“I did quite a bit of research and he’s a wrestler. It’s like classic striker versus wrestler matchup,” Talbott told reporters on Wednesday.

“Did a lot of studying. Watched him talk in his interviews, and I got a pretty good feel for who he is.”

Talbott did see that Aguirre has respect for him and doesn’t just see him as a debuting fighter who he can easily add to his resume.

“I thought it was really refreshing to see that he has an accurate depiction of the fight, and he’s not just like writing me off as like another dude that he’s going to KO. So that was cool to see,” said Talbott.

“He’s prepared for 15 minutes of hell and I am as well.”

Coming off the Contender Series and making his debut at UFC Vegas 82 Talbott knows he’ll have to grow up in the promotion.

“There’s still a lot of room for improvement and I’m making improvements with every fight,” he said.

Talbott’s friends and family compare him to Sean O’Malley, who is Talbott’s dream opponent, and he spoke on the new bantamweight champ.

“I thought it was pretty cool to watch and extremely surprising. He was doing very small things throughout the first round that were paying dividends throughout the fight that Aljo just didn’t pick up on,” he said.

“I think it was very well deserved and I’m happy to see that he has the belt now with how cool and marketable he is as a person.”

Watch the entire media day scrum with Payton Talbott above. He takes on Nick Aguirre at UFC Vegas 82.

The post Payton Talbott Prepared For 15 Minutes Of Hell appeared first on Cageside Press.

“I’m a huge underdog and I know that. Lot of the pressure is on him,” Aguirre told reporters on Wednesday.

“They expect him to make a highlight out of me. They keep comparing him to Sean O’Malley. I know what that is, and I just need to go out there and shut all that sh*t down.”

Even with the hype Aguirre was not backing down from the fight. It’s anyone, anywhere, and anytime.

“I’m down to fight anyone and I think I showed the UFC that. I took the (Dan) Argueta fight on 5 days notice. No questions right away,” Aguirre said.

“This fight, I know he’s the biggest hyped guy in the Contender Series this year. I took that fight in a second. I’m here to compete, I’m here to be the best, so I’m not scared to fight anybody.”

All the talk about hype and pressure aside Aguirre knows Talbott is very good and expects a tough fight.

“It’s going to be a dog fight. He is good. He has a lot of talent, but I’m real good too. I don’t know if he really thinks I am. I don’t know if he respects me that way, but I’m going to show him how much talent I have,” he said.

“It’s going to be a dog fight and I’m ready for 15 minutes of hell.”

Watch the entire media day scrum with Nick Aguirre above. He takes on Payton Talbott at UFC Vegas 82.

The post Nick Aguirre Not Buying Talbott “Sean O’Malley” Comparisons appeared first on Cageside Press.

“We lived together 2012, 2013 I think, some part of 2014,” Pinheiro told reporters through a translator on Wednesday.

“Live (under) the same roof. Used to go out together weekends. I remember!”

With the history they have Pinheiro said she wishes this fight had a lot more on the line.

“I obviously would not ever choose this fight to happen except for a belt. I wish this fight was for a belt. It is weird the fact that we lived together. We’re friends, we hung out together, and we never though that this could happen. Specially now,” Pinheiro said.

“I think it’s one of the beauties in fighting and in MMA.”

At the end of the day it’s not personal between the two fighters.

“I’m not fighting Amanda the person. I’m fighting Amanda Ribas the fighter. So after the fight we’re going to hug each other and we’ll continue with that. That’s the name of the game,” said Pinheiro.

With two ranked strawweights fighting to move up towards a title shot the fight is expected to deliver.

“I think it’s going to be a good fight. It’s going to be a good fight because she presses forward, and she goes at it. She really looks for a fight, and I really think you’re going to see an actual MMA fight,” she said.

“A very complete fight. It’s an opportunity for us to showcase everything that we trained for, everything that we are, and I’m very excited about the fight.”

Watch the entire media day scrum with Luana Pinheiro above. She takes on Amanda Ribas at UFC Vegas 82.

The post Luana Pinheiro Predicts “A complete fight” With Ribas appeared first on Cageside Press.

“It’s funny because I lived with her when we were young,” Ribas told reporters on Wednesday.

“Now we see each other here and fight each other. It’s crazy, but good crazy. My dad since (I was a) baby he said to me that I will be UFC fighter. Now I’m here and she’s here too. It’s nice.”

Fighters normally aren’t big on fighting friends or teammates, but a former roommate? Now that’s a little different.

“I am extremely professional. Now I (see) her as my opponent. She wants to take my prize. I don’t want to let her do this so I see her now like this,” she said.

