Shane McMahon's Ass
03-24-2010, 10:34 AM
The mood during today's UFC 112: Invincible media conference call was light-hearted and humble. Unsurprisingly, champions BJ Penn and Anderson Silva were the focus of attention and they fielded the most questions. The two pound-for-pound greats are generally considered to be a head above most other fighters in their respective weight classes and while they are both glad to challenge themselves by moving up in weight, neither man believes that they have cleaned out their division.
"For me personally...I honestly believe that you can never really clean out a weight class because there's always gonna be a new contender. No matter what you do there will always gonna be someone new coming up...," said Penn.
Silva echoed that statement through his translator. "Anderson says that he is actually far from cleaning out his division and that he feels there may be guys even better than him coming into the UFC."
Both champions cited their current opponents (Frankie Edgar and Demian Maia, respectively) as proof that there are worthy contenders still waiting in the wings of the lightweight and middleweight divisions and both men assured us that they will not look past the challenges that lay before them at UFC 112.
On a side note, the champions extended the same respect to each other as they did to their opponents, with Penn at one point exclaiming, "Anderson is awesome!" Silva responded by breaking out his seldom-used English to exchange pleasantries and entertain a short side conversation with Penn.
There is no doubt that "The Prodigy" and "The Spider" will go down as two of the best to ever compete in the sport and on April 12th in Abu Dhabi they will have a chance to further cement their legacies.
FL
"For me personally...I honestly believe that you can never really clean out a weight class because there's always gonna be a new contender. No matter what you do there will always gonna be someone new coming up...," said Penn.
Silva echoed that statement through his translator. "Anderson says that he is actually far from cleaning out his division and that he feels there may be guys even better than him coming into the UFC."
Both champions cited their current opponents (Frankie Edgar and Demian Maia, respectively) as proof that there are worthy contenders still waiting in the wings of the lightweight and middleweight divisions and both men assured us that they will not look past the challenges that lay before them at UFC 112.
On a side note, the champions extended the same respect to each other as they did to their opponents, with Penn at one point exclaiming, "Anderson is awesome!" Silva responded by breaking out his seldom-used English to exchange pleasantries and entertain a short side conversation with Penn.
There is no doubt that "The Prodigy" and "The Spider" will go down as two of the best to ever compete in the sport and on April 12th in Abu Dhabi they will have a chance to further cement their legacies.
FL