From FOX Sports MediaGroup:
UFC ON FOX: DIAZ VS. MILLER – SATURDAY NIGHT AT 8:00 PM ET, REPLAY ANDHIGHLIGHTS FROM TODAY’S UFC ON FOX PREVIEW PRESS CALL FEATURING DANA WHITE,BRIAN STANN & ERIC SHANKS
STANN JOINS UFC ON FOX SATURDAY NIGHT
WHITE TALKS PEDs & MAYWEATHER ON FOXSPORTS.COM’S BARFLY
FOX SPORTS, FUEL TV, FOX DEPORTES, FOXSPORTS.COM & FOX SPORTS RADIO COVER EVERY ANGLE OFDIAZ VS. MILLER –
Once again, UFC ON FOX invades primetime with a two-hour quadruple-header thisSaturday, May 5 (8:00-10:00 PM ET) live from Izod Center in East Rutherford,NJ. FOX Sports’ Curt Menefee kicks off the night, hosting pre- and postfightcoverage alongside UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture and UFC middleweight fighterBrian Stann. Once the battles begin, UFC announcers Joe Rogan and Mike Goldberghave the call. Action kicks off Friday, May 4 (4:00 PM ET) with the live UFCWeigh-In on FUEL TV. Karyn Bryant hosts the show from FUEL TV’s Los Angelesstudios, while UFC veteran Kenny Florian and current UFC Lightweight ChampionBenson Henderson offer analysis. Saturday, May 5 (5:00 PM ET), FUEL TV beginslive coverage of the night’s undercards, live from East Rutherford, NJ. UFCPrelims on FUEL TV are hosted by Rogan and Goldberg. FUEL TV wraps coverage ofthe main event with the live UFC Postfight Show on FUEL TV immediatelyfollowing UFC on FOX Saturday, May 5 (10:00 PM ET). Jay Glazer leads theone-hour recap from FUEL TV’s Los Angeles studios, with Florian and Henderson’sanalysis. Ariel Helwani interviews fighters backstage after the bout. FOXDeportes simulcasts the prelims and main card fights on Saturday, May 5beginning at 5:00 PM ET. FOX Sports Radio also simulcasts the main card fightsbeginning at 8:00 PM ET. Following the fights, mixed martial arts expert LarryPepe hosts a FOX Sports Radio wrap-up show with interviews and call-ins from10:00 PM-1:00 AM ET. Fans can tune into their local FOX Sports Radio affiliateor listen live at www.FOXSportsRadio.com.
DATE TIME EVENT NET
Thursday, May 3 2:00 PM ET UFC on FOX Press Conference FOXSports.com
Friday, May 4 4:00 PM ET UFC Weigh-In on FUEL TV FUEL TV/FOXSports.com
Saturday, May 5 5:00 PM ET UFC Prelims on FUEL TV FUEL TV/FOX Deportes
Saturday, May 5 8:00 PM ET UFC ON FOX: DIAZ VS. MILLER FOX/FOX Deportes/FOXSports Radio
Saturday, May 5 10:00 PM ET UFC Postfight Show on FUEL TV FUEL TV
Saturday, May 5 10:00 PM ET UFC Postfight Show with MMA Expert Larry Pepe FOXSports Radio
WHITE, STANN, MENEFEE AND SHANKS PREVIEW UFC ON FOX DIAZ VS. MILLER –
During today’s UFC on FOX preview press call, UFC President Dana White, UFC onFOX host Curt Menefee, UFC on FOX analyst Brian Stann and FOX Sports MediaGroup Co-President & COO Eric Shanks talked about the UFC on FOXpartnership and looked ahead to this weekend’s highly anticipated matchups.
White on what outcome he expects from each fight on FOX Sports Saturday night:"Pat Barry and Lavar Johnson is our first fight on the card. I don’texpect that to go to a decision. The Belcher- Palhares fight; I don’t expectthat to go to a decision. Hendricks- Koscheck? Who knows? Either way, I thinkthat’s going to be a great fight. That fight can be a war. They both have greatwrestling technique and both have knockout power. Then you have Nate Diaz andJim Miller; I can guarantee that if that fight goes one round or goes five,people will not be disappointed. That will be a war."
White on selecting fights for UFC ON FOX and pay-per-view: "Obviously, wewant to put exciting fights on network television. We try to put the types offights on FOX that we would put on pay-per-view. We’re trying to keep the sameformat that the UFC has always given the fans; as many fights as we can give youbut telling a story on FOX. We’re reaching a bigger audience; we’re reachingpeople who have never seen the UFC before. The big FOX cards are more of aneducation process."
