Overheard at UFC 196 Media Day: Sanchez, Miller and more
While the four combatants in Saturday’s co-featured bouts got plenty of attention during their UFC 196 press conference, the fighters on the undercard had plenty to say during the undercard portion of Thursday’s media festivities at MGM Grand. Here are five of the best quotes:
DIEGO SANCHEZ (fighting Jim Miller in the UFC FIGHT PASS featured bout) “The quick turnaround was good, and I'm just excited. I got the ring rust off, I'm back home in Vegas, fighting at a lower altitude than Albuquerque, and my energy levels are so high. I feel fantastic, better than I ever felt. I'm gonna be five times the fighter that Jim Miller is, and seven times the fighter Diego Sanchez has ever been in the cage. But I'm not focused on Jim Miller; I'm focused on Diego Sanchez.”
JIM MILLER (fighting Diego Sanchez in the UFC FIGHT PASS featured bout) “I have to go out there and fight my fight. I can't let him drag me into his style of fight. That's how he beats guys, by stealing a round, and he almost beats guys that are beating him for 14 minutes. So it's very important for me to maintain control through the fight and just keep it my style and fight smart.”
TOM LAWLOR (fighting Corey Anderson) “Beastin 25/8 (Anderson’s nickname) is a mouthful to say. It's a little bit too much. If you read my UFC bio, they ask 'what's a training day like?' and I say 'look, I'm Beastin 26/9.' I'm going above and beyond. I've got the two extra days in there, two extra hours a day. I doubt the guy's really working out 24/7 or 25/8.”
GIAN VILLANTE (fighting Ilir Latifi) “It's just another fight. I've had plenty of them. (Laughs) It's a fight, but it's not a street fight. We all respect each other and it's hard to have normal friends sometimes because they don't know what you go through in this. The ups and downs of this are crazy. So if you're another fighter, I respect you because there's so much that goes into it, and it ain't easy.”
AMANDA NUNES (fighting Valentina Shevchenko) “When I step into the cage, my goal is to finish the fight as fast as I can. And this is always what I'm gonna do.”
