Highlights from UFC 111 Post-fight Press Conference

Bonuses:

Fight of the night - Wallace v Hamman

KO of the night- Shane Carwin’s brutal flurry against Frank Mir

Submission of the night- Kurt Pellegrino’s RNC over Fabricio Camoes

Attendance- 17K, gate- $4 Million

Worth Repeating:

Dana said due to the clean win for Carwin (Mir took 100 percent of the damage) and Lesner’s quick recovery, the fight for the real 265 pound belt could go down as soon as July. When asked why he even bothered with the interim title given the recovery of Lesner, White said he refused to pull the rug out from under Carwin, having done so too many times in the last six months. He opted to keep the Mir v Carwin fight for the interim belt rather then derail the train again.

Dana gave a status update on the caliber of English fighters. He said during the first UFC UK event in 2002- Briton offered no serious contenders and they should be proud to have now fielded a fighter that can go five rounds against the best 170 pounder in the world. Still very apparent to White though, (especially in the GSP Hardy fight)is the Brits weakness in the wrestle-game. He attributes this to the UK’s lack of a wrestling tradition. If Hardy had some takedown defense, said White, this would have been a totally different fight.

GSP weighed in regarding the unsubmittable Hardy. When asked if there was any mercy accounting for Hardy coming out of the deep submissions with his appendages in tact, GSP said no way — he was going for it as best he could. This was clearly visible from the press area in the kimura attempt before the awkwardly deep one. In that hold, GSP had the grip and waited to pull it with a wicked jerk a clear lack of regard for the shoulder of his opponent. 

GSP chalks the lack of snaps to a breakdown in technique. Having gone over the situations with his coach after the fight*, he said the subtle difference on training submissions and trying to finish them — in a championship situation — is enough to give the incomplete results in the armbar and kimura attempts. 

“Training is different,” he said, “the guy will tap in training. But in the fight, you need that little extra detail. I learned that tonight.”

Specifically, he stressed the placement of his legs in the kimura attempt as failing to keep Hardy’s hips pinned down. Instead he was able to turn in enough to relieve the shoulder pressure.

From my vantage, the armbar looked to be a clear lack of basics- pinch the knees and  ‘hips to the sky.’ It is hard to believe the best pound for pound fighter would make those errors, and the lack of other people calling that out makes me doubt myself but looking at the replays he appeared to have the pressure on the shoulder and did not thrust his hips up to create the fulcrum point on the elbow. Unbelievable, considering all beginner BJJ kids have it drilled into their heads — all the wrenching in the world can’t make up for a lack of hips. 

One last quote that must be shared for pure elegance, regarding GSP's desire to be technically perfect:

“I want it, if a guy is watching, I want him to say, I didn’t understand what he was doing but the technique he used — It was beautiful. That what I want people to say when I fight.” 

*The third video clip (third dot under video at the following link) is of GSP going over the technical failures with his coach immediately after the match, very humble, very basic- worth taking a look at, especially for the younger guys or anyone who actually trains.

Update on Sunday, March 28, 2010 at 9:02AM by Charles Cieri

Some worthy comments from my esteemed colleague: 

Mir should rethink his strategy of letting the other guy smash his face repeatedly. Twice is enough.

Miragliotta might be the worst ref ever. Rogan nailed it by saying he was responding to the meat-head factor [standing the fighters up early during] the fitch fight.

Almeida is a beast.

Gsp's tan is flawless. Canadian socialism is not.

I loved watching a Jersey local dominate a Brazilian national at their native martial art. Thanks Kurt. Bj look out!

[Rousimar Palhares] who ripped [Tomasz Drwal]'s knee apart should never be licensed to fight in the states again. That was criminal and unnecessary. Those are the kinds of instances that opponents of the sport will try to use against it.

Nick Diaz is a beast. I agree with him that Nate Diaz is the best fighter in the world!

They should have titled this one:   UFC 111 JERESY STYLIN   or     UFC 111 FIST PUMPIN

Update on Sunday, March 28, 2010 at 10:28AM by Charles Cieri

Good call on the suspension? 90 days is toothless, is that because it really ins't his fault?* The full list of suspensions included:  •Frank Mir: Suspended 30 days for precautionary reasons  •Mark Bocek: Suspended 30 days for scalp laceration •Rory Markham: Suspended 30 days for facial laceration •Rousimar Palhares: Suspended 90 days for not releasing submission •Tomasz Drwal: Suspended indefinitely pending X-ray of left knee and ankle •Jared Hamman: Suspended indefinitely pending X-rays of right foot; also suspended minimum of 60 days due to lacerations on right foot •Matthew Riddle: Suspended indefinitely pending CT scan *From Ah Man on Sherdog forum: The blame for this one falls 100% on the athletic commission. The only reason that submission was on more than 1-2 seconds longer than it needed to be was because the referee was out of position, and if they expect fighters to let go before the referee stops the fight they need to make that clear ahead of time.