UFC 130 Press Conference Recap: Frank Mir & Roy Nelson are Friends...We Get It!

The UFC hosted a press conference this afternoon to promote UFC 130, which takes place on Saturday night in Las Vegas.

Rampage Jackson, Matt Hamill, Frank Mir, Roy Nelson, Brian Stann, Jorge Santiago and Dana White all gathered on stage to answer questions from the press. Dana wore a polo shirt, so you knew it was a special occasion.

The conference started off with a question for Brian Stann, asking if he was tired of being cast as the military hero figure. He responded by saying that he doesn’t mind because it helps bring attention to the military charities he supports. As to if other people are tired of it, he said: "I’m not the one who asks the questions. Sorry if people are sick of hearing about it." True.

Regarding Jorge Santiago (Stann’s opponent), Dana expressed great admiration for him and his quest to make it back to the UFC after being cut in 2006. Santiago said that it’s an honor to fight Stann and to be back in the UFC. Regarding his having to fight an "American Hero", Santiago said that he loves America just as much as Stann does, and that he feels no added pressure in having to fight a veteran on Memorial Day weekend.

Early on in the conference, Matt Hamill fielded two consecutive questions. Because of his inability to hear, he did not realize that he was speaking so softly that no one could hear him. Despite an awkward 5 to 10 minutes, no adjustment was made to his mic volume. Hamill was visibly pleased with his answers and his ability to work the crowd. Ignorance is bliss.

The conference was then dominated by over twenty minutes (not kidding) of questions for Frank and Roy about: A) What it is like to fight your friend, and B) What it’s like to fight in their hometown of Las Vegas. It was almost as if the reporters didn’t hear each others’ questions, and were just taking turns re-phrasing each other. If I’d been watching DVR, you can believe I’d have hit skip. Even Roy and Frank seemed vexed by the questioning after a while. On a lighter note, it took Roy Nelson all of one response (his first of the conference) to reference food (hamburgers, to be specific). For someone who seems perturbed by the media always making so much of his "build", he sure doesn’t do himself a lot of favors.

As could be expected, Rampage Jackson stole the show. He said he’d like rapper "Fifty Cent" to play him (‘Adult Rampage’) if a biographical movie ever was made. He said that he still plans on retiring at 35, so he can work on his fingerpainting. He continued: "I’m getting good at it (finger-painting). I made a beautiful peacock the other day. I want to retire and make finger-paintings and put them on eBay." Rampage went on to say that he will fight as long as he needs to in order that he can put his little sister through college and take care of his parents (admirable). He also said that he knows some of his kids are going to need "lawyer fees".

After the Q & A session, the fighters and Dana posed for pictures. During the square-offs, there was a marked lack of hostility between any of the three pairs of fighters. After the official shots, Rampage took a pic with Hamill where they both grinned goofily, while Rampage was giving Hamill "bunny ears". The whole things made me glad that there are prelims for this card.

UFC 130 is this Saturday night, at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, NV. The Facebook prelims (starting at 7pm ET) will feature Gleison Tibau vs. Rafaello Oliveira, Michael McDonald vs. Chris Cariaso and Renan Barao vs. Cole Escovedo.

The Spike Prelims (beginning at 8pm ET) will see Kendall Grove take on Tim Boetsch and Demetrious Johnson fighting former WEC Bantamweight Champ Miguel Torres.

The Pay Per View Card begins at 9pm ET. The Main card will be:

- Stann vs. Santiago

- Alves vs. Story

- Struve vs. Browne

- Mir vs. Nelson

- Jackson vs. Hamill

Be sure to check Cageside Seats for a full recap of the action the following day.