UFC Sweden II aka. UFC on Fuel TV 9 delivered a brilliant night of fights for the sold out crowd at the Globen arena in Stockholm, Sweden. Here is what the fighters thought about their performance and the event.
Gegard Mousasi: “I’m really pleased to win on my UFC debut but it’s been a tough week. I had an injury and also got a cold last week but you know, I trained for the fight and did it. It was a risky fight. I slowly broke him down, but I couldn’t take as many chances as usual as it was so unknown. I’m looking forward the next UFC fight.”
Ilir Latifi: “This week was really new to me, I didn’t train much as I was busy cutting weight and had lots of interviews and medicals. I didn’t feel myself in the Octagon really, the weight cut took it’s toll. I tried to do my best, give Mousasi as good a fight as I could. I want to thank the crowd for their support, it meant a lot to me.
Ross Pearson: “The fight went pretty much to plan. It took us a round to figure out what he was trying to do, but I always felt in control. It was obvious that he wanted to put me up against the fence and try and take us out, but my takedown defence and my wrestling came through. My coach in my corner said believe in my wrestling and that’s what I did. This my 10th fight in the UFC and the best is still to come. Practice makes perfect, I love what I do and I’m honoured to be part of the UFC. I’m getting better, maturing and the best is yet to come.”
Ryan Couture: “Well I started strong and faded in the second. I came out in the second round and didn’t have the snap, the energy that I needed. I don’t know whether it was nerves, or could be any number of things. I felt great in the first round but I don’t think I was controlling my breathing well, the excitement and adrenaline got to me a little bit and sapped my energy. He found his range and hit me with the big shot. It wasn’t my night but I’ve shown I can get in there with a guy like that, do some things and have my moments.”
Brad Pickett: “I felt good, I knew I had the third round, the first was close and that I’d got the second. You know, it was close but I’m happy. I controlled the fight for the good majority of the third round, so I got on my feet and knew I wouldn’t get knocked out and wanted to give the fans something to enjoy. Next up I want someone ranked higher than me, I always get people below me, but I want to push on.”
Mike Easton: “It was an awesome fight, it was a war. I thought I got the first two rounds but the judges thought different. We gave a show to the fans but I wanted to win. I respect Brad, I know he respects me, we came here to fight and it was an awesome experience. I love Sweden, I love Europe and I can’t wait to come back.”
Diego Brandao: “I spent hours and hours in training working on my jiu-jitsu. Pablo Garza is a great fighter so I put lots of time into my Brazilian jiu-jitsu, practicing twice a day. Pablo’s tall and long and I knew that it would help to beat him. I am very happy. I am going to go home, thank my friends and family for their support and then start working because I know my next fight is going to be a hard one.”
Pablo Garza: “He’s known for gassing so I was going to give him the time to gas out, then turn it on at the end of the round. I wasn’t really using my range and I got caught. Honestly, I feel like I cheated the crowd out of a fight, I could have performed a lot better and me and him could have been fight of the night.”
Akira Corassani: “In the second round I remember looking up and seeing the Swedish flag and that pushed me to victory. It was back and forth, if you put two guys together like us, someone’s going to go down. I’ll fight anyone now, you’ve got to beat the best to be the best.
Robbie Peralta: “Close fight, it was only a couple of takedowns that closed the deal. He was able to hold me down and I hesitated and took too long to get back up. I let him take the fight his way and in the future I’ll work on fighting my own fight.”
Reza Madadi: “The fight was tough, Michael is a really hard opponent. The end of the first round saved me. I came back really strong, I was ready to go. The crowd was beautiful. I really appreciated fighting Michael, tough fight, I’m blessed. I trained really well, the change in camp has been great for me.”
Michael Johnson: “I’m disappointed and it’s hard to find anything to say. I’ll keep fighting.”
Tor Troeng: “I’ve had a really good week, training went well. I knew he’d come at me so I’d decided to see what I was getting and when I had the chance for the takedown, I took it. I knew he’d come at me hard and the timing was really important. The crowd were brilliant, the best crowd ever, you really can’t describe the atmosphere.”
Adam Cella: “My week was good, it was easy to cut weight. I tried to keep it standing, I landed some good shots and that’s when he decided to take it down. I thought we’d stand up a little bit more. I am definitely going to go down a weight class. If I go down to 170lb , I’ll be a big 170lb and work on my whole game. I’ll be back.”
Adlan Amagov: “First of all I am every happy I won. I was a little nervous as it was my debut in UFC and I was more cautious than usual, I wanted to prove myself. I represent the people of Chechnya and I wanted to make them proud.”
Chris Spång: “I am really disappointed to lose in my hometown. I wanted to go in and leave everything in the Octagon and that didn’t happen.”
Conor McGregor: “Coming into UFC didn’t feel any different, a contest is a contest. I didn’t feel nervous, it’s all just competition. I had a problem with my wisdom teeth in the week, but nothing would have stopped me going into the Octogan, I would have fought. The Irish fans here were great, it’s all happening back home. I want to show the Irish public what real combat is and I can really feel the buzz from back home.”
Marcus Brimage: “I was expecting the victory. I trained hard before and I will go away, look at the tape and learn from it. It’s important to take positives from a defeat and I’ll be back in the gym working hard.”
Tom Lawlor: “I feel good despite being beaten up for a round or so but I was able to pull it out and get a win. The fight didn’t go as I expected, I thought I’d be doing the beating. Midway through the first round I knew there was something wrong with my knee but didn’t know how bad it was until I stood up and tried to throw a punch, so I was really pleased to get the win.”
Michael Kuiper: “I was expecting maybe to knock him out. I felt good in the fight, I knew he was a good wrestler so I trained for that, it was only that the choke was so deep.
Ryan LaFlare: “I felt better than I actually did. I had a tough week away from the Ocatgon, I was ready for the fight though. I overcame everything and got the W. I have a baby boy coming in June so I did it for him and I’m learning from the experience.
Benny Alloway: “He outwrestled me. Once you step through the door you say you’re ready to fight but two weeks ago I didn’t know if I’d make the fight with my ankle injury. It’s always a positive to go three full rounds, I’m still a relatively young fighter in the sport and I am learning from every experience.”
Papy Abedi: “My training for the fight went very well and that was important for the result. The plan was to finish in the first round as that’s what I’d focused on in training, but I’m really pleased to win over three rounds.”
Besam Yousef: “It was a close fight, I did more damage but he won because of the takedowns. It was a good fight, I hope the fans enjoyed it. I could have let my hands go loose a little more, I rocked him once, but I need to do more of that in the future.”
Source: UFC
