Ultimate Fighting Championship will hold a public press conference today (Dec. 28, 2011) in advance of UFC 141: "Lesnar vs. Overeem", which will take place this Friday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
The conference will begin at 4 p.m. ET live from the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino's main lobby in Las Vegas, Nevada, the home city of the event.
Scheduled to attend will be UFC president Dana White, as well as the headlining fighters of the evening, Brock Lesnar, Alistair Overeem, Donald Cerrone and Nate Diaz.
Lesnar is the former UFC heavyweight champion. The ex-WWE superstar and national champion Minnesota wrestler lost his title last year to Cain Velasquez. He's had a much publicized battle with diverticulitis which was (hopefully) finally cured with surgery earlier this year.
His opponent, Alistair Overeem, is one of the scariest heavyweights on the planet. The Dutch kickboxer has not lost an MMA fight since 2007 and left Strikeforce as the promotion's heavyweight champion. In his spare time, he also won the single night K-1 Heavyweight Grand Prix to become a kickboxing champion last year.
Cerrone has been on fire in 2011, winning four straight bouts in the UFC lightweight division to become a contender in the promotion. His opponent, Nate Diaz, was the winner of The Ultimate Fighter season five and looked terrific in his last fight, destroying Takanori Gomi in his return to 155 pounds.
We'll have complete updates of the UFC 141 press conference after the jump:
Brian Hemminger here. The press conference is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. ET.
4:22 - The presser is finally starting, but there are major audio issues. I can't hear anything right now.
Brock's lips are moving, he looks intense but I have no idea what he's saying.
4:25 - Ok, the audio seems to be working now.
Alistair Overeem: I have no emotion for Brock Lesnar. I'm trained, I feel good, my conditioning is there and I'm really looking forward to fighting Lesnar this Friday.
Brock Lesnar: My health is 100 percent. The surgery was a success. That question has been answered 3 million times. I feel good. I'm ready, excited and everything is in line.
Brock Lesnar: I'm the underdog with a big fucking bite.
Dana White: I'm as excited about the co-main event as I am the main event. They're both nasty.
Alistair Overeem: The type of fighter I am, the type of fighter Brock is, we're not the type of guys that want it to go to the second round.
Alistair Overeem: I've been cleaning house overseas and this fight will be my 69th fight. When I was 19, I had the amount of fights that Brock has now so I understand why I'm the favorite.
Donald Cerrone: The altercation is over now, words were said. He doens't want to be friends or have interaction with guys he could fight. The fight's on and we're gonna dance.
Nate Diaz: It was made more than what it was. I just walked the other way and I came here to fight. I trained hard for this fight and this is what I'm gonna do.
Donald Cerrone: The last couple days the media has directed it towards me that way. If that's what he has to do to be ready for a fight, then hey, hate me, love me, whatever helps you get ready for the fight.
Alistair Overeem: I didn't expect it to happen this soon, I thought it would be after the Strikeforce Grand Prix. I'm going to go for the title now and Brock is in the way and I'm gonna beat him.
Alistair Overeem: He needs to be less one dimensional and get better stand-up. I'm ready for wherever the fight will go. If it goes to the ground, I'm ready, I'm ready.
Dana White: We make the fights and these guys go and fight them. He's one of the best heavyweights in the world.
Alistair Overeem: If you pay attention to what people write on the internet, there's no end in sight.
Nate Diaz: I'm glad on Friday night I get to showcase my skills here in Vegas on New Year's Eve.
Brock Lesnar: After the last year and what I've gone through, to be here fighting in front of my fans and my not-so-fans, I'm just as excited to be here as everyone else.
Alistair Overeem: I'm very pleased to see so much attention, so much fans at the press conference. I promise to be fantastic this Friday.
Donald Cerrone: We're closing out this year with a bang. Two stand-up warriors, it's gonna be awesome and I can't wait.
Brock Lesnar: I've been in front of cameras for a long time. My stint in the WWE helped groom me in many different ways other than being in the Octagon. My presence here is to showcase my skills and showcase amateur wrestling just as these other guys showcase kickboxing and jiu-jitsu. I enjoyed the analytical side of things. I'm a fighter right now and that's what I want to do right now.
Alistair Overeem: The UFC title would be the crown of my career but let's not look ahead of Brock Lesnar. The UFC title is definitely on my list.
Brock Lesnar: I was a former WWE champion. If you've lived in the cage the last 50 years, you probably think it's real but it's not, I'm sorry. At the end of the day, what got me to that stage was being an amateur wrestler, being a Division I NCAA champ. I haven't labeled myself that. I go as Brock Lesnar, the UFC fighter. You guys can put any label on me, I don't really give a shit.
Donald Cerrone: That's what I've been working as hard as I can to get to. It's time to get it.
Alistair Overeem: It may seem that not a lot happened in that fight but a lot happened. Werdum is the best grappler in MMA in my opinion. He had a nice streak and a strong win over Fedor and he's not to be taken lightly. I had some issues in my training for the fight and it was not optimal plus I broke my rib. It was not a beautiful performance but it was a dominant one. Werdum is a clever fighter.
Nate Diaz: I've been training really hard in kickboxing and boxing all the time everywhere. We're gonna have to wait to see what happens Friday night.
Alistair Overeem: He will have to stand up with me because he's not gonna get the takedown. Pat Barry's not my level in the striking also.
Brock Lesnar: When I was in the WWE, it's show business. People get hurt in the ring and we try to take care of each other. I've been a competitor since I was five years old. I started wrestling when I was 5 and street fighting when I was 8, who knows? That's what we group up with. There was nothing much else to do. Scrap and steal other guys' girlfriends. I've had over 100 wrestling matches and I don't even know what my UFC record is, I don't care. As far as I'm concerned, we're both going to step into the cage 0-0 and life goes on. You try to become a better fighter and that's where I'm at.
Dana White: Not only Brock, but the heavyweight division is bigger and better than it's ever been. There's so many great fights that we can make. For all the criticism that Brock takes from fans, it would be pretty boring if he wasn't here. He's accomplished a lot of things in a short amount of time. We didn't throw cream puffs at him. He's fought the best in the world since he's been here and he's done really well.
Dana White: Alistair is the most tested guy in sports right now.
Donald Cerrone: I probably won't shake Nate's hand after the fight.
Brock Lesnar: We've watched all of Alistair's fights and we've studied him and we've left no stone unturned. You can't underestimate anybody in this division or this organization. Somebody is going to enter the Octagon and win and somebody's gotta lose. You people pay big money to see who does that.
Nate Diaz: I don't know if my jiu-jitsu is better than Cowboy's, we're gonna have to see. I train with top jiu-jitsu guys.
Dana White: When two grapplers go at it, it's just as exciting as any stand-up war.
Donald Cerrone: I'm hoping to get out there and fight in February. That would be badass.
Dana White: There's a couple other fights that have to happen in the weight classes first, but we'll see what happens down the road. The more Jon Jones fights, the more I open up to it I guess (fighting Anderson Silva). He gets nastier and nastier with each fight and we'll see what happens.
Brock Lesnar: I have to go out and perform to the best of my abilities. Control the fight and make it my fight. If I can be successful in my gameplan, that's the best thing that can happen.
Get the latest gear
