Watch the UFC 289: Pre-Fight Press Conference live on Thursday at 8pm ET / 5pm PT featuring main card fighters Amanda …
welcome to the UFC 289 press conference from Rogers Arena in Vancouver British Columbia Canada where the UFC is finally back in the great white North for a big time Pay-Per-View event this Saturday first up to the stage a veteran of 15 fights in the UFC coming off on knockout win in his last fight he’s a former National Champion linebacker for the University of Alabama welcome to the stage boy Eric Anders [Music] his opponent a dangerous Striker with 10 Knockouts across a stellar pro career he is the power bar welcome to the stage one of Canada’s very own Mark Andre Barrio moving on to our next matchup in the featherweight division first up coming in on a three-fight win streak he sets a frenetic face and always entertains the message poised to enter the top 15 in the world all aboard for Nate the train land where and his opponent kicked off the year with a knockout win over Damon Jackson in January now looking to make another run towards title contention the 13th ranked featherweight in the world please welcome to the stage dead 50K [Music] moving on to our welterweight matchup up first he’s of an incredible first round knockout back in February he’s won five of his last six fights entering Saturday fugit as for his counterpart he’s unbeaten in his last six outings and hasn’t needed a second round since impressing the UFC brass on Dana White’s Contender series please welcome to the stage proper Mike molot thank you moving to our co-main event of the evening massive implications in the lightweight title picture up first to the stage riding an eight fight win streak this man hasn’t lost a fight in over five years he is the fourth ranked UFC lightweight in the world welcome to the stage and his opponent he holds the record for the most finishes submissions and performance Awards in UFC history 11 of his last 12 fights fights ladies and gentlemen should put your hands together for the former UFC lightweight champion of the world Charles two Crocs Oliveira [Applause] [Music] and now for our main event start with the Challenger answering the call for the biggest opportunity of her fighting career looking to join her teammate Alexa Grosso as the only mexican-born women to hold UFC gold fighting out of Lobos MMA please welcome to the stage a rainy aldana [Music] [Applause] making her way to the stage she is the current UFC bantamweight and featherweight Champion she holds wins over every woman who has ever laid hands on the Phantom weight belt she is the consensus greatest female mixed martial artist of all time looking to add to her Legacy on Saturday night Canada please welcome the Lioness Amanda Nunes it’s been a long time what’s up candidates good to see you again we’re happy to be back here uh who’s got the first question right here for Amanda first of course this is another huge fight for you we’re just watching the countdown show before and you said in there that you feel you can stop Irina at any time uh what about this matchup makes you so confident in that honestly I will stop her no doubt in my mind he’s about to Brazilian so I’m I’m like completely like ready for this fight you know she’s a better fighter than Juliana for sure you know she’s gonna bring the challenges and and I’m ready for this battle man it’s like I’m just like where did it ever so she’s gonna be the challenge and I’m Gonna Be Ready for answer so you guys have the Great Main Event ever and I know Amanda how you feel about that first Juliana fight it was kind of an anomaly but if you’re saying she’s better than Juliana uh do you feel like she brings a certain degree of danger then knowing that Juliana was able to win one fight definitely you know just girl can knock people out you guys saw and me too so how excited I can be you know what I mean we’re gonna really punch each other try to kick each other’s ass so I hope you guys have a good time for arena um you had said yesterday at media day this isn’t kill or be killed this is just kill or kill can you explain a little bit more of that quote and the meaning behind it what happens I’m I’m for the win it’s still our killer for me it’s not Killer die so I’m going to do anything for you tonight and knowing that we just saw Amanda lose a fight just two fights ago what have you been able to take away from that just from a tactical and confidence perspective oh well Amanda is dangerous everywhere I I I can take a lot of that side I know she wasn’t at her hundred percent I know she came back better than ever and I’m expecting her best version in this time and just one more after cat as Mike milot uh Mike you’ve said this is a dream come true to be able to compete here in front of the Canadian crowds this is just a sliver of what it’s going to be like Saturday night can you just explain what the emotions are for you right now Canada what’s going on baby baby can you feel it oh man coming out here hearing all you guys cheering feeling the energy feeling this proud behind me feeling 35 million Canadians behind me this is the energy I’ve been dying for man my whole career I’ve been wanting this I’ve been waking up for the last eight weeks dreaming of this noise Dreaming of You Rowdy fans getting behind us I can’t wait for Saturday night baby question for the former Champion Charles Oliveira obviously we’ve seen you come off of losses before but it’s been a long time since we’ve