors of DSE did not cooperate as (Proud) — PRIDE for
a blind. What director’s were they and did it include former President (Takik Bara) and in
what way did they not cooperate?
Dana White: Yes, I don’t — this is about the fight in
Cincinnati
. I don’t want to get into PRIDE
shit. If you have a question for these guys about — if you want to interview me about all
the crap, call me. You can call my office. Get a hold of Jennifer.
Operator: Our next question comes from ((inaudible)) from (Sportsman).
Male: Hi. A couple questions for Dana. How you doing?
Dana White: Good, how are you?
Male: Good thanks. In the undercard you’ve got Yushin Okami fighting Jason
McDonald and I believe they’re ranked fourth and fifth in the division. Will the winner get a title
shot right away?
Dana White: You know, well there’s other guys that are in line there. You know,
you’ve got
Anderson
,
Rich, you know, we’ve got Dan Henderson who could possibly move down to 85. You
know, I’m not sure yet. I don’t know. But those guys are definitely in the mix.
Male: OK. Ok and you’ve got two Canadians on the card. (Matt McDonald) and also
Caleb Starnes. What are the chances we see them again when you come to
Montreal
in the new year? And while we’re at it, has a date been firmed up fourth of January?
Dana White: That date isn’t confirmed yet for January. That’s what we were
shooting for. We don’t know yet but yes, I’m sure we’ll have a lot of Canadians on the card when we come to
Canada
.
Male: OK. OK great, thanks.
Dana White: Thanks.
Operator: As a reminder, that is star one if you would like to ask a question.
And we’ll now hear from George Acevedo with Chicago Wassup! Magazine.
George Acevedo: To Dana, given the unpredictable aura of MMA, which bout effect
with Silva and
Franklin
do you think will trade the most note
that
US
banker made on October 20th?
Dana White: Obviously I think the Brandon Vera/Tim Sylvia fight is an awesome
fight. Former world champion Brandon Vera, you know, has been gone for a little while coming back
but he’s a rising star. I like the Alan Belcher/Caleb Starnes fight. Stephan
Bonner’s always exciting. I don’t know. There’s a lot of good fights.
George Acevedo: Thanks a lot Dana.
Dana White: Thank you.
Operator: Again, that is star one if you’d like to ask a question. Next we’ll
hear from Dave Meltzer with Yahoo! Sports.
Dave Meltzer: Dana, when it comes to this, the Sylvia/Vera fight, how, I mean
do you think that the winner is in line for a shot with Couture because just the way the schedule
fits in with other people it looks like they may be a strong possibility.
Dana White: I mean, if you look at, you know, who our top heavy-weights are in
that division, you know, Tim Sylvia — Tim Sylvia is the former world champion, just lost to Couture.
You know obviously, (Nogueira) is in the mix, too. You know, he’s probably, you know, arguably you
could argue over who the top three are. But yes, Sylvia and Vera are definitely right there in
the mix.
Dave Meltzer: I just thought that with (Nogara’s) schedule, next scheduled
fight that the timing may not be right whereas these guys, you know, whoever wins here, you know, probably
would have
adequate rest time for a, you know, fight if it’s going to be February or so.
Dana White: Yes. Yes, I don’t disagree with that.
Dave Meltzer: OK.
Dana White: You never know man. I don’t know but these guys are all in the mix.
You know, the winner of the Brandon Vera/Tim Sylvia fight, then you could argue over who the top
three are. You know, obviously Couture’s number one and then is it (Nogara) or is it Sylvia or
Vera?
Dave Meltzer: OK. All right, thank you.
Dana White: Thanks buddy.
Operator: And next we’ll hear from Elias Cepeda with Inside Fighting.
Elias Cepeda: Hello, I have a question for Anderson Sylvia, or a couple
questions if I can. First, just for folks out there that might be, you know, wondering if there’s a risk of you
dismissing Rich Franklin in this rematch because you were able to beat him relatively fast in the first
time, what would you tell them as to, you know, why you’re not, you know, just taking him for
granted. Because I’m assuming you’re not and I’m assuming you’re training hard. That’s what you’ve
been saying. So
why wouldn’t you be overconfident going into this fight?
