UFC 154 POSTFIGHT SHOW ON FUEL TV Quotes – 11/17/12

St-Pierre: “I gave it everything I had. I was fighting the number-one guy.”

White: “I’m going to make the GSP-Silva fight.”

Silva on Fighting GSP: “This [will be] the biggest fight in the world. The fans of UFC will love it. Maybe this fight is the best fight in the history of the UFC.”

Cruz and Florian break down UFC 154 fights and victories.

LOS ANGELES, CA – The following quotes are from today’s UFC 154 POSTFIGHT SHOW ON FUEL TV, for UFC 154: ST-PIERRE VS. CONDIT. Hosted by Jay Glazer, UFC Bantamweight Champion Dominick Cruz and UFC TONIGHT’s Kenny Florian offered analysis from FUEL TV’s Los Angeles studios. Two-time MMA Journalist of the Year Ariel Helwani conducted fighter interviews on-site in Montreal.

Quote of the show: UFC President Dana White on if he’s going to make the GSP – Anderson Silva fight happen now: “I’m going to make the GSP-Silva fight. GSP is sore, he just got hit by a bus, and he hasn’t fought in 18 months. But I’ll make this fight. They’ll fight and it’ll probably be around May. It’ll either be in Toronto; Dallas, Texas, or Brazil.”

UFC 154 POSTFIGHT SHOW ON FUEL TV Analyst Kenny Florian on Georges St-Pierre vs. Carlos Condit: “Well, you know GSP wanted a comeback and he got himself a fight. What a fight. Condit really went after him and brought the best out of GSP. In a game where most fighters play checkers, it was GSP playing chess. He was a master at taking down Condit and landing some brilliant strikes, showing why he is the best champion of all time. He really had to come back from a huge kick that Condit landed in the third round and show he is the champion.”

UFC 154 POSTFIGHT SHOW ON FUEL TV Analyst Dominick Cruz on GSP vs. Condit: “GSP had the best game plan. He stayed in Condit’s grill and showed why he is still the champ. He always has his hands up when he is standing. He goes straight for the takedowns and follows the hips every time. GSP was nervous, as nervous as I’ve ever seen him. And he took that into the fight with him and it made him sharper and that’s what a champion does. He adjusts and makes the adjustments to win.”

Florian on if GSP showed ring rust: “He did show ring rust, but what is still impressive is his timing. He was maybe stopped once on one takedown and to see that consistency and timing on those takedowns after so much time off is impressive. He establishes his range and gets respect with his striking and all of a sudden he gets you down by grabbing your legs. It’s his timing and the way he mixes in his striking to get the takedowns.”

Florian on GSP getting rocked by Condit in round three: “You want to make those mistakes and come back from that and still get the win. That is the best time to make mistakes. He made a few mistakes out there and he came back and won. He is going to work on those mistakes and come back for another fight and win. GSP was firing.”

Cruz on GSP coming back from his injury: “He had the toughest fight of his career after the toughest injury of his career. Now he knows he came back from them and he’s unstoppable.”

Georges St-Pierre on his victory: “I’m happy. I gave it everything I had. I left everything I had in the Octagon. I was exhausted. My corner man was yelling at me, telling me to put it in the red, which means to give it everything you have and come back exhausted. I gave it everything I could. And I have to give Carlos credit because he is the number-one guy. I mean sometimes people forget that I am fighting the number-one guy in the world and get upset that I didn’t get the finish, but it’s not always easy. I gave it everything I had and I was fighting the number-one guy. I had fun out there.”

GSP on if a Hendricks fight is next: “I need to talk to the boss right here [Dana White] and see what is going to happen and what the best option is. I just got hit and I need a vacation before I decide anything today. But Hendricks was impressive and with the victory put himself in the number-one spot today.”

GSP on Nick Diaz’s Twitter stating that he didn’t like GSP’s fight: “I did better than Nick did against Carlos. But it was a tough fight.”

UFC President Dana White on how GSP looked to him: “He looked great. Condit is a tough guy and had his moments. I believe in ring rust, and after an 18 month layoff, GSP looked good. He was tired in the fifth round. But his hands looked good and his takedowns looked good. Condit is a tall order to come back to from 18 months off.”

White on if it’ll be an epic negotiation with Anderson Silva and GSP to make the fight happen: “I don’t think it’ll be an epic negotiation period. Both of these guys are under contract. We’ll sit down with Anderson probably in the two weeks, and then we’ll sit down with GSP.”

White on if Johny Hendricks deserves a title shot: “He looked awesome. There’re a lot of guys in line for title fights at 170 and 185. But we’re trying to make a super fight happen. We’ll see how it goes. We’re trying to determine the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world. It’s a big fight, people want to see it and we want to see it. But maybe Georges St-Pierre won’t want to do it, but I don’t see that happening. Johny Hendricks will keep fighting. He wants to keep making money.”

UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva on GSP’s performance: “I love it. It’s great. Georges is the best fighter.”

Silva on if GSP was more dominant in this fight than he thought he’d be: “I like the performance of Georges because he had control of the situation on the ground and up. I like it. I am watching and I see a new Georges. It’s good.”

Silva on if he is fighting GSP next: “Yeah, but this is not my decision or Georges’ decision. Dana needs to talk to his managers and talk to me because this is the biggest fight in the world. The fans of UFC will love it. Maybe this fight is the best fight in the history of the UFC.”

