411's Countdown To UFC 82 Report 2.28.08
Posted by Randy Harrison on 02.28.2008
Everything you need to get ready for the two big main event fights Saturday night!!
The first thing that I notice about this show is that Mike Goldberg is no longer narrating for the Countdown shows. I'm not sure if this is a new thing, but it's surely a welcome one as the new narrator gives the show a much more polished feel. A great video package talks about the unification match and what it means to both men, as well as the Herring/Kongo bout that will be the co-main event.
UFC and PRIDE Middleweight Championship Unification Bout
Anderson Silva vs. Dan Henderson
Anderson "The Spider" Silva
Anderson Silva is training in Curitiba, Brazil and he talks about always wanting to be a fighter and how serious he is about it. He credits his trainers and everyone who has helped him to become the fighter and person that he is. He feels good about his training and is working hard to make sure the fight turns out in his favor. We cut to a highlight reel of Anderson's work in the UFC and Dana White says that he is the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. Joe Rogan calls it laser-sharp striking with combinations we've never seen before. Anderson says that he loves to fight and that he loves to use the gifts he's been given.
We move to highlights of Silva's fight with Travis Lutter and Dana White thinks that the people who questioned Anderson Silva were crazy because Silva, who is a striker, submitted a BJJ black belt. Anderson says he always tries to take advantage of his opponent's mistakes and that he wants to continue to do that. We see highlights from Silva's demolition of Franklin from October of last year. Silva says he's a Rich Franklin fan and that he thinks that Rich is a great person and he likes him a lot. Anderson says his goal is to hold onto the UFC title for a very long time.
Dan Henderson
Stephen Quadros is quoted from an old PRIDE show saying that Henderson and Silva at 185 would be a dream fight. Dana White puts over how talented Henderson is to have held two titles in PRIDE. Henderson thinks that he's a bad style matchup for Silva and he thinks that he's better in the clinch. Anderson thinks that one of them will go down before the second round. Hendo wants to impose his will with his skills, technique and strength while Silva wants to make the fight a complicated fight for Henderson. Silva doesn't believe it will go all five rounds, but if it does he thinks it will go down as one of the best MMA fights of all time. Dana White says that if Silva can beat Henderson like he's beaten all of his previous opponents, he doesn't think that there's anyone that would be able to beat him.
We move to Dan Henderson at his training facility and he talks about his wrestling background and intense training routines. He talks about the other sports that have pedigrees in MMA and that they aren't known for working as hard as wrestlers work. Hendo talks about having been knocked silly but that he's never been knocked out in a fight and that he plans on never being knocked out. Henderson talks about how the sorry state of the Middleweight division is really the only reason he's going down there to fight, and that Anderson has been tearing through everyone. Dana White thinks that Henderson won't have that kind of fear of Silva that everyone else has. Henderson is excited and confident that he's going to go out and kick his ass. Rogan puts over his international wrestling experience, his international MMA experience and his toughness.
They talk about Dan's weight cutting and how he's only 12 pounds over and that he can cut it in an hour and a half. Dan guarantees that even though he's cutting weight he won't be weak for the fight. We head out to Dan's farm, about 25 miles from the nearest town and how he loves to hop on a horse or motorcycle and go riding around the farm to cut loose and relax. A highlight reel from Henderson's PRIDE days runs while he talks about building up his conditioning to go 25 minutes and how it will test his mental toughness.
Training Camps
Rio De Janeiro, Brazil is the training camp homebase for Anderson Silva and we're there now as Anderson talks about how his training is intense and specific and it's almost like being in a real fight. Anderson's trainer talks about how quickly he catches on to his training and how hard he works. Silva thinks he's lucky to have such a great coach with such talent. Anderson's dedication to training and the dedication of his training team is discussed, with clips of Anderson training jiu-jitsu on the mats.
Over to Temecula, California at Dan Henderson's camp and he talks about how he loves everything about MMA and that if he didn't he wouldn't enjoy it so much and he wouldn't be doing it for the past 12 years. They talk about Henderson's amateur wrestling experience and how in his gym the fighters have been drawn in to train with him based on his knowledge and expertise, as well as his talent. They start talking about Team Quest and how the camp sets up in terms of training schedules and things. Dan talks about how everyone comes from around the world to train with Team Quest. He also says that with everyone's different styles it makes his training difficult.
