The UFC 278 pre-fight press conference in Salt Lake City, Utah, saw the top six fighters on the card take to the stage at the Vivint Arena to face questions from the assembled media ahead of the UFC’s latest pay-per-view event.
Things were mostly cordial between reigning UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman and title challenger Leon Edwards as they traded little jabs at each other, mostly in good spirits, ahead of their main event title clash.
But the heat was all on the co-main event, where Paulo Costa and Luke Rockhold went back and forth in lengthy exchanges, with Rockhold going on the offensive against the powerful Brazilian contender. Interestingly, when the topic of Costa’s pre-fight weight came up, the Brazilian declined to reveal how much he weighed one day out from the official weigh-ins.
The other bout represented on the dais was the bantamweight clash between former featherweight king Jose Aldo and rising contender Merab Dvalishvili, who offered respect and focus in equal measure as they gave their takes ahead of their bout, which could push the winner toward a title shot at 135 pounds.
Check out the best bits from Thursday’s press conference, and the face-offs that followed, via the video below.