Helwani asks Silva if he wants to fight GSP: “Yeah, this is my plan, but it is not my decision. I am here to work for the UFC. I have my plans, Georges has his plans, but we both need to talk to Dana and Lorenzo because this is the biggest fight in the world.”

Silva on when he will talk to UFC President Dana White about fighting GSP: “Maybe tomorrow, I don’t know.”

Silva on if he will shorten his year-long vacation to fight GSP: “I need time for training, for talking with my coach, talking with my doctor to start my camp to train for a big fight. I am ready, but I need time to prepare for this fight.”

Silva if May is too early to fight GSP: “Maybe. With more time, I’ll be ready for the fight.”

Silva on where he would like the GSP fight to be: “In Brazil is good for me. For Georges it’s good here [Montreal]. But it is a big show for me, good show for him, it is 50/50.”

Cruz on who gets the edge in Anderson Silva vs. GSP: “GSP and Silva - you kind of have to go both ways. It depends who sticks to the game plan. GSP knows he has to get the takedowns. The big question is, is Silva bigger and stronger to move GSP’s base and get it back to his feet? The key is Silva has to keep it on his feet. If he can figure out how to take away GSP’s jabs, then he will take away his takedown setup and take away his ground game.”

Florian on who gets the edge in Silva vs. GSP: “What Silva does so well is establish his range and he is so good at going backwards and what he has done really well against the cage is stopping those takedowns.”

Carlos Condit on how he is feeling: “I’m a little disappointed. I would have liked a different outcome, but I left it all in there. There is definitely some improvement that needs to be made, but I’m glad I went in there and gave a good fight.”

Condit on any positives from the fight: “Definitely. Like I said, I would have liked a different outcome, but I left it all in the cage and I fought to my best ability tonight and that’s all I can do.”

Condit on if GSP was tougher than he expected: “No. He is one of the best guys that has ever gone into the Octagon and he showed it all tonight. I had the edge in some aspects, but the wresting and the top game he had me on.”

Condit on if he was surprised by anything: “His top game. He was really able to control me on the ground. He has a real methodical top game.”

Condit on where he goes from here: “I don’t know. I definitely have some improvements, but this is the kind of fight you learn from. We will reevaluate and we’ll see what the UFC has in store for me and hopefully I can go out there and continue to entertain.”

Florian on Condit: “What a classy guy. He did exactly what he needed to do. You don’t play chess against the chess master. You have to go in there, go at him and get nasty.”

Cruz on Condit: “GSP gave him no space and when GSP did give him a little space, Condit went in there and kicked him and almost got him. GSP is always busy whether he is on his back or standing and that is what a finisher does.”

Cruz on Kampmann vs. Hendricks: “Kampmann came out waiting for left hand. But wait, he got a right hook and didn’t even see it.”

Florian on Hendricks’ knockout of Kampmann: “It was the same punch he threw against Finch. He is so fast. Not a lot of people want to fight him. He’s a double threat because of his wrestling and his striking.”

Cruz on what makes Hendricks so dangerous: “The threat of the takedown is started when he lowers his body. That makes his opponents lower their hands, and then he gets the strike in. That’s set up the same way. He lowers the hips, and you’re not sure if he’s going to shoot or strike. Feints are the answer to counter it.”

Helwani asks Hendricks if he imagined finishing Kampmann like he did: “Yes I did. I believe in my power and I’m finally getting my edge with my punching. I had to fight a friend and get over it. I knew I wanted to get a good win.”

Hendricks on who he wants to fight next: “I want a title. I want a shot at that title. Nothing else matters in the world. I just went out there and they didn’t say he was the number-one contender, but they did say that and I laid him out in 46 seconds. What else do I need to do? I’ll take a fight with GSP or Carlos Condit.”

Florian on if Hendricks deserves a title fight: “How do you not give him a title shot, with everything he did, with that nasty knockout? You’ve got to give it to him.”

Cruz on Hendricks having to fight a friend: “I understand as a fighter what he means, that’s not normal. You have to jump a hurdle in your mind to do that and he’s passed another test now.”

Florian on Francis Carmont vs. Tom Lawlor: “You know this was a very, very close fight. From the beginning, Carmont seemed very hesitant and landed a takedown on the wrestler, but was unsuccessful in the guillotine and wasn’t really executing them right.”

Cruz on Mark Bocek vs. Rafael Dos Anjos: “This fight was all Dos Anjos from the beginning. He was using his footwork, his knees in the clinch. Dos Anjos went out there and kept the pressure on him, grinded him out and landed the ground and pound. He landed the elbows and got the takedowns. He grinded out Bocek and got the win.”

Florian on Mark Hominick vs. Pablo Garza: “This was a really interesting fight. Garza definitely had a huge reach advantage. Garza exposed Hominick in the first round and almost took him out, but he came back big and strong in the second and third round.”

Florian on Patrick Cote vs. Alessio Sakara: “These guys had some excellent combinations, but as you mentioned it ended with a lot of controversy. Cote really hurt him with his elbow and ended up getting the win. That should have been a no contest and that was the refs bad.”

Cruz on Cote’s controversial win: “There are rules and as a fighter I’m not aiming, I’m killing and that is what he was doing. It’s the ref’s job to stop it, get in there and tell him to stop hitting to the back of the head.”

White on if Sakara deserved to lose the fight against Cote because of strikes to the back of the head: “That was horrible reffing. I counted seven to nine illegal punches to the head. I commend the commission for stepping in, but you don’t award the guy a win for being knocked out. It should have been ruled a no contest.”