New York, NY – It may be happening in New Jersey at the IZOD Center this May but the UFC continues to speak volumes about where it wants to hold an event by placing the official UFC on FOX press conference at the historic Radio City Music Hall in New York City.
Free and open to the public, UFC President Dana White spoke to the crowd yesterday along with his main event fighters as an excited group of fans and media gathered to ask questions.
The event will take place May 5th, Cinco de Mayo, in New Jersey and will feature Jersey native Jim Miller vs. Nate Diaz in a lightweight contenders fight.
At the press conference, reporters pressed White as to who would fight lightweight champion Benson “Smooth” Henderson. Would it be the winner of this match up, Anthony “Showtime” Pettis, or would Frankie Edgar get his rematch.
The answer would come last night as White re-tweeted Edgar’s jubilant response and then tweeted his own announcement.
“Frankie Edgar and Ben Henderson rematch will be this summer,” White tweeted
Depending on the outcome, we could see the winner of Henderson/Edgar face the winner of Miller/Diaz or Pettis after this summer.
At the press conference, the sometimes polarizing Diaz amused the crowd with his short answers and his lack of interest in the type of event his brother Nick Diaz once referred to as a “beauty contest.”
When Fox News Latino asked Diaz if he thought his placement in the main event of a network broadcast was a show of respect for the fighter, his response was classic Diaz.
“Yeah, I don’t know. I think it kind of goes depending on how your fights go.” Diaz said. “I’m glad to be on the card, it’s cool to be headlining.”
Another big topic from the MMA fans and media was whether or not legislation would finally pass to sanction mixed martial arts in the state of New York with the ultimate goal of getting the UFC into Madison Square Garden, a fight “Mecca.”
White avoided making any promises or bold predictions this time out as to whether this would be the year the UFC would finally be allowed to put an event on in New York.
“I’ve been saying that for like four years so I don’t want to say it again,” said White. “We’re going to keep grinding and grinding until we get it done.”
Other matches taking place on the main card include:
Pat Barry vs. Lavar Johnson
Johny Hendricks vs. Josh Koscheck
Alan Belcher vs. Rousimar Palhares
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