The following are some news and notes from the UFC 76 and UFC Fight Night 11 media conference call, featuring UFC president Dana White and fighters Chuck Liddell, Keith Jardine, Din Thomas and Kenny Florian. We'll have more updates shortly so stick with MMANews.com for the fastest coverage from the call!
-On Wanderlei Silva signing with UFC, Chuck Liddell says he's just happy to have him in the company and hopes to get a fight with him in the future.
-On the partying rumors before the Rampage fight, Liddell says he does the same thing before every fight. He'll go to clubs, but he'll drink water. He says he's heard a lot about the party rumors but says he doesn't drink about a month before a fight and thinks that has anything to do with his loss.
-On going from champion to challenger, Liddell says planning for the fight and the fight itself is no different. He says every fight is important.
-On coming back from a loss, he says experience helps and having lost before he knows he can. He simply learns from it and tries not to make the same mistakes in the future.
-Keith Jardine thinks it's great that he's coming back from a loss to fight a guy like Liddell because it's a chance to immediately bounce back to the top of the picture with one fight.
-Kenny Florian considers Joe Stevenson the top guy at 155 lbs. and after him, it's probably himself or Din Thomas - so this fight is important in the Lightweight title picture.
-On advice for the guys coming up on the next season of The Ultimate Fighter, Jardine says it's a great chance to get exposure and get your name on the map as a fighter. Kenny Florian says to not waste the opportunity and take advantage of being able to train with top coaches and immediately become a top name in the sport. Both guys consider their time on TUF to be a big break in their careers.
-If he could fight a guy like Liddell after a win or a loss, Jardine says obviously a win because he never wants to lose. He considers the opportunity a good one regardless.
-Liddell has watched the fight with Rampage to see some stuff he can work on. He says he'll look what he did wrong, take from it what he can and then he'll put it away and move on. He says he usually watches his last fight the week of his upcoming fight.
-Jardine says he hasn't watched his last loss to Houston Alexander and has no desire to. He said he got hit and pretty much doesn't remember much after that.
-When asked about age, Liddell says it's obviously not the same as when he was 22, but he still feels he can train and compete at the top level. He said training camps are longer as he gets older. It used to be six weeks to get ready, then eight and now it's about three months to get ready.
-Liddell says if he keeps winning, he'll have to get another shot at Rampage, even though he's lost to him twice in two fights already. He says he's not really thinking about it right now though.
-On the Bisping-Hamill fight, Kenny Florian says you take a risk in going to a decision and that's why it's important to finish your fight. He felt Hamill should have gotten the decision, but you get bad calls in all sports and MMA is no different. He feels it will make for an exciting rematch.
-Liddell was disappointed that he wasn't in the first title unification bout, even though it's not something he really thinks a lot about. He says he'll keep winning and get his shot at the title again.
-Liddell and Florian discuss making changes to your game plan between rounds. They basically said you can't change much, just little things, but that most fighters are well-rounded enough that they can decide between rounds what's working better for them and to try and focus on that in the next round.
-Jardine talks a lot about editing for The Ultimate Fighter, says the same stuff you've heard a thousand times about how the editors can make the show look and feel however they want due to the fact that cameras are on you 24/7 during the tapings.
-Liddell talks about TUF saying it's a great way to introduce new fighters to the sport as well as new fans.
-The subject of steroids came up and we hear pretty much the same stuff that has been going around lately.
-Jardine says he doesn't get paid a lot and he needs to fight several times a year to make a living.
Not a whole lot to today's call. Here's hoping Dana White is back on the next conference call.
