Food, drink and even press kits followed as I made my way past the press and fans that came to hear what the combatants had to say about their upcoming bouts this Friday in Atlantic City. The two title matches were showcased at the conference…Tito Ortiz will be defending his Middleweight Title against challenger Evan Tanner;"The Pulverizer"
Jens Pulver and Japan’s Kaoru Uno will fight for the vacant Bantamweight Title. New UFC owner Lorenzo Fertitta, UFC President Dana White and MMAC Commissioner Jeff Blatnick were on hand to answer questions. Introductions were made and questions were answered as pictures were snapped of the talented fighters who enjoyed being treated like the true professional athletes they are. Jeremy Horn, local fighter Phil Baroni, fight manager/Extreme Challenge promoter Monte Cox, and Matt Hughes were also in attendance.

Tito Ortiz, on how he will be able to stop Evan Tanner’s aggressive knees and elbows…
Tanner has never fought anybody like me…ever. I’m aggressive; I come out 100% hard with aggression. I’m going to try and stop everything he does. I’m a good wrestler, but I also have good strikes. So, maybe you are going to see a submission, you may see takedowns, you may see knockouts. I’m going out and letting everything fly. There’s nothing holding back. I’m gonna let everything go, punches, kicks, elbows, knees, submissions–head-locks, arm-locks, leg-locks, you are going to see everything. I’m going show what mixed martial arts need to be shown.

Evan Tanner when asked about striking the body of Ortiz–as he did in his last bout against Lance Gibson with great success…
I’m going to try and hit him wherever I can. Like Tito said, it’s going to be a great fight. It is going to be tough; this will be my toughest fight to date. If Tito comes out strong and gives 100%-I expect that, it’s going to be a great fight. I’m definitely going to try and hit him whenever I can and do everything to win. [Tito chimes in "it is going to be hard!"]

Jeremy Horn on his opponent Elvis Sinosic…
I know he’s tough, he takes a lot of fights on short notice, so I think that he’s always training, always ready to fight, he doesn’t need to prepare for a big fight. I know he’s primarily a ground fighter, but it looks like he kicks pretty hard, so hopefully I can take advantage of that.
When asked if he sees this being more of a stand-up fight…
If I have anything to say about it, it will…I know he’s good on the ground so…keep it where he’s weakest.