PROJECTING MORE THAN A 20 SCREEN MULTIPLEX
“I would just come after me – take a chance, ’cause to sit there and play the cat and mouse game with me, and jab and slip and move around, I think that’s a slow death for him that he can’t possibly win.” – UFC interim heavyweight champ Frank Mir, on UFC 100 opponent Brock Lesnar. Be careful what you wish for, sir. (Cage Potato)
“If I’m cocky and put my hands down, obviously it will be a short night for me and I can go home and cry about it later.” – Mir, cocky? No. (Las Vegas Sun)
“The fighter I was then compared to the fighter I am now is leaps and bounds.” – Mir
“I think Brock knows enough about me to be worried, if I say anymore, I might not be able to get him in the cage. So we might as well try to boost up his confidence so he shows up on the 11th and I can get paid.” – Mir. Even B.J. Penn wasn’t this transparent leading up to UFC 94. (Smug Mug)
MO’ MONEY, MO’ PROBLEMS
“They say that WEC is a different company than UFC.” – Former WEC featherweight champ Urijah Faber, relaying the excuse given for the contrast in pay scales between Zuffa’s two MMA companies. (Cage Writer)
“Well then can you talk to the owners and see if you can pull some strings?” – Faber, responding to Lorenzo Fertitta and Dana White when told the UFC and WEC are separate entities.
“Things will be fine as long as they’re looking at me as an investment and not an expense. I’ve done my part, countless interviews and gone above and beyond with the PR.” – Faber, getting into Roger Huerta territory.
FEDOR’S GONNA FIGHT CANS AGAIN
“Hopefully by October I’ll be competing. We’re finishing the contract I’d say with CBS, Showtime, and Strikeforce and making a deal that UFC can’t match.” – Former UFC light heavyweight champ Tito Ortiz. Contracts are hard. (MMA Weekly)
“I feel sorry for the person they have me fight, but I do need one warm-up fight.” – Ortiz
“I’m hoping by my fourth fight, possibly fight Fedor Emelianenko at a catchweight.” – Ortiz. A catchweight? The guy’s no more than ten pounds heavier than you. Man up, Tito.
I HOPE THE UFC HAS A CAGE THAT CAN CONTAIN ALL THIS SEXY
“They’ve made a cage here in Japan, and that’s where I’m practicing to transition from the ring to the cage.” – Yoshihiro Akiyama. Please, please, please, lock me in that cage. (USA Today)
SEVENTEEN PERCENT?!
“Right now, I’m trying to be a true champion, and I want to do the things that Bruce Lee wasn’t figuring out. I want to be like a Muhammed Ali that can actually wrestle and do jiu-jitsu.” – Jon Jones. Ali could have used that groundwork in the Antonio Inoki “classic.” (MMA Weekly)
“Jake O’Brien has been shooting that same double leg takedown for the three or four years he’s been in the UFC, and I’ve prepared myself to stop his takedowns.” – Jones.
“With the Stephan Bonnar fight I felt like I was Jonny Jones at 15 percent, and right now I feel like I’ve kicked it up to maybe 17 percent.” – Jones. Unfortunately, Mike Goldberg‘s commentating at maximum capacity. (UFC.com)
TOM ATENCIO DESCRIBES COMPETING AGAINST THE UFC
“Dude, I don’t remember s—.” – Affliction VP Tom Atencio (MMA Weekly)
“All I remember was being on my back and him above me and me kicking away, and just scrambling to get my wits, just get back in the game.” – Atencio
“I feel like a Mack Truck hit me. My whole body hurts.” – Atencio, that’s what she said.
HOPEFULLY SHE LEAVES THE TITANIUM SIX POUND BIKINIS AT HOME
“I can’t have problems this time.” – Cris “Cyborg” Santos, on needing to make weight this time. (Bloody Elbow)
“I promised it would never happen again, and I’ll keep my word.” – Santos. Maybe you should have kept your word last time. You know, when you agreed to make weight?
IT’S A GOOD THING THEY DIDN’T HAVE A QUALITY DOUBLE
“I said, ‘What? Are you crazy? I’m not giving you my wallet.” – Antoni Hardonk, explaining how he handled being mugged. (Cage Writer)
“Obviously, I had much better skills, but is it worth the risk? They could have had a gun, other knives, who knows?” – Hardonk, leading credence to the theory that the best self-defense martial art is “track and field.”
WHITE NOISE
“When this thing is a sport, all over the entire world, and you can take the UFC to any city in any country, just like soccer, then I did it.” – UFC President Dana White, outlining his endgame for MMA. (Yahoo)
“That’s why I was put on this planet. That’s my job, my destiny, whatever the hell you want to call it.” – White. What if you were born 100 years ago?
“I can’t retire him, but he gave me his word that he was going to retire so…” – White, back tracking more and more on the Liddell issue. (Cage Writer)
PARTING SHOTS
“This is a very good moment, but I’m not impressed.” – UFC light heavyweight champ Lyoto Machida. Even GSP must have been impressed with that one, man. (Tatame)
“I know there was a lot of debate when Dana told Chuck to stop competing, but I think at this point Pedro is even in worse shape.” – Joe Rogan, on Pedro Rizzo. He might want to sit the next couple out. (The UG)
‘Kenny Florian is a great training partner, and is going to be a great champion, and he’s also a greater person and human being.” – UFC welterweight champ and maple syrup stockholder Georges St. Pierre, taking an opportunity to needle B.J. Penn. (MMA Weekly)