To check out audio interviews with Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, Forrest Griffin, Tyson Griffin, Chris Lytle and Ricardo Almeida from Wednesday's workouts, click here.

LAS VEGAS - Tyson Griffin puts his three-fight winning streak on the line when he takes on battle-tested veteran Marcus Aurelio of American Top Team at UFC 86 on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Mandalay Bay Events Center on pay-per-view.

The winner of the bout will move himself near the top of the UFC's loaded lightweight division.

Griffin did a light workout on Wednesday at Mandalay Bay that was open to the media.

Here is what Griffin had to say:

On facing Aurelio:

"He's a tough, tough competitor. He's a great opponent to have a win over. He's had 16 wins and only five losses. I don't think he has ever been finished in a fight (Note: All of Aurelio's losses have been by decision, including four by split decision). So I'm expecting a war. I've trained for it. I'm ready for it."

On fans expecting a "Fight of the Night" performance every time he fights:

"It doesn't really put too much pressure on me. I put enough pressure on myself in the gym to train hard and push myself to be able to go three five-minute rounds. I know if I can go out there and do what I do, they will be happy and they will get an exciting fight. If I put pressure on myself and worry about doing anything out there, I'm going to end up out of my game plan, probably make a mistake and I don't want to get caught trying to do something that's out of my ordinary.

"You gotta come up with a game plan, train for it and keep that in mind, and just get tunnel vision. Everything else is ... you figure it out as you are in there. The game plan doesn't always go as it may and that's when you just roll with the punches."

On where he stands in the UFC's 155-pound weight class:

"I feel I'm one of the top contenders out there. I don't really think about this stuff too much and put too much pressure on where I am in the division. I just want to take fights that are going to improve my name, improve my career and Marcus Aurelio is another one of those fights. With a win over Marcus, that list of opponents will be smaller and all the guys I will be fighting will be tougher and tougher and eventually lead me up to that title."

On Aurelio being little known in the U.S. but a big star in Japan where he fought for PRIDE in the past:

"The hardcore MMA fans know. He is a true veteran. He's been doing this stuff probably longer than I even thought about doing it. It's an honor to fight him and I'm taking it serious. It will be an honor to beat him."

On relocating to Las Vegas and training with Xtreme Couture:

"Yeah, I moved out even before Xtreme Couture existed. I moved out here to train with a group of guys being Jay Hieron, Gray Maynard, Mike Pyle (and) Forrest Griffin. It was actually a really, really small group of us that were working out here. We were calling each other every day and meeting at different gyms. We didn't have a gym to call home. Randy (Couture) decided to open up a gym and that's where we decided to call home. That's where I'm at now."

On how many top young fighters have been flocking to Xtreme Couture:

"Yeah, with that name it brings tons of fighters when they are in town. When they are in town, they come by. Guys have moved out there. It brought our small little stable up to having 20 pro fighters pretty much on a day-to-day basis to work with.

On the top lightweights such as Maynard and Mac Danzig at Xtreme Couture who could ended up being potential opponents:

"Yeah, that's very much a possibility. But, you know, it's kind of an unspoken thing in our sport in general that you only want to fight your friends if it's for a title, if it's for the big show.

"Other than that, it's great having lightweight guys in my weight class to work with. It keeps your body healthy. Again, it's another key to my success. It's hard to train with guys who are too big because you end up with injuries. It's hard to train with guys who are too small because it's not realistic for who you are fighting. It's just a great asset."

On his ability to make 155 pounds and if their is a possibility of a rematch against WEC featherweight champion Urijah Faber at 145 pounds in the future (Note: Griffin scored a third-round TKO over Faber in 2005):

"Yeah, I make 155 pounds (with) no problem. I don't see myself going up. I don't see myself going down. That's my weight class and I'm going to stick to it.

"There is no money. I already beat Urijah once. I went down to his weight class once and I'll never do it again. And there is no money that ... there is no money that is worth my comfort and my performance. I feel I'm the best fighter at 155.

"I'm not going to drop to 145 pounds for any money. I'm not going to go up to 170 pounds for any money. I think that's stupid to fight for money. I think it's stupid to take a fight solely based on money, you know what I mean. I make money at my weight class. I don't need to go anywhere else. I got food on my table. I'm not overzealous with my paychecks. I don't need a million dollars. It would be nice. If it comes, I'll take it. But I'm not going to put myself in danger and set myself up for failure when Ii could set myself up for success."

On living and training with all the temptations in Las Vegas:

"Vegas is a town that will make or break you. There are a lot of guys that move out here and think they can hack it. They like to train here. They like the group and what not, but they just can't handle the lifestyle and they have to take off. At the same time, it can make you.

"To me, being a fighter is all about discipline. Even if I lived in a secluded area, it doesn't mean I'm going to go to the gym every day and train my (butt) off. You gotta have that discipline as a fighter. It's just another sacrifice that you gotta make. It's not that hard to not go to The Strip and party if you got a fight to think about. It's all about being a professional and putting in the work and enjoying your down time.

"There are plenty of other things to do out here in Vegas. There is the outdoors. I got a four-wheel drive truck that I can take out and go play with guns and go play with my dog. I can go explore in the desert. There are plenty of things to do out here that are fun that don't have to do with getting drunk and partying on The Strip.

"I got a BullMastiff. He's actually eight months old, right now, so he's only about 100 pounds. I grew up with big dogs. I had a BullMastiff and Shepard mix growing up, so I like big dogs. Yeah, he's a good pup. He'll be 130 (pounds) when he's done growing, but he won't be bigger than me, hopefully. Duke is his name."

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.