To listen to audio of the UFC 83 conference call, click here. 

The UFC held a conference call last week to discuss "UFC 83: Serra vs. St. Pierre 2" on Saturday, April 19, at the Centre Bell in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, on pay-per-view.

The main event is a rematch between Matt Serra and Georges St. Pierre for the UFC welterweight title. Serra scored a stunning first-round TKO over St. Pierre a year ago to capture the UFC 170-pound title.

Serra hasn't fought since after a stint as a coach on "The Ultimate Fighter 6," then a back injury that kept him sidelined for a few months. St. Pierre bounced back from the loss to score a decision over Josh Koscheck and a second-round submission in his third fight with Matt Hughes.

In one of the other featured fights, former UFC middleweight champion Rich Franklin takes on Travis Lutter.

Check out what St. Pierre, Serra and Franklin had to say about UFC 83:

GEORGES ST. PIERRE

On his mental preparation for the rematch against Serra:

"Well, I trained very hard for that fight. I trained to fight an army, not a single person. I've been sparring every week with very high-caliber fighters. If an army can't break me, one man will never do it. So I'm very well prepared. I've never been so sharp in my life and I can't wait."

On if he feels pressure to win by KO or submission:

"I'm focusing on what I'm going to do to him and not what he is going to do to me. I've been studying a lot of tape. I know his strengths. He's a very good fighter. I know what he is good at. Like I said, I know him and I just focus on what I am going to do to him."

On how he psyched himself up before his last fight against Matt Hughes:

"I do a lot of imagery. It helps me to focus and I visualize what I am going to do in the octagon. That's about it. When I am going to walk into this octagon on April 19 to face Matt Serra I will have already done the scenario before."

On the sports psychologist he has been seeing:

"You know that's a trick that he gave me, but I've been reading a lot of stuff and a lot of athletes do the same thing, a 100-meter race or every other sport."

On Serra's weakness:

"At this level of fighting he is a world champion. He doesn't have much of a weakness. He does have some part of his game that is not as good as some other part. So, of course, I want to exploit those parts of his game. I do have a strategy for the fight. I am going to fight my fight, not his fight. I am going to bring him into my game, not his game."

On whether he will ever train with Renzo Gracie, who was Serra's mentor, again in the future:

"My training is really good now, so why change the formula. Everything is going well for me now, so we'll see. In the future, I don't know what's going to happen."

On the magnitude of the first UFC event in Canada:

"Montreal has always been a fighting town. Boxing is very popular. I think the UFC is very popular. Whenever I'm fighting in Las Vegas a lot of Canadians are there to see me fight and to support me. So now they come to Montreal, Quebec, where I come from and the people are happy to support the sport."

On saying that Serra has "crossed the line" during the promos for the event:

"You know, the UFC ask you questions sometimes and they put what you said in some places and sometimes it seems weird. The question they were asking me, because he called me 'Frenchy,' and they asked me what I think about that comment. I said he crossed the line and he should not have said that.

On whether he holds a grudge that Serra said, "Go have a glass of wine and watch a hockey game Frenchy":

"He can say whatever he wants. That's not going to get into my head. It doesn't mean a thing to me. I'm going to hit as hard as I can. I have a job to do and I'm going to do it."

On how he plans to take Serra out of his game:

"I've been studying him a lot. I know how to fight him and I am going to fight him in a way that nobody has fought him before. People might be surprised. I'm going to do some stuff that people haven't seen before."

On his advantages in the fight:

"I think I got more tools and it's a question of momentum. I read a book called 'Art of War' by Sun Tzu and he said that wars are won by momentum. Battles are won by momentum. If you look at last year, I was coming from an injury and Matt Serra was on fire and he beat me. Now, the scenario is totally reversed. Matt Serra is coming from an injury and I've won two straight. So I think I have the momentum on my side and I think it's going to help me win that fight."

On how he will keep his cool in front of 21,000 screaming Canadians that will be backing him:

"I'm at my best under pressure. I think it's going to give me a good positive vibe. It's going to be a good night."

On the possibility of moving up in weight to challenge Anderson Silva:

"I'm thinking about it. It's going to depend on the scenario. I have a lot of training partners at 185 and my weight class is 170. I would never get into the way of one of my training partners because I would never fight a friend or somebody that I train with. But if one day I have the opportunity, the way is clear and I did everything that I had to do in my division, then of course I would."

MATT SERRA

On his biggest strength heading into the rematch with St. Pierre:

"I think it's going to be my mental focus and keeping my wits under fire. I have to be prepared and dangerous on all fronts. Georges is very well rounded. He's got very good wrestling besides his striking, so standing up, off my back, everywhere I have to bring my 'A' game."

On the status of his back:

"110 percent, buddy. I would never have taken this fight if I felt I couldn't compete at my level, the level I should be. I feel great."

On fighting in St. Pierre's hometown:

"I don't expect to get cheered walking out. It's not a problem. I think I'm finally going to feel what Tim Sylvia feels when he fights anywhere. I have my trainers and sparring partners boo me on a regular basis, so I'm getting ready mentally for it."

