Dana White Speaks About UFC 101

[MMA Reporter]

As expected, UFC 101 will take place August 8 at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia. This will be the UFC's debut in the state of Pennsylvania, which just recently legalized mixed-martial-arts.

The pay-per-view event will be headlined by the lightweight title fight between current champion B.J. Penn and Kenny Florian. The co-main event will be a light-heavyweight bout between current middle-weight champion Anderson Silva and former champion, Forrest Griffin.

This will mark Silva's second fight in the 205-pound division, and also the return of Griffin after a serious hand injury.

After UFC President Dana White confirmed the lightweight title fight, he had some comments about the Griffin-Silva fight:

"Forrest loved the idea and said he’d do it right away, and Anderson told me he would fight anyone I wanted him to fight, no matter who it is. So we got the deal….

"I talked to (a reporter) the day after (UFC 97) and that’s when I started working on this. At the end of the day, it’s my job to put on the kinds of fights that you in the media will like and that the fans will want to see.

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"Silva and Griffin is the kind of fight that even other fighters are going to go crazy for. That’s what I do for a living. I, as a fan, didn’t like what I saw (at UFC 97) and I wasn’t kidding when I said I wanted to walk out of the building because of how embarrassed I am.

"But I can tell you this: I’m going to be counting the days until this fight.”

[clmetal]

Besides Penn-Florian, what was the other big matchup originally rumored? I can't check from work (Couture-Nog maybe)

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[p-jersey]

It was Forrest Griffin vs. Thiago Silva.

Thiago Silva is now fighting Keith Jardine at UFC 102 which is headlines by Nog vs. Couture.

[clmetal]

It was Forrest Griffin vs. Thiago Silva.

Thiago Silva is now fighting Keith Jardine at UFC 102 which is headlines by Nog vs. Couture.

Thanks, but that was not what I was thinking of. Can you give me the rumored card? I remember there being another fight I wanted to see and this would make it 3 good fights if that fight was still on.

[p-jersey]

Vera vs. Hamill was first rumored for this card but then moved to 102. Pellegrino is also fighting Neer, those were some of the first fights announced. There arent really any other big fights on the card.

• Champ B.J. Penn vs. Kenny Florian (for UFC lightweight title)
• Champ Anderson Silva vs. Forrest Griffin (non-title fight)
• Josh Neer vs. Kurt Pellgrino*
• Rousimar Palhares vs. Alessio Sakara*
• Johny Hendricks vs. Amir Sadollah*
• John Howard vs. Tamdan McCrory*
• Dan Cramer vs. Matthew Riddle*
• Shane Nelson vs. Aaron Riley*
• Jesse Lennox vs. Danillo Villefort*

[clmetal]

Vera vs. Hamill was first rumored for this card but then moved to 102. Pellegrino is also fighting Neer, those were some of the first fights announced. There arent really any other big fights on the card.

• Champ B.J. Penn vs. Kenny Florian (for UFC lightweight title)
• Champ Anderson Silva vs. Forrest Griffin (non-title fight)
• Josh Neer vs. Kurt Pellgrino*
• Rousimar Palhares vs. Alessio Sakara*
• Johny Hendricks vs. Amir Sadollah*
• John Howard vs. Tamdan McCrory*
• Dan Cramer vs. Matthew Riddle*
• Shane Nelson vs. Aaron Riley*
• Jesse Lennox vs. Danillo Villefort*

Crap - I thought it was Hamill but I forgot who he was supposed to fight.

I would say this card to me is only slightly more interesting than normal and if it had Hamill-Vera, it would have been much more interesting to me.

[p-jersey]

I am not surprised that you are not impressed with the card. Its definitely got the big fights that some cards lack. After the main events there really any big fights but the pellegrino/neer fight should be very good.

I also would have liked to see vera/hamill but 102 was looking pretty thin so they needed to boost that one.

[clmetal]

I am not surprised that you are not impressed with the card. Its definitely got the big fights that some cards lack. After the main events there really any big fights but the pellegrino/neer fight should be very good.

I also would have liked to see vera/hamill but 102 was looking pretty thin so they needed to boost that one.

LOL - are you twisting my words on purpose? I was comparing this card to the average card and I thought it was above average with the Hamill fight and would have been really above average if this was an addition.

The Florian fight is very interesting to me and Pelligrino-Neer could be good or lame, same thing with the added fight - if Forrest is smart, it could be another guy largely staying outside of Silva's range.

[UGLY]

When will they stop numbering the events? Cant wait until UFC 4,332.