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As Ultimate Fighting Championship President Dana White and the fighters in the main card of Saturday’s UFC 82: Pride of a Champion took the stage for Thursday’s press conference, one fighter sat composed and focused.
Cheick Kongo is listed on UFC’s Web site at 6’4″ and 240 pounds, a daunting man just in his presence. But to make it even more intimidating, he sat at the press conference in his brown coat and hat like a statue, a drastic difference from his opponent on Saturday, Heath Herring.
“I’ll make a good show Saturday night,” Kongo said. “So Heath, be ready.”
Herring’s demeanor and comments were more in line with those one would expect in a stump speech from Barack Obama than from a man set to fight inside a 30-foot wide octagon for 15 minutes.
“This is my first time in Columbus,” Herring said. “Everybody here has been great, I’m looking forward to this event, and the arena seems to be beautiful.”
White poked fun at Herring for his light-hearted remarks.
“You were supposed to come up here and say you were going to kick Cheick’s ass,” White said.
Herring’s laid-back approach and relaxed attitude worked well for the press conference, but he said Saturday will be different.
“I save it all to the day of the fight,” Herring said. “We’ve got an appointment for 15 minutes and that’s when it is time to come out.”
Herring (27-13-1) comes into Saturday’s bout off a loss by unanimous decision in his last fight against Antonio Nogueira in July 2007.
Kongo (21-3-1) started in the UFC in 2006 and defeated Mirko Cro Cop by unanimous decision in Sept. 2007.
The winner of the Herring-Kongo match could be the next challenger for the heavyweight title.
The main event Saturday has been labeled a “dream fight” to find out who is the best middleweight fighter in the world.
UFC Middleweight Champion, Anderson “The Spider” Silva, goes up against PRIDE 183-pound Champion Dan Henderson.
“This is probably the greatest 185-pound fight that’s ever happened in MMA (mixed martial arts),” White said. “If Anderson Silva is able to walk through Dan Henderson the way he has everyone else – wow I don’t know who’s going to beat this guy.”
Silva’s (20-4) last fight was a technical knockout of Rich Franklin in October 2007. He is widely considered to be the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world.
“I hope to continue to create history in MMA” Silva said. “I hope that Saturday’s fight will be one of the most memorable fights in MMA history.”
Henderson (22-6) lost his last fight to Quinton “Rampage” Jackson by unanimous decision in September 2007. He is the only man to ever hold titles in two different weight divisions in PRIDE history.
“He’s one of the greatest middleweights ever,” White said about Henderson. “He’s well-rounded, will go toe-to-toe with anybody and a great wrestler.”
Henderson disagrees with the characterization of Silva as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world.
“He hasn’t fought me yet,” Henderson said. “So we’ll find out on Saturday night.”
James Crepea can be reached at [email protected].