On St. Pierre having trained with Renzo Gracie in the past:

"It's kind of a conflict of interest. Even more so than anything that was said with this spat of words that was said between us after the (first) fight. It's more just a conflict of interest. If I have the belt and he's training to beat me, it wouldn't make sense for him to be training at the school that I came up with. So that's really where it stems from. Even if we got along great afterwards and never had any kind of difference, it would have been the same way. I wouldn't be working with his trainers to fight him. It's kind of ridiculous. I think that's really what it comes down to."

On the UFC making its debut in Canada:

"It's just going to be a historic event. When it (MMA) finally gets legalized in New York, I would love to a part of that also. But this is the first time ever in Canada and I'm in the main event. How could you not get excited for that. This is history. I'm honored to be a part of it. I'm really excited."

On his year away from the sport and possible ring rust:

"People are going to say you haven't fought in a year, but I have been fighting three or four times a week, multiple partners, bigger, stronger and I'm really happy how everything is going. I feel great and my all around game ... I've got some great stuff. They way I've looked in sparring and the things I've been doing, I should be able to pull off in the fight. That's where my confidence comes from. I'm really excited. That (the layoff) is not going to effect me at all."

On being a huge underdog:

"I think I'm a huge underdog. Maybe, not as huge as last time. His last two performances were great. He basically cleaned out the division and was coming off a decision over B.J. Penn and the destruction of (Matt) Hughes the last time. Now he is coming off the decision win over (Josh) Koscheck and the destruction of Matt Hughes. They can look at it any way they want. I know I'm the underdog, and again I'm very comfortable with that role. It's great."

On where he would put St. Pierre on a pound-for-pound list:

"Obviously, he is super talented. But I don't believe it's really about ... anybody on any given night can be the better fighter. It's about how styles match up. I feel I'm a way worse matchup than ... I'm not even saying I'm a better fighter than Koscheck ... but I think I'm a worse matchup for him. Where do I rank him? I don't know? I don't look at it that way. Styles make fights, and I believe my style is real good for this matchup and I'll prove it."

RICH FRANKLIN

On how he stays focused with all kinds of projects going on outside the octagon:

"I don't let that kind of stuff interfere with my training. Usually, after a fight I take a couple of weeks off anyway and, unfortunately, the timing for me with the film that I was involved with kind of overlayed that time where I was taking some time off. I'm the kind of person that needs a little down time after a fight anyway, not just physically to let my body heal up but mentally to kind of give myself a break. I don't think that has interfered with my training at all. And I never let my business with American Fighter with my training. That's why I have Jeff and J.T., basically, from a business point of view running things at home when I'm not there."

On working with Matt Hume for this fight:

"I was happy with the work I had done with Matt for the (Anderson) Silva fight. Unfortunately, he and I didn't have enough time to work together for that fight, but I was so happy with the work we had done together that I decided to come up to Seattle to train at his place. I've been up here with him for nearly a month. My plan is to continue to work with him for fights in the future."

On rebounding from loss to Silva:

"After losing to Anderson the first fight, I was able to come back and win twice. I pretty much put the losses behind me and move on to the next fight and what happens on a given night is what happened on that given night. What happened to me on Oct. 20 won't predict what's going to happen on April 19 with Travis. Like Travis said, he's a much different fighter than Silva. The threat is completely different for a fighter like him than it would be for Anderson anyway."

On what he expects the atmosphere to be like in the arena:

"Any time you go to a new place the atmosphere is electric, I guess, is the best way to describe it. I've been fortunate to be a part of the first fights to ever come to Ohio. I was part of the first fight in Ireland. Now, I'm part of the first fight that's ever going to be in Canada. Any time you take fight to a new atmosphere like that the fans are just hungry. Like Georges said earlier, Montreal is a hot spot for MMA fans, so I would excpect nothing less than an electric environment when we get out there. I think the fact that tickets sold out in record time shows it's definitely going to be that way."

On the difference mentally how he prepares after a loss and win:

"For me, preparing mentally after a loss or preparing mentally after a win are the same thing. Like I said before, what happened on Oct. 20 is completely unrelated to what is coming up for me. You have to go and put those kinds of things behind you. I'm preparing for a completely different opponent, a completely different fight, a completely different fighter from myself. There are too many variables for me to get caught up on things that have happened rather than things that are going to happen."

On if he would want a third fight with Silva if he gets past Lutter:

"Really, I haven't given any thought to my fight career beyond Travis. I hate even addressing questions like this. As soon as you give an answer it makes it sound like you are looking past your opponent anyway. Anytime I try and predict something what's in front of me I'm generally wrong whether I win or lose. Ultimately, if I beat Travis I would love to get back to a title shot. I'm not sure the fans would necssarily want to see a Franklin-Silva III. I think a lot of people out there would say I've seen it twice and I'm not interested in seeing it a third time. I don't know? But in my heart of hearts I believe that I could beat him. I would be willing to give something like that a third try."

CARLOS ARIAS/The Register

carias@ocregister.com

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