Bellator MMA President Scott Coker took center stage alongside BAMMA CEO David Green
Quotes from Bellator 169 and BAMMA 27 press conference in Dublin
Quotes from Bellator 169 and BAMMA 27 press conference in Dublin
Two of the top MMA promotions in the world, Bellator and BAMMA have joined forces to deliver an early Christmas gift for MMA fans everywhere with a unique doubleheader event at the 3Arena in Dublin, Ireland this Friday, Dec. 16.
Despite the cold and rainy weather in Dublin, the main and co-main event fighters turned up the heat at the Official Fight Week Press Conference for the co-promoted event inside the Gibson Hotel. Bellator MMA President Scott Coker took center stage alongside BAMMA CEO David Green, and the two were flanked by “Bellator 169” combatants King Mo (19-5, 1 NC) and Satoshi Ishii (14-6-1) along with James Gallagher (4-0), and Anthony Taylor (14-2), as well as BAMMA main eventers Tom Duquesnoy (13-1, 1 NC) and Alan Philpott (16-8), a Chris Fields (11-7-1), who takes on Andrew Clamp (8-1, 1 NC).
Below are several transcribed quotes from the press conference.
King Mo:
“The cold weather (in Ireland) gets me, you know what I’m saying. But it’s gonna be hot in the venue, because I’m gonna bring the heat.” It’s gonna be action packed. I’m ready to scrap.”
“I’m shocked (by the support from the Irish fans). I came here to do PR last time and everyone was cool, but this time around its been even better. I went to Nandos (chicken restaurant) and got hooked up with like $70 worth of food. If y’all haven’t eaten at Nandos yet I suggest you try it out because that place is good.”
(To Ishii)
“Don’t run around the cage. Fight me square, entertain the fans, and put on a good show.”
“All the people out there, ya’ll better tune in and watch me kick and beat Ishii’s a** out the cage.”
Satoshi Ishii:
“It’s an honor to fight in Dublin. I’m looking forward to the fight, I’m excited, and I will do my best.”
James Gallagher:
“At the end of the day I can say whatever I want and he can say whatever he wants, but, you step in there and none of that means jack s***. It’s a fight between me and him, and that’s all that matters, and I’ll come out the winner.
“I literally do not care about him. I just care about me and what I’m going to do. I’m just going to go in there and smash his face in and that’s that. Simple answer.”
“Everything he is saying is a load of old bullsh**. Tune in on Friday night and you’ll see who’s going to the hospital after.”
“It’s amazing to fight in your own country and right here in the 3Arena. Walking out into that crowd, that feeling of pride is something you will always remember for the rest of your life.”
Anthony Taylor:
“Oh man, everything is going my way. The fact that I’ve got him, one-on-one, with the pretty one, it’s going tremendously fine. The atmosphere in Ireland is so beautiful. The weather, the women…oh my gosh the women! This is cuddling season
and I’m on Tinder just swiping right.
“I’m excited for the opportunity to showcase my skills. Everyone is looking at me as the underdog and saying this is a test. This ain’t no test, this is finals, and guess what? He’s going to fail.”
“I’m going to shock the world on Friday, and let them know who the hell is Anthony Pretty Boy Taylor, the most electrifying man in Bellator MMA. That’s what’s up, and I’m going to put on a show for all the people out there.”
“I get a lot of criticism, but I’ve also got a lot of Irish fans, just as much as he’s got, so it doesn’t matter to me. I don’t have the pressure, it’s on him. I’m coming here to do my thing. If I lose, I suck it up like a man. But if I win, I’m gonna be a superstar. I already know I’m going to win, he can’t stop me.”
Scott Coker
“We’ve been on the road quite a bit this year with 25 fights, 28 if you include kickboxing. This is something that David and I started talking about a year ago. It’s been seamless and a lot of fun. David’s been a great partner to work with, BAMMA’s been great.”
“We’ve been following this league for a couple years now. We know that they’re the powerhouse here in the UK and were happy to team up with them and bring our top fighters.”
“This is going to be a great show that is going to be televised all over the world. It will be on SPIKE UK, which airs here in Ireland as well on Saturday at 11 p.m. local time, as well as on SPIKE in the United States at 9 p.m. ET. It will also air in 140 countries around the world, so this is an event that brings worldwide recognition to this event here in Ireland, and we’re very proud to be here.”
(Is this somewhat of a scouting mission for you on Friday?)
“The mission statement of the company is to bring the best fighters in the world to Bellator. So we’re going to be watching very closely I know there is some great talent here, and I’m excited to watch it and see what the future holds.”
(On the event coming together)
“David (Green) and I became friends a little more than a year ago, and has a big television producing background, and he’s done stuff for Spike and Viacom in the past. He’s a very big producer here in the United Kingdom. But as far as coming together, if you look at the background of Strikeforce or even before that in kickboxing, we were never opposed to having fighters in one organization against fighters in another organization. In the earliest parts of the Strikeforce career in MMA, we sent Gilbert Melendez and Josh Thomson (among others) to Pride against some of the Japanese fighters and they sent over (Shinya) Aoki, (Tatsuya) Kawajiri and some of the best fighters they had. To me, this is what martial arts is all about. We should have more events like this where top guys from different leagues compete against each other to find out who the best is. We’re not going to be opposed to that. That’s always been our philosophy
(On doing it again)
“That’s something David and I will talk about once this is over. We both individually have a big schedule for next year. We (Bellator) are going to go to more international events and more cities across the world. We are going to go to Latin America next year with shows on Mexico and Brazil.
“So we are going to have an exciting schedule to announce soon. This (Dublin event) is something that has worked out fantastic. The schedule and the timing was perfect. The door is always going to be open, these guys are a great partner and have been fantastic to work with and we look forward to doing more events.”
EVENT INFO
BAMMA and Bellator MMA will hold a unique doubleheader event in Dublin, Ireland this Friday, Dec. 16, which will feature multiple BAMMA world title bouts and an incredible Bellator MMA heavyweight main event rematch pitting “King Mo” against Satoshi Ishii. But before our ‘Bellator 169’ and ‘BAMMA 27’ competitors meet inside the cage, join us for an afternoon of verbal submissions at the official press conference inside The Gibson Hotel in Dublin.
Also on Friday night, Anthony Taylor enters enemy territory with a featherweight bout against Northern Ireland’s own James Gallagher. Also hailing from Ireland, Brian Moore will look to take advantage of the home crowd when he faces off against Daniel Weichel. The BAMMA bantamweight belt will be on the line at “BAMMA 27,” as Tom Duquesnoy challenges Alan Philpott for the division gold. Lastly, the stacked event features a featherweight world title fight pitting former Bellator competitors Ronnie Mann against Martin Stapleton.
