LOS ANGELES, CA – The following quotes are from today’s UFC 153 Weigh-in on FUEL TV, hosted by UFC Host Jon Anik. UFC stars Chael Sonnen and Urijah Faber join Anik, offering analysis from FUEL TV’s Los Angeles studios. Two-time MMA Journalist of the Year Ariel Helwani conducts fighter interviews onsite in Brazil.
“UFC 153 Weigh-in Show on FUEL TV” Analyst Chael Sonnen on the UFC 153 changes: “All these changes are for the best. All of these fights have gotten better. Silva has a significant place in UFC history, you don’t want to miss one of his fights and he is not going to get Stephan Bonnar out of there.”
“UFC 153 Weigh-in Show on FUEL TV” Analyst Urijah Faber on Stephan Bonnar: “The most exciting part is Stephan’s demeanor. He is excited. He is fighting the baddest guy on the planet. He’s geared up, he’s got his eyebrows plucked, he is ready. He is going to fight and he loves to do it.”
Sonnen on Silva’s size disadvantage: “There is a big misconception that starts back in elementary school on the playground, that there is a size advantage. But it’s a disadvantage. You don’t want to be the bigger guy in a fight; it means you have more weight to carry around. The biggest advantage that Silva has in the middleweight class is speed.”
Faber on what Bonnar’s game plan needs to be: “The biggest thing is he needs to get right in Anderson’s face. He is good at being elusive, using his footwork, getting on his feet, being a pinpoint puncher. The game plan is getting right in his face; getting him out of his comfort zone and making him go into an instinct of his own where he has to think about what he is going to do next.”
Faber on Stephan Bonnar’s experience: “Stephan Bonnar is about a seasoned as it gets as a UFC fighter. He has been in huge fights, he has been in dog fights, he has been in every kind of fight under the sun when it comes to MMA. I don’t think anything is too big for Stephan Bonnar.”
“UFC 153 Weigh-in Show on FUEL TV” Insider Ariel Helwani on Anderson Silva: “This marks Anderson Silva’s third non-middleweight fight in the UFC and it might be a while again before we see him fight at 185 pounds. He says he wants to fight Georges St-Pierre next at a catch weight.”
UFC Weigh-in Announcer Joe Rogan asks Silva what we can expect: “I owe this fight to all of my Brazilian fans. And I can’t wait to give them a good fight.”
Helwani asks Silva if he had to cut weight: “I had to cut just a little bit. I probably started my training at just about the same weight I weighed in at tonight.”
Silva on how much he will weigh tomorrow: “I am not sure. I will probably be about 205 tomorrow.”
Silva on if he prefers the vibe of this fight over his Sonnen fight: “This is the big sport. The people watching this sport, the kids watching this sport, the women watching this sport. It is really important that we focus. It is the biggest sport in the world.”
Silva on Bonnar: “Stephan Bonnar is a complete athlete. He has good jiu jitsu. He is good on his feet. He is good on the ground, he must be respected.”
Silva on his future in the middleweight division: “You know a fight against GSP would be a catch weight so he would probably move up a little bit, I would move down a little bit. But, I have good plans in my weight class at 185.”
Sonnen on Silva’s skills: “His ground game is pretty limited; this is not where he wants to be. But, he has plenty of attributes. First off, he has a black belt and that says something. That means he’s spent some time down there. And second, he is very long. He is really hard to punch and really durable. If you do punch him he won’t go away, he doesn't bruise that easy and he is long. Those legs come out of nowhere and he can catch you. He is a good fighter, but he is a great set-up guy. He moves around, he dances, dukes and jives, he gets you to freeze and then he attacks you. Really the best I’ve seen. Every time he goes for a move or motion he touches his target.”
Faber on Silva’s skills: “He is known for his standup and the biggest part of his standup is his footwork, his head movement, and his elusively. He is a pinpoint puncher, something we have never seen in other fighters before and the ability to use his conditioning. He knows when to explode, when to relax. Knowing when to bring the fight and when to stay out of the fight is what he is the master of. The ability to dictate when the fight happens is the most important thing and he has been able to do that.”
Joe Rogan asks Stephan Bonnar what we can expect: “Joe, you’ve seen my fights. I am not going to do anything different than what I always do when I get in the Octagon.”
Sonnen’s predictions on Silva vs. Bonnar: “I am going to take Stephan Bonnar. I think he does a lot well, but I think Silva looks out of shape and he looks very confident.”
Faber’s predictions on Silva vs. Bonnar: “Anderson Silva is the guy. He has proven his abilities, he is going to win.”
Sonnen on what stood out to him in the weigh-ins: “A number of things. For one, I thought the Nogueira fight looked interesting. I think he looked a little out of shape. This isn’t a knock on Nogueira, the guy is very tough. He took this fight on short notice, but it was very tough to turn away. Look, he is 35 going on about 85 and it showed on the scale.”
