Anthony Morrison, WEC 48: A Few Questions Answered Between Training

On Saturday at WEC 48, Anthony Morrison takes on undefeated Chad Mendes (6-0) in Sacramento, California. It will be his second appearance under the WEC banner, and his first since challenging former featherweight champion Mike Brown.

Before boarding his plane to California, the one they call "Cheese steak" took some time out of training to answer a few questions for Bleacher Report .

First off, how’s the training going?

The training is going great, man. I’m in shape, what more can I ask for? I got real good training partners. I’m just ready to go.

You’re fighting Chad Mendes, who is undefeated and primarily a wrestler. What are your thoughts of him?

You know, he’s a dangerous guy, trains in Uriah Faber’s camp. He’s undefeated for a reason. He’s beaten some quality guys. I’m just gonna go in there and make sure it’s not 7-0.

I’ve known of him before. I’ve seen a couple of his fights. He’s got a good camp. Uriah is getting ready for a fight, so I’m sure he’s not out of shape or whatever. He might have got the call at the last minute, but I know he’s ready because of his training partners. It’s gonna be a good fight.

Your last fight was against Mike Brown, who most consider the number two guy in the division. It was also your first fight in the WEC and the first time a lot of fans got to see you. Was there anything in particular that you took away from that fight?

I just tried to absorb every little bit of the show, period. I didn’t really get the first round jitters or none of that stuff, like a lot of people say that they get. So I was pretty much comfortable.

I fought the No. 2 guy, he came out hungry, he had just lost the title and I kinda knew that he was coming out strong. What happened is what happened. I couldn’t beat myself up about it. I just had to keep moving on. What you’re gonna see in there on Saturday is gonna be a completely different fighter from what you’ve seen against Mike Brown.

You’re last fight was highly featured and this fight will be on the under card. Does that make much difference to you?

No. A fight is a fight, so you know, if I was on TV or if I was on the under card, it’s a fight. If you’re looking at your next fight and you’re thinking about the TV time, then you’re in the wrong business. You should be an actor or something.

I’m a fighter and I’m here to fight regardless of if it’s on TV or not. Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to be on TV so my family and friends and fans can see me, but that’s secondary. The objective is to train, fight and win.

What do you think will happen in the main event?

Oh man. I mean I’m an Aldo fan, but I was a Uriah fan before I was an Aldo fan.

Anything can happen. Nobody has really seen Aldo’s ground game, but a lot of people that are enthusiasts of MMA say that he’s pretty decent on the ground. But Uriah is no joke either, so it's gonna be a good fight.

How did you get the name "cheese steak"?

I got the name cheese steak because I’m from Philadelphia. A lot of people ask me that.

Basically, the boxing gym I came out under, there was a fighter by the name of Calvin Davids. His name was cheese steak, but he doesn’t fight anymore. So I kinda took that name and use it in the MMA ring instead of the boxing ring.

Final words or shout outs?

Shout out to North Philly, Atlanta ‘cause that’s where I’m training now, friends, family, the WEC for hookin’ me up, Chad Mendes for taking the fight on short notice ‘cause he could have said no. Shout out to yall for giving me this interview.

If you’re buying the WEC pay-per-view, I want to thank you. If you thought about it, I want to thank you still ‘cause that means were doing our jobs.

Great, thanks for your time and good luck on Saturday.

Thanks man, I appreciate it.