Edward Soares: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
Anderson Silva: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
Edward Soares: He said that, you know, he’s confident going into this fight but
he’s always confident going into every fight. But, you know, he never underestimates any opponent,
especially Rich Franklin. Everybody knows that Rich Franklin, when he goes in there he goes in
there to bang. And that he’s been training really hard and, you know, his biggest motivator
has been to put on a good show for the fans and to, you know, and all of his success. You know, he
owes a lot to the UFC for, you know, making him who he is. And he feels that he owes it to the
UFC and to all the fans around the world that buy this fight to put on the best fight. And that’s
what keeps him motivated and focused on things.
Elias Cepeda: Well, I — thank you. I also wonder if Anderson maybe has a sense
that Rich Franklin is like the, for lack of a better term, like the desired middle-weight champion.
He’s so well-known. He was so dominating when he was a champion. And, you know, take for example
the fact that they’re rematching so relatively soon. The first fight was really decisive. Franklin has had two fights since then and
his last fight wasn’t,
you know, particularly dominating and yet it was, you know, it was assumed that
he’d be getting another shot of, at Anderson should he win. Anyhow, does Anderson feel that
maybe there’s a sense out there that people want Franklin to be the champion again? And what
does that do for his motivation?
Edward Soares: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
Anderson Silva: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
Edward Soares: He said that he doesn’t really feel that, you know, bad at all.
He’s very motivated and training very hard for this fight. And he’s not taking this fight as like a
rematch. He’s taking this fight like as if it was the first time they fought again. This is, he feels
that this is a very important fight for himself as it is for Rich Franklin. And he just is focused in
guaranteeing that it’s going to be the fight of the night if not the year.
Elias Cepeda: Thank you, Ed. Thank you, Anderson.
Operator: And we’ll hear again from Jeff Potts with Times Leader.
Jeff Potts: Yes, this is actually two questions. One is for Dana. Dana, first
off how are you sir?
Dana White: Good, how are you?
Jeff Potts: Can’t complain at all. Kind of getting excited for UFC 77. I was
there in Columbus back in March with probably roughly 20,000 people just absolutely going ballistic for
lack of a better term. What type of a crowd reaction do you think will you expect on October 20th at
Cinci?
Dana White: The same. I mean obviously we’re in the same state and this one
sold out. So it’s going to be — it’s going to be a good show.
Jeff Potts: Cool. I got a question for Tim if he’s there.
Tim Sylvia: Yes.
Jeff Potts: Tim what’s up buddy?
Tim Sylvia: What’s going on?
Jeff Potts: Nothing man.
Tim Sylvia: I thought you all forgot about me.
Jeff Potts: No, not at all. Hey I just wanted to see, you know, check on how
you were feeling. If I remember reading correctly you had surgery after your fight with Randy in
March?
Tim Sylvia: Yes.
Jeff Potts: I just, curious to see how you were feeling and what the
health-wise is.
Tim Sylvia: Obviously I’m feeling great because if I wasn’t I wouldn’t be
taking this fight because, you know, Brandon’s a tough guy. Surgery went awesome. As soon as I came out of
anesthesia I jumped out of bed. The nurse told me to settle down. I couldn’t because the
pain was all gone. So I’m feeling great. Training’s going awesome. I’m excited for this fight.
It’s going to be a — it’s going to be a real exciting fight. You guys like your standing bang so
someone’s going to sleep.
Jeff Potts: Well man, hey, welcome back Tim. We missed you buddy.
Tim Sylvia: Thanks man.
Operator: We’ll take our next question for Jay Morrison with the Hamilton
Journal.
Jay Morrison: Yes, hi Rich. I was just wondering if you could let us know where
specifically you were training out in the mountains and also how to address whether it was difficult
or refreshing to be away from — away from home that long.
Edward Soares: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
Dana White: Hello?
Jay Morrison: Is Rich still there?
Dana White: Rich you there?