Henderson talks about working his footwork a little extra to set up for Anderson's southpaw style and how the rest of his training is not unlike any of the training he's done for his previous fights, and he runs through his day of training from beginning to end. He talks about his weightlifting routine that helps him with his muscle endurance for being able to use them at full power for 25 full minutes. They show Dan absolutely killing himself doing reps and that when he trains it's mostly with the MMA gloves. They talk about Dan breaking the nose of his training partner during a sparring session and how it happens with training sometimes.
Back over to Brazil and we see Silva training with UFC Heavyweight Champ Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. Nogueira thinks it's going to be an intense fight with tons of heart and he thinks that Anderson will be able to beat him. Anderson thanks Noguiera for allowing him to train at his facility and that the team has become almost like family. They show Anderson training in the sand with rubber resistance bands to help his explosiveness. Silva talks about the repsonsibilities of being champion and how it helps him focus on working to be a better fighter. He feels like his dedication and determination as well as his trainers are the reasons behind his current success. Anderson wants to be a champion for as long as he can be and that he wants to be a role model for the sport.
The Wrap-Up
Rogan talks about how this is a dream matchup for MMA because of Anderson's dominance and how Henderson is the biggest threat to Silva's title yet. Henderson says he wants to knock out Silva and Dana White reiterates those thoughts. Henderson feels confident in his power and that he's going to make Silva nervous in the stand-up. Silva hopes his training goes well because he wants him at 100% and Henderson thinks that this fight is going to be history in the making. Silva speaks English and says "I am the champion, this is my belt, and this is my job."
Heath Herring vs. Cheick Kongo
It's time to move to the co-main event now, Cheick Kongo vs. Heath Herring. Cheick Kongo's highlight against Mirko CroCop are shown with Kongo looking like a world beater. Rogan talks about how Kongo beat CroCop standing up and how significant it is. White talks about how big a fight it is and how exciting the Heavyweight division is and that the winner of this one could be considered in the top 5 in the world.
Cheick Kongo
Juanito Ibarra says that he thinks that Kongo should be ranked in the Top 3 in the world. Mike Bisping thinks that he can go all the way and that he knows that Kongo will do it. Kongo says that he's here and he wants respect. At his training camp we see him working the heavy bag while Ibarra talks about how good of a student and how good of a man Kongo is. He talks about Kongo's strength and how impressive it truly is. They talk about his world-class Muay Thai and that his kicks are the strongest he thinks he's ever seen.
Ibarra talks about how much he likes the team he has with guys like Kongo, Bisping and Rampage and Rampage regales us with his dead-on Cheick Kongo impression. Hehe. Tremendous!! Kongo laughs at that one too. Ibarra talks about how loose Rampage keeps the fighters and that he knows when to draw it in and tighten up the ship. They talk about how well-conditioned he is and how strong Kongo is. Bisping puts over his athleticism and cardio and he thinks that Cheick could be the next UFC Heavyweight Champ. Rogan talks about how big a test that Heath Herring is for Kongo and how big a fight it is.
Heath Herring
We see highlights from Heath Herring's fight with Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and the head kick that almost ended the fight. Dana White and Joe Rogan both wonder why Herring stood up out of the guard instead of staying on top of Nogueira and finishing the job. Herring says that his mistake to let him up what that he thought that Nogueira was out and that he was surpised that the referee didn't stop the fight. They show Herring's training camp in Las Vegas and how he's put together a new team for this fight. Heath's trainer talks about how easy it is to train him and how quickly he learns. Heath thinks he's in the best shape he's been in in a long time and they talk about his nutritionist and conditioning coach and how he has had success with BJ Penn previously. Herring thinks that it's training smarter and not harder.
They show Heath training with former kickboxing legend Rob Kaman to brush up his stand-up for this fight. They talk about Heath's growing mental confidence and how he feels like his team is ready to do great things. Herring feels like he needs to make a strong statement in this fight against Kongo to stay near the top of the heavyweight division. Herring and his trainers talk about how this fight is just the beginning for him and Herring feels 100% confident that he's done everything he can do to get ready for this fight. He doesn't have to have hatred towards someone to hit him and he talks about how he knows that Kongo's weakness is on the ground. Heath says he's training for everything and he'll be ready for everything. Heath feels like his cardio won't be a factor and he's looking forward to that since he's never had it before.
The show finishes off with the usual hard sell for the PPV with Dana White and Joe Rogan doing their best to talk up the two main event fights, and that does it for Countdown to UFC 82! Enjoy the fights everybody!!
Be sure to check out the live coverage of UFC 82, with 411mania.com's own Michael Huckaby, starting at 10 pm EST/7 pm PST, Saturday night!