Helwani asks Minotauro Nogueira if he feels pressure fighting in his hometown: “Here in Brazil we have a lot of support. It is my hometown. My gym is one mile from the arena so I love to fight here. I love the crowd in the UFC and it’s amazing to fight in Vegas, but here I don’t take it as pressure, I take it as support.”
Nogueira on his health: “I am in good shape. I got one month and a week notice for this fight. I got stronger, my arm is not painful, I got faster. I’ll be in shape and I’ll throw a good show.”
Nogueira on if he plans to submit Herman: “I am here to prove his jiu jitsu is worse, I know he plays jiu jitsu. He trains jiu jitsu, too. Every fighter who learns to play on the ground learns jiu jitsu, so that is my goal tomorrow night to submit him.”
Sonnen on Minotauro Nogueira: “Say hello to the only UFC world champion and PRIDE world champion. This guy has done it all. He has been around. He is coming off an injury and that is going to be important. But, let’s look for him to put on a show in his hometown.”
Sonnen on Nogueira overcoming his loss and injury to Frank Mir: “Frank Mir is awesome and Nogueira was winning that fight. The reason that fight was such a shock was because it was so unexpected. This guy is the best in the world, world champion of two of the top organizations. Bad news is he is weathered. This guy has been in there a lot and it shows. He’s got the experience, but it shows. His body shows it. I think he’s got the right opponent, but he’s got work to do.”
Faber on Dave Herman: “Herman is a guy that I feel like has been a bigger, stronger guy in his early fights in his career. Not so much the case in the UFC right now. The last two fights he is coming off losses, he is in a desperate place. I feel like he stands and has power, but he needs to move a bit and use athleticism to win this fight.”
Sonnen on if stamina will be a problem for Nogueira: “No. The one thing about this guy is that he is as tough as old salami. His skills are limited, but his heart is endless. But yes, he is going to get tired, but he will push through it. He always does.”
Faber on if stamina will be a problem for Nogueira: “Here is the thing that people don't understand, for someone that has great technique you can scratch the fatigue factor because you know when to explode and when to relax, when to use energy and when to not.”
Sonnen’s predictions on Nogueira vs. Herman: “I like Nogueira in this fight. I think he is just a little bit grittier and Herman is coming off a bad loss.”
Faber’s predictions on Nogueira vs. Herman: “I’m going with Nogueira as well, he is too seasoned in this game and I don’t think it is going to be a fair matchup.”
Sonnen on Glover Teixeira: “This guy can go back a long ways. This was the number-one training partner of Chuck Liddell when Chuck was the UFC champion. He was a member of the pit. He’s got a phenomenal MMA record, though his UFC record is only 1-0.”
Faber on Teixeira: “The guy is dangerous. I mean he’s known for his huge punches. He has a great ground game and you see him taking guys apart. I’ve seen it back in the early WEC days when I was fighting there. I was like this guy is up next to be a star. He had some trouble with his citizenship and he had to go back to Brazil for a little bit, but now he is just taking names and people are scared.”
Sonnen on Fabio Maldonado: “Look this is a replacement. This was suppose to be Rampage’s fight and the second Rampage pulled out, Maldonado called the UFC and started campaigning for this fight. They gave it to him. This is the upset of the night in my opinion. Style wise this is not good for Glover. Maldonado is a boxer and he is one of the better boxers in the UFC and he is hard to take down.”
Sonnen’s predictions on Teixeira vs. Maldonado: “The upset of the night. Maldonado is going to get it. He asked for this fight, he believes he can win and style wise he is the guy. He is a great boxer.”
Faber’s predictions on Teixeira vs. Maldonado. “Glover. I feel like Maldonado has a tendency to exchange huge knees and elbows for body shots. He is an amazing boxer, but he is not well-rounded enough and too bold to last with Teixeira.”
Sonnen on Jon Fitch: “Jon Fitch should not be a surprise for anyone who follows the UFC, especially in his weight class. This guy has held the number two spot, been the top contender longer than I can think of. He actually had a title shot against GSP. He had a good close fight. He needs to make a statement here.”
Urijah on Phil Davis: “Phil Davis has a ton of personality and an amazing ground game. He is still working on the comfort in his standup game. But we will see how he fairs tomorrow night and if he worked out his weaknesses.”
Faber on Sam Sicilia: “Sam, a guy that was on my season of The Ultimate Fighter, has tons of punching power. He is very dangerous. I am very interested to see if he has rounded out his game and we will see that tomorrow night.”
Helwani on Rony Jason: “The TUF winner Rony Jason is one of the Nogueira fighters fighting at 153 and Big Nog himself singled him out at yesterday’s press conference as one of the top rising stars coming out of his camp.”
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