Below are the highlights from today’s press conference between Dana White and the press. There’s so much packed in here it’s hard to process at once. Negotiations with Kurt Angle? A superbowl match-up? Jersey’s sanctioning of Kimbo vs. Mercer is ‘disgusting’ (was it disgusting to sign Sean Gannon after watching Kimbo ‘spar’ with him?)? Diego Sanchez had/has Hepatitis C? Read for yourself:
*He is not interested in promoting a boxer vs. MMA fighter match because he knows what will happen, unless it’s with a boxer the caliber of Floyd Mayweather. Said he had never even heard of Cintron as a boxer and has no interest in him.
*He confirmed negotiations are back on with Kurt Angle. He said Angle tells him he’s serious and if Angle is serious, he’s interested. He said he doesn’t waste his time talking about deals that he thinks are going nowhere, but he also thought he had Angle once in the past.
*Said nothing new to report on HBO. But now he wants to control the production again, but still thinks a deal will be made
*Said in the end, they would finalize the Pride sale and promote shows in Japan. He said their business was a mess and it wasn’t run as a business and it’s taking a lot of time to sort it out.
*There will be a major main event announced at the end of UFC 71. It will involve the Chuck Liddell vs. Quinton Jackson winner and a challenge that will be issued for a dream match scenario. It will be the first so-called Super Bowl match (my words not his). At another point, White talked about Shogun Rua being signed, but our impression is that it’s another match. Doing the math, the opponent they are talking about is probably one of these three names–Wanderlei Silva, Dan Henderson or Rua.
*When a reporter brought up Tito Ortiz thinking that since he’s on Dana’s bad side that he won’t be getting a title match, he said, Tito was a pussy and he needs to show up and fight Rashad Evans.
*He questioned Georges St. Pierre’s mental toughness, saying he was so nervous backstage before the fight with Matt Serra. Said his physical ability is second to none.
*Said he expects to run a live event in Mexico in early-to-mid 2008
*Said it was disgusting that New Jersey sanctioned the Ray Mercer vs. Kimbo Slice fight
*Ripped on Oscar de la Hoya as a promoter saying he should have loaded up the undercard, but respects him great for his ability to draw and said he expected 1.4 million to 1.65 million buys
*Said that before the Koscheck fight, that Diego Sanchez was diagnosed with Hepatitis C. At first he was planning on announcing his retirement before the show, but further tests revealed he didn’t have it, but they didn’t know what it was. Said after the fight with Koscheck he was finally found to have had a major staph infection, explaining his inability in the ring that night.
*On IFL, ‘It’s a retarded concept.'”
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