“After (the) fight, ok,” Ribas laughed. “Enjoy Vegas or do a lot of things, but now, I see her like this.”

Friends or not Ribas knows Pinheiro won’t be an easy fight for her.

“Intensive fight. Aggressive fight, because she is like this and I am too,” said Ribas.

Watch the entire media day scrum with Amanda Ribas above. She takes on Luana Pinheiro at UFC Vegas 82.

The post Amanda Ribas Sees Intense Fight From Former Roommate Pinheiro appeared first on Cageside Press.

“Always very excited. Without diminishing his power, or his journey in the UFC, but I’m very happy to actually have this opportunity,” Morales told reporters through a translator on Wednesday.

“Just somebody who I can understand where I am as a fighter. I keep training improving for different fights. I still always try to improve for the next fight.”

Morales sees some similarities between himself and Matthews in fighting styles. He believes that will make for an exciting fight on Saturday night.

“I think it’s the unorthodox fighting style like I have. Someone who strikes with his hands down like I do. I think it’s going to be very curious. I think it’s going to be a clash of styles,” said Morales.

“It’s a little harder to asses what the other fighter’s going to do because when your hands are down and you’re a striker you don’t know where they’re coming from.”

One topic of conversation that came up was that of the nickname. Morales currently has no nickname, but his fandom of the Spiderman character Miles Morales may be just what he’s looking for.

“Thinking about the nickname as well. I think that’s going to be up to the fans as well to kind of decide for my next fights, but I really like the connection with Miles Morales for the future,” Morales said.

“To be in the game in the future as well.”

Watch the entire media day scrum with Michael Morales above. He takes on Jake Matthews at UFC Vegas 82.

The post Michael Morales Sees Matthews Fight As Measuring Stick appeared first on Cageside Press.

He’s made the cut once before and has his ideal playbook of how to make the weight and still perform on Saturday night.

“We had the gold standard in London and that’s the way we’ve been running this kind of thing. If we can hit all the same numbers, all the same milestones, then we’ll be able to make middleweight and perform at the best of your abilities,” Craig told reporters on Wednesday.

“Right now we’re bang on the money. We’re setting gold standard. With regards to everything else like speed, power, all these attributes that help me be an athlete they are through the roof at the moment.”

The matchup with Allen puts together two high-level grapplers. While many believe it’ll be a grappling match Craig doesn’t see it that way.

“I think it’s a great matchup. Very rarely do you get the UFC making bad matchups. This is one of these battles where a lot of people are saying like it’s going to be a grappling battle. I don’t believe that,” said Craig.

“I believe this battle is going to be very much a standup battle. Who’s going to control the distance, who’s going to control the octagon and then from that who’s going to capitalize with these heavy shots. From that then it’ll be ended on the ground.”

Craig won’t be shy to stand with Allen and then force the fight to the ground to end the fight.

“So it’ll be one on the feet ended on the ground.”

Watch the entire media day scrum with Paul Craig above. He takes on Brendan Allen at UFC Vegas 82.

The post Paul Craig Doesn’t See Allen Fight Being A Grappling Match appeared first on Cageside Press.

“It wasn’t a middleweight fight,” Allen told reporters when asked about Khamzat Chimaev and Kamaru Usman fighting at UFC 294. The bout pushed Chimaev higher in the rankings following his victory over Usman.

“They weighed in at 85, but they’re both 170s.”

Controversy over rankings, or the way they’re put together, isn’t new as many other athletes have voiced displeasure over them before. Allen took aim, albeit jokingly, at the panel responsible for voting on rankings.

“I don’t know if anyone here’s on the panel, but if you do, I don’t like you,” he said. Then he looked over to one member of the media.

“Are you the panel?” Allen asked. The reporter answered with a ‘maybe’, “I don’t like you then.”

“Yeah it’s bullsh*t. This guy (Chimaev) hasn’t beat an 85er. He hasn’t beat a 85er specially a ranked 85er. He beat the number one 170 guy. Cool congratulations. I think everyone can agree a 5-round fight Kamaru wins, and that was off the couch.”

This weekend at UFC Vegas 82 he faces Paul Craig a fellow ranked middleweight coming off a victory over Andre Muniz.

“I think everyone knows why this is a main event. It’s not for him. He’s just a good spot-filler I guess. He has a ok following,” said Allen.

“I think they realized I will be champion eventually. I’m 27. I still got plenty of time to go. I think they realize I will be the champion and we’re just taking the proper steps towards that.”

Watch the entire media day scrum with Brendan Allen above. He takes on Paul Craig at UFC Vegas 82 on Saturday night.