Shanks on the format and selection process: "It’s a mutual work inprogress. We work with Dana and his team. We’ve tried a couple of differentthings and we want to make sure that we end up at the right format goingforward. First we did one fight and then we did three fights. As we watched thebroadcast again, we all believed that we could get more action into the twohours and we believe that’s what UFC fans want. We hope this format maximizesthe action and also leaves us a little of time to tell the story of thefighters. We have high hopes for this format."
Stann on what he expects from the Palhares/Belcher fight: "There’s thisaura around Rousimar Palhares. He’s a very unique athlete and he’s very, verygood with his submissions from multiple setups. I’ve seen him hit leg-lockswhere he’s pushing a guy against the cage and he rolls down into him, or whathe did to Mike Massenzio. A lot of guys are afraid to fight him. I don’t thinkpeople realize how good Alan Belcher’s ju-jitsu is. People who believe this isa fight for Palhares to win or lose are forgetting just how good Alan Belcheris. I think this could be the most exciting fight on the card. You’re going tosee knockdowns, almost finishes, submission attempts, take downs and headkicks. Both of these guys continue to evolve."
UFC FAN FAVORITE BRIAN STANN JOINS FOX SPORTS AS ANALYST SATURDAY – UFCmiddleweight contender and UFC on FOX analyst Brian Stann is known as one ofthe good guys in MMA. He played linebacker at the Naval Academy and then wenton to serve as a Marine in Iraq. Stann was awarded a Silver Star medal in March2006 for his actions and bravery in combat during Operation Matador in Iraq. Heended active duty in the US Marine Corps as a Captain in May 2008, butcontinues to stay involved with the military. He is president of Hire HeroesUSA which is dedicated to creating job opportunities for veterans.
Fans love to root for Stann both inside and out of the Octagon. After hisinsightful and well-spoken analysis during a UFC on FUEL fight this February,the fan response was terrific. When he got word that FOX wanted to use him onfuture events he tweeted, "Huge thanks to all the fans who have supportedme after the FUEL broadcast. Looks like I will be doing live FOX shows now.Power of the fans." Stann is coming off a knockout victory over AlessioSakara in mid-April which earned him praise for his sportsmanship and classwhen he realized the opponent was out before the referee did and backed off.His next fight against former Bellator middleweight champion Hector Lombard isexpected to headline UFC on FOX August 4.
Stann on being an analyst for UFC on FOX – "I was fortunate to getselected for this position because the people at FOX and UFC trust me to alwaysdo my homework. I’m a student of the game. I’m going to know all the fightersand the fights that are on the card and then I’m fortunate that I’ve been bornwith the ability to think quickly. I’ve got to go out there and perform thisweekend so that I can get invited back to do it."
UFC President Dana White on Stann’s broadcast ability – "He’s an absolutestud. He’s great at what he does. He didn’t slide into this spot because he’slucky. He’s very intelligent, articulate and knows the fight game inside andout. We’re so pumped to have him as one of the analysts for us now."
UFC on FOX host Curt Menefee on working with Stann – "Brian is a natural.He is a gifted speaker. This guy is an all-American hero. He is everything thatone would think an all-American hero would be and he shows that when he’s oncamera. He’s a guy that’s naturally gifted at doing this."
Stann on his future as an analyst – "I’d love to do it after fighting andI certainly enjoy doing it during fighting. The great thing about traveling tothe UFC events is I can train the entire time. I love doing it, but my firstpriority right now is a fighter. The next fight I’ve got coming up is one ofthe biggest fights of my career and it’s an amazing opportunity for me. As muchas I love being an analyst, there is something that I love doing a whole lotmore and that’s being in the cage competing."
DANA WHITE & ED O’NEILL TALK UFC, PEFORMANCE ENHANCEMENT DRUGS &MAYWEATHER ON BARFLY – UFC President Dana White and Modern Family star EdO’Neill joined FOXSports.com national columnist Mark Kriegel on this week’sepisode of Barfly. The trio discussed the evolution of the UFC, performanceenhancement drugs and Floyd Mayweather.
White on Alistair Overeem’s suspension for failing a drug test: "Bottomline is the Nevada State Athletic Commission regulates us and what happens inthe sport. They’ve given him a nine month suspension, which I thought was goingto be bigger. I thought he was going to get a bigger suspension. So the factthat they gave him nine months says they found some validity in hisstory."
White on the postponement of Floyd Mayweather’s jail sentence to allow him tofight on May 5: "Floyd is lucky to live in a city where they care moreabout money than justice. The craziest thing I have ever seen in my life."Kriegel asked if it had been a prominent UFC fighter, would he have been allowedto fight. White responded, "There’s no way in hell. There is absolutely adouble standard there."
To view these clips and others, visit http://msn.foxsports.com/video/shows/barfly