seen you kind of rebound to get it back into the win column how is the approach to this fight different from your previous losses that you’ve tried to you know erase service a wounded lion is still alive and I feel that I was reborn From the Ashes I’m a champion I’ll show you that yesterday at media day beneal seemed very confident in his abilities to to stand toe-to-toe through maybe even best you in the grappling department so I’m curious what do you make of the needle skill set in the Octagon when you do face off Saturday temperatures you know but Neil’s a tough guy just a a guy that comes from a great school it’s raining a tough guy who deserves all the respect in the world with all due respect I’m not worried about what we knew can bring I’m gonna do what I can do it’s bad at bad time all the time it wasn’t for beniel similar question at me today you’re obviously confident in your abilities against Charles is it something you see in Charles game or are you just so confident in your own skill set when you enter the octagon I’m uh I’m confident in my skill set I’m confident what God has given me I uh I recognize how good Charles is it’s not something I see in him that’s a flaw I just I just believe in myself and what God has given me I’ve said this before in my opinion Charles second best lightweight of all time you know right behind Habib but I it doesn’t matter for me I want to fight the best guys in the world [Music] finally one for Dana White uh both Charles and beneal seem pretty confident that a win on Saturday they’ll get the shot against Islam in October in Abu Dhabi is that the case the winner will fight Islam for the title I have no idea we’ll see how the fight goes on Saturday but yeah it obviously makes a lot of sense uh you know right here right now makes a lot of sense let’s see what happens there’s a question for Dan ige Dan we know that Nate can Brawl on a dime as he said yesterday but do you think you have the cleaner striking um first of all I just wanna thank you guys and show a moment of gratitude for all the fans that came out tonight I’m pumped up man this is my dream just to be sitting here first time fighting on a main card on a pay-per-view I’m feeding off this dude’s energy over here I’m just pumped to be here uh to answer your question um I’m looking to go out there and put on a clean kill I’m gonna go out there and look for The Knockout and know what you guys want to see and I’m knocking this dude out is this the sort of fight where you know no matter what happens you’re getting into a scrap you’re getting into a proper War 100 dude naylander is one of the best in the world he he comes to fight every single time he’s on a three fight win streak he deserves this and uh I’m not I’m not taking the guy lightly I fought the best of the best and I’m here to you know prove that I am one of the best in the world [Music] [Applause] for you Nate we know you come to put on a show but Dan eagle has shown that he’s as tough as they come but for you who do you believe out of yourself and Dan is the tougher man going into the cage on Saturday night and I’ve been waiting to say Nathan trains at the damn press conference let’s go hey some noise tomorrow night the next night I’m dreaming the same thing we’re gonna finish this man Saturday night I’m gonna get the job down be the first man in the Octagon to finish this man no problem how do you see that finish coming I’m gonna try to kick him in the head very kindness and this is a a fight your opponent has asked for him wanted for a while for you does the mentality have to be I’m coming in to be saying be careful what you wish for yeah absolutely obviously he got a death wish you know y’all know what I come to do and what I bring to the table I find out getting them out of there a few Mark Andre what is it about this fight that makes you feel you can come in and show your home country what you can do and why is this the fight that you wanted today yeah first of all thank you Canada feels so good to be back um I like the energy um super excited to be back and also I’ve been asking for this fight for a long time so now I feel like it’s the right time and uh yeah I’m just I feel like I’m a complete another complete fighter right now and it’s just time to show everybody that what I’ve made of and I have the perfect opponent to show you guys so I can wait question for benil uh and I’m sorry if this leads to more booze during media day yesterday Charles said and of course this is a translation uh regarding the Islam fight I didn’t watch it it wasn’t me I wasn’t there you don’t learn anything new when you don’t watch something is there anything you can gleam about Charles’s mindset of having him you know not seen that fight not thinking about that fight I love you love you let’s see Charles has uh and he has so many fights in the UFC right so he’s been through this he knows what he’s doing um as far as not wanting to watch the fight I’m sure it’s something uh he’s thought about and he started through so if he’s sure about it and you know he’s sure about it obviously I’ve always watched all my losses and I’ve uh and I’ve been very uh obsessed as a obsessive about it but maybe maybe he’s smarter than I am just one more few benil um you know you said that you were given your the UFC’s word that you’re getting the next title shot was that response from Dana at all concerning for you no I’m not not concerned at all okay happy to hear it one for Dana uh Raquel