The post Brendan Allen Takes Issue With Rankings System, Panel appeared first on Cageside Press.

“A guy like Dustin Poirier or (Mateusz) Gamrot,” Saint-Denis told reporters including Cageside Press at his post-fight scrum.

“Or Dustin Poirier. He just lost, he’s ranked, he has to fight a guy behind him because he (lost). I know he’s a big name but I’m going to be an even bigger name if I working like that.”

A matchup with The Diamond or Gamrot would be huge for Saint-Denis. To have it on home soil in France would be massive for the Frenchman.

“I would like really to make a big main event in France. We can’t have two UFC Paris. Maybe Bordeaux it’s not far from my hometown, and it’s a big city. It will be sold out right away,” Saint-Denis said.

With a highlight reel fight and victory over Frevola he may have set himself up for that type of fight sooner than later. Still it doesn’t happen without Frevola taking the fight in the first place.

“I’m going to thank Matt Frevola for giving me this opportunity. I was not surprised it was him (that took this fight). Specially for Veteran’s Day,” said Saint-Denis.

“This guy gave me this opportunity. He’s on home soil. He didn’t have to take this fight, but I believe he likes the history and he likes challenges like I do. He wanted a tough fight and I’m going to bring you war no matter who you are.”

Watch the entire post-fight scrum with Benoit Saint-Denis above.

The post Benoit Saint-Denis Wants Poirier Or Gamrot, Thanks Frevola For Fight appeared first on Cageside Press.

“More important who I fight. Top 15 of course. Maybe give me some opponent from (the) top,” Rebecki told reporters including Cageside Press at his post-fight scrum.

Getting a top 15 opponent is the path to earning a rank, but Rebecki has had trouble just getting someone to fight him.

“Right now I feel it’s problem with (finding) me good opponent(s),” he told Cageside Press.

“Before Nurullo (Aliev) is out of this fight five people (turned the fight down). Of course it’s short notice, but also this is Madison Square Garden. Everybody wants to fight (here). Maybe I’m too tough for opponent. I’m not sure.”

Fighting at MSG is on many a bucket list in combat sports, and for Rebecki it was the realization of a dream.

“I know this arena before. It is most famous (in) the world and everybody who knows this arena they want (to) fight here,” said Rebecki.

“This was my biggest dream and I like to fight for many people.”

Watch the entire post-fight scrum with Mateusz Rebecki above.

The post Mateusz Rebecki Hopes For Top 15 Fight Next appeared first on Cageside Press.

“It’s been an absolutely crazy two-and-a-half weeks. I can tell people now. I basically didn’t have any training camp at all,” Aspinall told reporters including Cageside Press at his post-fight scrum.

“I wasn’t really in the best shape. I got the call like 3-4 days after I pulled my back really bad. I couldn’t barely even move or do anything.”

On top of an injury Aspinall did not have a visa to enter the United States which also caused problems.

“And I didn’t have a visa as well. It’s been some three weeks let me tell you. It’s been absolutely insane,” he said.

Taking all of that into consideration Aspinall began to wonder if he had made the right move by accepting a title fight injured.

“That was my exact thoughts when I sat in the locker room tonight. I was like, ‘What am I doing?’ To be honest I get this a lot. Too many people in this game, and in life in general, hide away from fear. They try to be like, ‘I’m not scared’. I openly I’m scared. I’m going to do it anyway,” Aspinall said.

“That’s when I do my best. That’s when I do my best work when a big scary guy is coming at me like that. That’s when I’m at my absolute best.”

With the interim title in tow the next move for Aspinall is pretty clear. Defend, or wait for the winner of Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic.

“Right now I just want to chill for a bit man to be honest. We’ll see what happens, but ultimately I want to fight Jon Jones,” he said.

Jones is still early in his recovery from surgery to repair a torn pectoral, but Aspinall does not want to wait until he’s ready to fight.

“I don’t want to wait a year. I definitely don’t want to wait a year, but I think that me and Jones is the fight to make,” Aspinall said.

“If I have to wait a year, I will. That’s the fight that I really really want. I think that me and Jon in the U.K. that’s just the dream for everybody.”

Then a plea directly to Jones after being told that the champion had sent congratulations to Aspinall on social media.

“Thank you Jon,” said Aspinall.

“Just give me the opportunity, Jon. Let me do it. Give me my dream fight, why not? I’ve just achieved my dream now. Let me fight for my legacy fight now, please.”

Watch the entire post-fight scrum with Tom Aspinall above.

The post Tom Aspinall Reveals Back Injury, Asks Jones For Fight appeared first on Cageside Press.