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He'll Take That Rematch By Loretta Hunt Team Quest fighter Evan Tanner has gotten wind of Phil Baroni's reduced suspension revelation, as well his request for a rematch, and he's not too enthused. "A reduced suspension?" Tanner scoffed from his home in Oregon earlier today. "He's not getting punished at all. Shoot, I'll sometimes have to sit out nine months between fights. What's three months? That's nothing. That's just a formality. He got his fine, which may have hurt him a little bit, but as far as having to sit out, that was just a gesture. That was nothing."
"New York Bad Ass" Phil Baroni has jumped back into the spotlight in record time following yesterday's announcement that he'll be eligible for MMA competition after March 3rd. Having already issued an open challenge to Tanner for a rematch of their first UFC 45 scuffle back in November, the Texan showed little hesitancy in his reply today. "I'll definitely take the fight," the quiet middleweight conveyed. "We'll settle this once and for all. Personally, Baroni and I don't like each other. I don't think that's a surprise to anyone. I'd be glad to take that fight." But, Baroni has taken things a step further, insisting that the fight will not happen because Tanner will price himself out of the impending battle UFC officials have already said they'd like to see happen. "You know what?" Tanner replied frankly to the accusation. "As far as the money goes, yeah, I'm gonna want to get paid for the fight. With the UFC, I've been winning fights and my pay has been going down every time. I'm just so eager to fight in the UFC, I'm just trying to make something happen. For a fight like this, I'm gonna want to get paid a little bit. I've got bills to pay. I gotta try and make a living too. The last fight, he made more money losing than I did winning. It's a little ridiculous. I'm definitely gonna want to get paid, but I'm not going to be unreasonable." A second pairing between these two dynamic middleweights could put to an end the question marks that have surrounded their initial outing. It was Baroni who came out strong in the opening seconds of the bout with his furious striking, but it was wrestler Tanner who capitalized later with a takedown and the subsequent mount in the final seconds before referee Larry Landless moved in to halt the match. Baroni has boasted that this time around, he'll finish what he started. Tanner remains unimpressed. "If I believed every fairy tale that Baroni's told, he'd be world champion right now in my eyes and Lindland wouldn't have defeated him and I shouldn't bother getting up in the morning because he's gonna put me down. C'mon now! He's good at telling stories and fairy tales. I don't know if he's trying to convince himself or what. He's a big talker. That guy makes me laugh." Adds Tanner, "His job's gonna have to be to knock me down before I take him down, because if I take him down, I'm gonna drop some elbows on his head. I'm gonna hurt him." |
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