Jennifer Wenk: Rich, are you still on the line?
Jay Morrison: Yes, is Rich still there?
Dana White: Rich.
Operator: Pardon the interruption, Rich is still on line.
Jennifer Wenk: Okay.
Dana White: Rich, did you hear the question?
Rich Franklin: Yes, are you there?
Jay Morrison: Yes.
Dana White: Yes, can you hear me?
Rich Franklin: What was the question again? I lost you.
Jay Morrison: Yes, OK. I was wondering if you could let us know where
specifically you went in the mountains to train and if it was more difficult or refreshing to be away from
home that long.
Rich Franklin: Yes, we (Werchter Jale’s) also on the card and the student of
his, one of the gentleman that trains his school has a hotel out in ((inaudible)) so we were able to come
out to Wyoming and train for relatively low cost. And we left Cincinnati for three weeks. It’s
been both refreshing to get of the city because I’m not in the middle of the city with all the
distractions. There’s a lot of local media and things that were taking up my time. But being out here in Wyoming where it’s a small town and I’ll tell you what,
honestly there is not anything to do out here but train. So, you know, we basically train each week
and then train again. And we’re very focused.
Jay Morrison: How many hours a day would you say you were training?
Rich Franklin: You know, I mean maybe somewhere between four and five and of
course we have a couple days of the week off and what not. It’s basically a similar training
regimen that I would do at home. Things have changed slightly but no more, no less time than I would do
for any other fight.
Jay Morrison: All right. Appreciate it. Best of luck on the 20th.
Rich Franklin: Thank you.
Operator: Our next question comes from Carlos Arias with the Orange County.
Carlos Arias: Brandon?
Brandon Vera: Yes sir.
Carlos Arias: Brandon, could you talk about what it’s like to be married to
another fighter who also has been on a reality show. And what’s that like having your wife go out there in
the ring and fight, too?
Brandon Vera: You want me to answer this Dana, or should I have him call me
later?
Jennifer Wenk: No that’s OK. Go ahead and answer.
Brandon Vera: Man, being married to a fighter is pretty cool. I mean we get to
get up and we run together in the morning. We both have the same mentality about training and
leaving each other alone when we’re training. So it’s, it makes my life real easy. Training’s
easy, my life is easy at home, we both understand each other. And man, that’s all I can really say about
being married to another fighter. It’s easy. The hardest part is getting, is watching her get in the ring. She’s hot man. I
don’t like watching her get hit.
Carlos Arias: Can you talk about how you guys met also?
Brandon Vera: We were at the gym and I hear somebody beating on a beat bag and
I just looked up because I’d never been to a boxing gym before and I heard somebody beating on
this beat bag beating the hell out of it and I was like whoa, who’s that. And I looked up and
it was her. She was just sitting there banging away on a bag. So three days later I asked her
out on a date and ever since then it’s been a wrap. We’ve been together ever since.
Carlos Arias: Thanks a lot Brandon.
Brandon Vera: What happened?
Operator: Our next question comes from Dan Stupp with Dayton Daily News.
Dan Stupp: Dana, can you confirm that the UFC will be returning to Columbus in
March and if so might we see Rich Franklin headline the event if he gets his belt back?
Dana White: We will be back in March and I don’t know what the card will be. I
have no idea.
Dan Stupp: OK. And did you say UFC 77 is a sellout?
Dana White: Yes.
Dan Stupp: OK. Thanks.
Operator: As a reminder that is star one if you’d like to ask a question. Next
we’ll hear from Doug Jeffrey with Ultimate Grappling.
Doug Jeffrey: Hey Tim. I’ve got a question for you about your knee. How is the
health and how is that doing?
Tim Sylvia: I never had a problem with the knee so that’s good. Back is good
too though. I know that was an injury I had. And health’s great.
Doug Jeffrey: OK. I thought at the militage camp that you were doing some work
on the knee between the rounds?
Tim Sylvia: No.
Doug Jeffrey: OK.
Tim Sylvia: Maybe traction. I don’t know.
Doug Jeffrey: OK. Next question. What impact if any will Brandon’s time away
from the Octagon mean to you?
