English middleweight gets in opponent’s face at UFC 152 news conference
English middleweight Michael (The Count) Bisping stole the show at the UFC 152 news conference Thursday, jamming his face into opponent Brian (All American) Stann as the two posed for photos. There were no such fireworks when light-heavyweight champion Jon (Bones) Jones and challenger Vitor (The Phenom) Belfort or flyweight title contenders Joseph Benavidez and Demetrious (Mighty Mouse) Johnson faced off. The fight card goes Saturday night (TV: pay-per-view) at the Air Canada Centre. Bad blood at the photo op aside, it was a pretty routine pre-fight gathering before fans and media at the Real Sports Bar and Grill, other than the revelation from Belfort that Jones is his 7-year-old son Davi’s favourite fighter. All six fighters on hand were quick to talk up Canada’s passion for MMA. Still, tickets remain available for the show, the UFC’s10th in Canada and third in Toronto. “Even if I get booed, I’m still happy to be here,” Jones said with a smile. Jones’ popularity took a blow when he decided not to fight Chael Sonnen on short notice at UFC151, a move that led to the cancellation of the Sept. 1 Las Vegas card. “I definitely really feel horrible about the way it all played out,” said Jones, while adding he was not the one that cancelled the show.
“Life is about moving forward . . . I believe a good performance (Saturday) will definitely help people forget,” he added.
He added he didn’t understand why the card wasn’t allowed to go ahead without him.
UFC president White was not at the news conference — travel problems were cited — but he is slated to meet Jones before the weigh-in Friday to hash out any differences. The UFC needed a new opponent for Jones when Dan Henderson withdrew because of injury. Belfort subsequently volunteered and Jones agreed to meet the 35-yearold former champion on four weeks’ notice.