UFC president Dana White and five of the stars from Saturday’s UFC 165 event were in attendance at the show’s post-fight press conference and some interesting new and notes surfaced.
Here are the tastiest tidbits that came out of the media-only event:
— White said the UFC is considering holding a rematch between Jon Jones and Alexander Gustafsson, but no decision has been made yet. White also said he was too into the fight to score it himself, but said it was very close. He added the Swede’s “stock is through the roof.”
— Additionally, White mentioned Las Vegas and Europe as possible locations for a rematch between Jones and Gustafsson.
— The UFC wants to do Renan Barao vs. Dominick Cruz next, but it depends on Cruz’s health. Barao said he doesn’t care who he fights next and that he will just keep training hard in the gym until he’s given his next assignment. However, he did say that he would like to fight in Brazil at some point, as he’s never fought there during his UFC career.
— Barao also said that with his $50,000 Knockout of the Night bonus he would be using the cash to support his family, as usual. Although Barao is one of the most exciting fighters in the UFC, the majority of casual fans don’t know him yet, something White says he expects will change as Barao keeps fighting on the big stage.
— Eddie Wineland on the stoppage in the Barao fight: “Personal opinion? Bull s—.” White said that the kick was nasty so he can’t blame the ref for stopping the fight. Barao said that he had been training the spinning back kick quite a bit in camp and that his corner was calling on him to throw it on Wineland during the fight.
— White said that the UFC has a matchup in mind for heavyweight Brendan Schaub – who submitted Matt Mitrione on the main card — hinting that another fighter is possibly injured and that Schaub may be asked to fill in. Speculation is that he could replace one of the heavyweights at UFC 166, such as Shawn Jordan or Roy Nelson.
— Stephen (Wonderboy) Thompson, who knocked out Chris Clements on the undercard, said he wants a rematch with Matt Brown, who is the only fighter he has ever lost to in his mixed martial arts career. White said that the loss to Brown doesn’t look so bad in hindsight, as Brown is currently on a six-fight win streak and is set to face top contender Carlos Condit at UFC on FOX 9.
— According to White, he fell asleep during the stinker between Costa Philippou and Francis Carmont, a fight where Carmont controlled his opponent for nearly the full 15 minutes.
— White said that he is a big fan of Khabib Nurmagomedov, who improved to 21-0 in his MMA career with his victory over Pat Healy. He said that the UFC has big plans for the Russian, but wouldn’t elaborate.
— Although Nurmagomedov asked for a title shot after his win, he said at the post-fight presser that he would fight anyone the UFC puts in front of him.