Tim Sylvia: I don’t — I think Brandon is the kind of fighter where I don’t
think it’s going to affect him. You know, he’s young, you know, he’s in the gym a lot. He goes his own gym I think
and, you know, his wife trains so, you know, he’s always around the gym. I mean I don’t know
how the competition, you know, not being in competition for a year. I don’t know if
it’s going to affect him that bad. You know, somebody at an older age maybe but I think he’s going to be
fine with it.
Doug Jeffrey: OK, good deal. Thank you. And Brandon, the same question. What
about you? What are your thoughts about being away for so long?
Brandon Vera: Being away for so long sucked. I didn’t like it. But, you know, I
have been training the whole time. It’s not like I pulled a retirement for a year and hung out and
kicked it. I’ve been training. I went to Thailand, went to the Philippines, worked on my hands with
some boxers out there. Working with a lot of different co-boxers. Just training. You know, just, I just kept myself motivated and it’s pretty easy motivated
wanting to get back in the big show to train everyday. So it wasn’t a problem at all. I was still
doing two a day the whole time.
Doug Jeffrey: OK, good deal. Thank you.
Brandon Vera: Thanks.
Operator: And we’ll hear from Brett Robinson with (Call Me Pro Magazine).
Brett Robinson: Actually my question was just asked. I was wanting to ask
Brandon what the time away from the Octagon taught him as a fighter.
Brandon Vera: It taught me to pay attention a lot more to details. The both
business side of the fight game and the fighting side of the fight game. Pay attention more to details. I
got to sit back and watch a lot of the fights. I wasn’t actively fighting. So I just got to pick
and choose and start picking up some more techniques that I like and that I didn’t like. Some things
that I need to change in my game. So the time away was good I think. I don’t know, we’ll find
out on 77.
Brett Robinson: Thanks.
Operator: Again, that is star one if you’d like to ask a question. We’ll hear
from Elias Cepeda with Inside Fighting.
Elias Cepeda: Thank you. I have a question too for Rich Franklin. Rich, I
wanted to ask you to go into your sense of urgency. I mean even after the fight a year ago you had a pretty
bad nose injury. I was talking to you before your next fight afterward. You really seemed to want
to get back into action very fast and certainly it seems like you wanted to get back to title
contention real fast as well. I was wondering why in particular that is. Is it — is it something you see in
the match-up with Sylvia that you really feel that you can do a lot better with the next time
around? Is it that you just want to get the belt back? Or is it just simple economics, that this is the
biggest fight out there for you, they’ll give it to you, you’re obviously not scared of anyone so you’ll
take it.
Rich Franklin: Well, you know, I think honestly in every interview I’ve done
prior to this I’ve always said that if UFC wanted me to have three or four fights before they give me a
rematch for the title that would be fine. If they wanted to put me back in the title rematch right away
that would be fine as well. And as far as I’m concerned, you know, this fight wouldn’t matter whether it
was — it was for a belt or not. Anderson right now is number one in the weight class and obviously you
always want to look to fight some of the best ((inaudible)). So I’m aiming for the best. And
for defeating me the way that he did, I think that you know I’d definitely like to get back in the
ring not just to prove
something. That’s not my motivation, but just to try to set things straight in
my own mind.
Elias Cepeda: Thank you. You surprise a lot of people afterwards by, and I’m
really paraphrasing you here, but saying that you were surprised by how strong he was in the clinch.
Did you — did you not study him closely enough if you feel in retrospect and do you feel you have
a better grasp on his style and his abilities this time around?
Rich Franklin: Yes, I do believe so. I think that in the initial fight at the
time I believed that I put the amount of time in that I should’ve to study him and I didn’t. So we’ve done a
lot better job this time breaking down film and everything. And I believe that that’s
((inaudible)).
Elias Cepeda: Thanks. I had a quick question for Tim also if you get a chance.
Tim, do you think that the experience, your experience at the championship level may be a big
advantage for you against Vera?
