« Independent World MMA Rankings – August 12, 2010 | Home | A mixed bag coming out of this weekend’s events for both Bellator and Strikeforce »
Video: Frankie Edgar talks about preparations for upcoming UFC 118 match
By Zach Arnold | August 13, 2010
JOE RIZZO: “How’s all the training and all that good stuff going?”
FRANKIE EDGAR: “Yeah, training’s been going great, you know, man. … Just sort of, you know, focusing in on the attack plan.”
JOE RIZZO: “Bringing in a secret weapon here. We pop in, you know, usual Tuesday at (Ricardo) Almeida and all of a sudden, you have Ross Pearson to play with today.”
FRANKIE EDGAR: “Yeah, you know, Ricardo invited him down here, you know they hooked up about a month ago in Vegas and invited him to come train so, you know, he’s going. .. So it’s just great, man, you know to get the high-caliber athletes to train with. The timing’s perfect.”
JOE RIZZO: “What was it like to circle in with a partner like that and you know did he give you anything a little bit different than you’ve seen before today?”
FRANKIE EDGAR: “Yeah, you know, it’s always good to get a different body, a different outlook, you know. So, you know, he competes in the UFC, so it’s good to you know go against guys that are fighting the same guys you are, so we have a lot of good guys around us. It’s good to have another one.”
JOE RIZZO: “You’re being underestimated again. Everybody thinks that BJ’s the favorite, even though that you are the champ now. Does that enter into your mindset or I know you’re pretty even-keeled guy. Does that ever come up, use it as motivation?”
FRANKIE EDGAR: “Um, you know, desire to win is motivation enough for me. So, whether it’s a title fight, whether it’s BJ Penn or not, it’s just forcing me to bring out the best in myself. BJ is one of the best guys in the world at this weight class, whether our last fight or not. So, I have to really make sure that I come at the top of my game.”
JOE RIZZO: “Last time you fought, completely around the world, literally in Abu Dhabi. This time you’re going to fight in Boston and you’re going to be inside and the situation is going to be somewhat different. I’m sure that you have a lot of home support that maybe you didn’t necessarily have going across the ocean for you. Do you feel a little bit pressure from that and from having to defend the belt now?”
FRANKIE EDGAR: “Uh, nah, man. Pressure’s as usual. There’s always that pressure to win, the pressure of your family and fans there so for me it’s nothing new. It’s nice that I don’t have to do a 15-hour flight. It’s probably just an hour long flight from Jersey, from that. No time change, I’ll be with the East Coast people so I’ll feel at home.”
JOE RIZZO: “How much is the game plan going to evolve for this fight? … Are you working on a lot of new, different things?”
FRANKIE EDGAR: “I’m working to improve, that’s my biggest thing. I always try to improve from fight to fight, try to be a different fighter. Of course game plan’s a little bit different. I’m sure he’s going to adjust, so I got to make the adjustments based upon on that so… it’s pretty much going to be like a fight-time adjustment.”
JOE RIZZO: “Tell us a little bit about these few months that you’ve gotten adjusted to being back home and being the champion. A lot more demands on your time for things like this interview and radio shows and appearances, endorsements. How are you adjusting to that part of it outside of the cage?”
FRANKIE EDGAR: “Uh, you know, I’m really lucky that I have good management. Shari Spencer’s my manager for almost a year now, so I really don’t have to handle that too much. She hands it, tells me what to do, and I do it. Obviously there are more demands, interviews and whatnot, but I’m welcoming it, so that’s part of being a champ. It’s something you have to do and hopefully I get used to it, hopefully I have to do this for a while.”
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 1 Comment » | Permalink | Trackback |
Here are some warning labels for most mma interviewers, especially the not asking hard questions part http://www.tomscott.com/warnings/