00:00Happy birthday America. Thanks for coming out today, we appreciate it.
00:06One thing I want to touch on before we get started here, World Liberty Financial will serve as a
00:12presenting partner and are adding another $250,000 to the bonuses for the fighters that night.
00:19So two athletes who earn fight of the night are going to earn $400,000 each and then the two
00:27performance of the bonuses will get $425,000 each. Congratulations, everybody. Good luck.
00:35Who's got the first question?
00:37For Ilya Tepore, the champion. Ilya, you'd be very confident through this fight week.
00:43Justin Gaethje says he's going to change your face on Sunday. What is your response to that?
00:50He can try. He can try. I know that I'm the best in the world. He's going to have the
00:55octagon.
00:56In two more days, we are going to share the same place and he can prove me wrong. I feel
01:02that I'm
01:02the best. If you think that I'm not, just prove me wrong if you can. But I have my doubts.
01:08I know
01:08that I'm going to take his lads out in the first round. This is all I know. And for Justin,
01:1517 have
01:15tried against Ilya. All of them have failed. Why are you different and why are you going to get this
01:20win? Yeah, there's no doubt this guy is one of the best in the world. He's number two on the
01:24pound
01:24for pound list. But I have fought the best of the best. I have so much experience in
01:28the cage. And I'm going to use that experience to be great. All I got to do is go in
01:33there
01:33and be perfect. I trust in my abilities. And fighting is crazy. And so I'm going to go in
01:37there and put it on the line. That's all I can do.
01:40Once again, for you, Ilya, you are number two pound for pound right now. You've held that
01:46number one spot before. What are you going to do on Sunday to reclaim it? For myself, I'm
01:50the number one. Don't even say that I'm the number two. For myself, I'm the number
01:54one. What are you going to do to show that to the people who do the rankings? What was
02:00the question? How are you going to show that to the people in the rankings with this win
02:04in the first round? Who's got the next question? Yeah. Jumping out with KO Sports. This one's
02:12for Ilya. Ilya, no one has ever knocked out Justin Gaethje in the first round. You say
02:18you'll do it in two minutes. What makes you so confident you'll be the first to knock
02:22him out early? No one even knocked out Max Holloway. And I was the first one to take
02:29his lights out. And why not with Justin to do the same thing to him? And Justin in the
02:37bottom of his heart, he knows that I'm going to knock him out in the first round. Not true.
02:42He knows that. Not true. Of course. You know that. You might know it, but no, definitely not.
02:47Okay. Not how it works. I don't think so. I'm going to be the one who's going to play.
02:52I don't think so. The incredible hook is going for Gaethje, for America.
02:57Take his mic off. Gaethje is going to pressure. Gaethje is going to make it dirty. That's
03:07what the incredible hook thinks. And that's why he's going for Gaethje. But Toporia, I'm
03:13a big fan. You knock everybody out. But Gaethje, I think he's ready. He's hungry. And yeah.
03:20Next question for Justin. You said your plan is to move forward in this fight. Ilya says
03:26that's exactly what he wants you to do. Are you sure that is the best way to be Ilya Toporia?
03:33Oh, I am sure that my coach has come up with a magnificent plan for me.
03:38The coach is not going to be in there with you. We have been training.
03:40The coach is not going to be in there with you. We are going to be alone in that octagon
03:42with me.
03:43Yeah, me and you, buddy. That's how it works. The coach is not going to be helping you.
03:46That's how it works. Me and you, just me and you. You are talking about your coach as one of
03:51the best.
03:52I'm fine, Lord. You are not even the world champion. That's what we're doing.
03:55What makes him the best if you are not even the best? What makes him the best?
04:00What makes my coach the best? Well, his success as a coach.
04:02You are not even the best. For sure. For sure.
04:05What makes your coach the best if you are not the best?
04:08His success as a coach. Other athletes, myself, our accomplishments, his accomplishments as a whole.
04:14That's what I would say. That makes my coach the best in the world because I won the world title
04:19in the featherweight division.
04:20I defended successfully. Then I move up in the light. There's no doubt about it.
04:25The title. So my coach is the best in the world. I'm the best in the world. I'm the best
04:30coach in the world.
04:30My coach is the best in the world, man. Can we all get along?
04:37Greg Jackson is a good coach too. Mike Winklejohn is a good coach.
04:41Yeah, and they all got coached under Greg Jackson. I'm sorry about that. I second that.
04:47But can we all get along? Last one for Justin Gaethje.
04:52Justin, Ilya says he wants to knock you out in front of your father and your country.
04:57What did you make of those comments? And did you expect the fight to get this personal?
05:03Of course, fighting is personal. We're fucking trying to beat each other up.
05:06That's what we do. That's what this sport is. None of you guys understand how serious it is.
05:11Only us fighters understand the consequences of getting in there every single time.
05:16And for some of us, we love it. For some of you guys, you could never dream of taking these
05:22chances and taking these risks.
05:25That's what we do, though, as fighters.
05:28Question for Eamon Zahabi.
05:30It was Spanish to me. Last question. Go ahead.
05:34Vic Blanche here. My question is for Ilya and Justin. Ilya, if you were to team up with Alex, Justin,
05:42you were to team up with Hokit. The four of you trapped in a room. Only two could walk out
05:47alive. Who's going to make it out that room?
05:51I'm going to leave this answer to Justin. I'm not here for hypothetical questions. I have a real dangerous opponent
05:59in front of me. That's all I'm worried about.
06:01Can I interject, please? I think Teporia is so mad because he's so short he can't see himself in the
06:10bathroom mirror. And he married a stripper from Miami. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. The incredible Hokie. He'd just be getting
06:21me in trouble. I'm sorry. Teporia, I'm a real big fan, though. You're still my favorite.
06:28You have a tough task ahead of you. And Gaethje's real hungry. And he's American. Most importantly, that's what the
06:38Incredible Hokies says.
06:40Hey, guys, thanks for coming out tonight. I'm going to square these guys off for photo ops. We'll see you
06:45tomorrow.
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