Tim Sylvia: I think it will be an advantage, yes. I don’t know how big it will
be. We won’t know until the 20th but I think it’s going to help definitely.
Elias Cepeda: Cool. Well thank you Tim and Rich.
Operator: And we’ll now hear from Thomas Jerbasi with UFC.com.
Thomas Jerbasi: Hey Rich. You know you’ve dealt with a lot of media obligations
throughout your career since becoming a champion. Why was it so important for you to get away out of
town as opposed to just maybe, you know, taking the phone off the hook and
locking the gym doors? Why’d you need to get out of town for this one?
Rich Franklin: Well the thing is the amount of PR work that I had to do for
Columbus was a lot in comparison to something that I would do when I was fighting in Vegas. And the
difference is that even in Columbus I’m still an hour and a half away from that city. And here
everything is in my backyard. So even if I — even if I don’t pick up the phone and stuff like
that, I still have media outlets showing up to workouts and fans coming in and stopping by and things
like that. And all that stuff becomes a distraction so. It’s just, it’s easier to get out of town
and shut it all down than it is to be there.
Thomas Jerbasi: OK. Have you found that having all that stuff around has
affected your performances in the past?
Rich Franklin: Well, not necessarily but my concern was that that kind of
stuff, that it would have a much larger impact because it would be at such a higher volume. And I just didn’t
want to run into that in the last three weeks of my training. It was easier just to get out of town
and make sure that I stayed focused rather than be distracted by what could’ve potentially been a
lot — a 3lot more than any fight in the past.
Thomas Jerbasi: All right. All right. Now Rich, what’s your breakdown of
Anderson these last two fights with Luder and (Markwart) and obviously without giving anything away. Did you
see things in those fights that you could capitalize on next week?
Rich Franklin: Well, you know, I think that Luder’s a great ground guy and I
think that Sylvia showed some resilience on the ground. A lot of people might think that his ground game
is his weakness but that’s not necessarily so. So I think that watching the Sylvia, or watching
the Luder fight obviously showed that he’s definitely versatile in all aspects of the fight
game. And with the (Markwart) fight honestly I took a lot away from that just with
you know the switch that he hit and again with his ground game and everything. The poise and
everything that he showed. So I mean you — when you watch fights like that, you’re not only
looking for the mistakes that somebody makes but you’re also looking for the things that they
do well.
Thomas Jerbasi: Right, right. Rich, I’ll end it with this. I know the results
of the first fight had to come as a shock. What was the morning after that fight like for you?
Rich Franklin: I had a really sore nose. Well, you know, I mean, you just sit,
honestly, you just sit after the fight and I did a lot of staring out the window wondering where I went
wrong and what happened and why. And you keep asking yourself why and why and why. And you
could do that for days and days upon end and really you just come to the same conclusion you
came to before you even thought of the question anyway which is pretty much nothing.
Thomas Jerbasi: Right, right. Best of luck next week Rich, thanks.
Rich Franklin: Thank you.
Operator: And that is star one if you’d like to ask a question. We’ll hear from
Jeff Potts with Times Leader.
Jeff Potts: Hey Rich, I’ve got two final questions for you. Number one, how
much of an adrenaline rush are you going to get. Because I know when I talked to you after UFC 68 in
Columbus you said the adrenaline was unbelievable when you walked out. I mean how much of an
adrenaline rush is it going to be walking out in your home city?
Rich Franklin: Yes, I don’t know. I can’t predict how I’m going to feel in the
future so we’ll just have to wait until that time arrives. I would imagine that the fans are going to be
pumped up and all that kind of stuff. So, you know, regardless of whether — regardless of whether I
have a ton of fans in the audience, as of 68 it was just the energy that was in the — in the air.
The fact that ever seat was full before the first prelim began is the feeling that creates all that
adrenaline rush. So I don’t know. I can’t answer how I’m going to feel the night of the fight.
Jeff Potts: And last question is, the training at the (audits), I mean you’re
known as being one of the most well-conditioned guys in the UFC itself. I mean how much — how much better
shape I guess are you going to be in having trained at the altitude in Wyoming. And also, do you
have the black eye yet?