Pennington is here as the backup for the main event obviously Juliana was supposed to fight Amanda she got injured and your estimation is Raquel or Juliana at the front of the line for the winner of this fight I have no idea I have no idea we’ll see how it all plays out [Applause] hey there uh this one for for Dan ige I see her I see your sandwich between two Canadians right now is that why you’re repping the Vancouver Grizzlies Jersey [Applause] [Music] I stole it from him growing up uh this one for Mike Mike yesterday you talked a lot about visualization um is this how you envisioned this moment and what are you envisioning uh for Saturday I’ve been in this room for the last eight weeks already man my body just hasn’t made it here yet so finally in this room I feel so comfortable in here man I yeah man 905 baby let’s go man I just feel like so privileged to represent this country like can anyone does anyone feel differently this is our show Saturday night man like this is for us that’s why we’re here this is for us this is our return this is Canadian mma’s return to the UFC baby this is our coming out party I’m just the one spearheading it the last one holding the fort down I’m coming here Saturday night to protect the house baby oh a question for Adam in the midst of all of that obviously Mike’s the Canadian you’re from just down the road across the border in Eugene Oregon is it nice to come up here you can have a vocal contingent in the house on Saturday night [Music] and I apologize for bringing on the booze [Music] hey my boys are Rowdy let’s go [Applause] Boozer like music in my ears this is uh this is a typical atom you can find right here I’m ready to go to war ready to go in the distance you know booze or cheers I don’t care [Applause] and another one for Mike obviously you’ve spoken this week pretty deliberately about going out finishing Adam continuing to build your stock what’s next after this what’s the next step for you I have nine wins in this sport I have nine first round stoppages or by knockout five by submission I don’t need to tell you guys I’m getting the stoppage it’s pretty clear based on my history that’s what I’m here to do right I’m not a guy who out points guys that’s not what I’m here to do I’m not here to barely win and win on paper I’m here to put guys away Saturday night that’s what I’m gonna do again we’ll deal with after that once that’s done [Music] [Applause] for uh for Amanda I mean you were introduced here tonight as the consensus greatest of all time at this point in your career what do you feel that you have left to prove is driving me forward I say the whole media same thing you know I love PE I love this moment I love the process you know so I born to do this I wanted to have this two belt so this is what I’m driving forward and be here for you guys today this is all about the competition and uh one for benil benil uh at media day Charles said you want a war war has come he’s called himself you know a lion wounded is still dangerous do you see him as more dangerous coming off a loss I mean it’s Charles Oliveira man he’s dangerous he’s always dangerous he’s always prepared and like I’m not gonna go in there thinking oh you know he lost his last fight he’s going to come in here soft come on man I’m not I’m not uh I’m not a child anymore I’ve I’ve grown up I I understand who Charles Oliver is and I know what I got to do and I’m gonna go in there and do it [Applause] who’s next right here go ahead this question’s for Adam um Mike Malad is obviously known as a first round finisher regardless of how this play of how this fight goes doesn’t get past the first round foreign [Applause] that’s for sure I know that lesson well I’m prepared to take him into the third round drown him and uh question for Mike Malad I know you got a A couple of new fans that are coming into town to see you this weekend so uh just give us a preview of what we’re gonna see Saturday amen you know he’s a tough guy he’s a solid fighter but I’ve been fighting solid fires my entire career and I’ve been putting them all away nobody in this company’s made it past five minutes with me yet he might be the guy to make it past the first round but I got a surprise for you I get better as the fight goes on I’m not a first round fighter I get better I get charged when this fight goes deep you’re gonna see me dig deep and if it doesn’t we’re gonna not even sweat again babe it doesn’t matter to me which one happens the only thing I know for sure is 10 wins 10 stoppages and then uh quick question for both Dan ige and uh Nate the train you guys had kind of said yesterday a media day that this one might steal the show it’s gonna be hard to do that over the Canadian fighters on the card but could this be one of those fights where the guy that shoots first the other guy’s gonna have the bragging rights go ahead big guy oh I’m definitely shooting quit I’m gonna take him down and submit him I am taking this dude’s soul on Saturday night let’s see I’m Gonna Keep Coming the monsters here okay we got one more who’s next no no more that’s it all right we’re gonna uh rip this out of here we’re gonna Square these guys off thanks for showing up tonight Canada we’ll see you tomorrow at the weigh-ins [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] that way [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] thank you [Applause] thank you [Applause] very much let’s go baby all right [Applause] now foreign [Applause] [Music]