Rich Franklin: No, I don’t — I don’t have the black eye. I did get my lip
busted open so maybe I’ll come in with a busted open lip instead this time. But no, you know I don’t know. It’d
be — honestly the first couple — I felt like I was in good shape when I arrived in the work
altitude here. And I, really it doesn’t matter what kind of shape you’re in. You come to something like
this, your body’s not prepared for it. So we’ll see. This is first time I’ve actually left for an extended period of time in
training some altitude. I’ve
been in Salt Lake several times training with Jeremy Horn but, you know, the
altitude is still about 3000 feet lower than here in Wyoming. So we’ll see how that affects me in a
fight.
Jeff Potts: All right, buddy. Thanks a lot. Best of luck on the 20th.
Rich Franklin: Thank you.
Operator: As a final reminder, that is star one if you’d like to ask a question
and we’ll pause for just a few moments. Next we’ll hear from Dan Stupp with Dayton Daily News.
Dan Stupp: Tim, I’ve got a question for you. If you win next weekend, do you
feel you deserve a title shot and do you plan to ask for one?
Tim Sylvia: No, I mean, that’s in the UFC’s cards. I don’t know if an awful lot
of you know it or not but Randy got injured ((inaudible)) fight, got a broken arm. So, you know, he’s
still sidelined from that. So, I, you know, if I win, I don’t want to sit around and wait for Randy
to heal up. I want to get another fight as soon as possible, as early, you know, as early as 2008.
Win or lose, you know, as long as I come out healthy I want to fight in the earliest 2008.
Dan Stupp: OK. Thank you.
Operator: We’ll hear from Doug Jeffrey with Ultimate Grappling.
Doug Jeffrey: Brandon, what does Tim’s size, what kind of problems does Tim’s
size create for you?
Brandon Vera: Man, we call those big problems. We call those six foot eight
problems. Tim’s a big dude. I didn’t think that the size would be a big problem until we imported all
these guys in that were six eight and we started sparring and training. The timing and range is
definitely different so I’m glad my coach is all to that because my heart hit a dead, would’ve just
been like, no we’ll just use our regular sparring partners. But it’s definitely a big, big problem. Something we hope will be rectified.
We’ve been training
real hard with big guys everyday. I have big guys beating up on me everyday so
I mean we’ll see — we’ll see how I adjust to it in the ring. I’m the smallest heavy-weight in
the division. Tim’s definitely the biggest heavy-weight in the division. It’s going to be an
interesting fight man. I’m excited and we’ve been preparing well for it so let’s see what happens.
Doug Jeffrey: OK and Tim, what is your biggest concern about Brandon?
Tim Sylvia: I don’t know if I have a big concern. I mean there’s a lot of
concerns. I mean, he’s young, he’s light, he’s fast. And you know his standups good, man. He’s got really
good standup. And I mean he’s got good ground too. I mean he submitted, you know, (Arswelio), and,
you know, I fought him for three five minute rounds. So I don’t know. I mean he’s got a lot of good, you know, assets out there so. I just, you know,
I’m ready for a tough fight. I really think it’s going to be a tough one and, you know,
hopefully it doesn’t go three rounds. I don’t like going to the division. So he brings it, I bring it,
someone going to get knocked out.
Doug Jeffrey: Good deal, thank you.
Jennifer Wenk: Operator, if we could have — ask for final questions at this
time.
Operator: Star one again as a reminder if you’d like to ask a question. And
there are no further questions at this time. I’ll turn the call back to you Ms. Wenk.
Jennifer Wenk: Perfect. Thank you very much everybody for calling in. This
concludes our media conference call for UFC 77. Thanks again and I’ll turn it over to Dana to say
closing remarks.
Dana White: That’s it. Thank you everybody. Thank you guys. I appreciate taking
the time out of your
training and I’ll see you next weekend.
Male: Yes sir, thanks everybody.
Male: Later, thanks.
Male: See you Dana.
Operator: And that will conclude today’s conference. Thank you so much for you
attendance. Have a wonderful day.
