“I’m sure [Takanori Gomi] he’s going to be coming out hard, and try to make a name for himself right off the bat in this organization. I can’t have that.’
“I don’t mean this in a cocky way, but he’s going to have to respect me a lot more. I’m not sure he really knows what he’s dealing with,” said Florian. “I’m not sure if he’s been following the UFC, or following my career or whatever, and he definitely doesn’t know what I’ve been up to in the last few months, but I feel like if he doesn’t come with his ‘A’ game, and if he feels like he’s the senior guy, or that he’s the legend, and he doesn’t respect me, I think he’ll be out of there pretty quick.”
“[Struve] He has more experience but I think my age can make a difference.”
“Just having that extra bit of life experience definitely helps as a fighter,” he says. “I’m a lot smarter now than I was then. Except physically, I still haven’t grown into my body yet.” Ba-dum-bum.
“I really don’t do camps [Roy Nelson still trains from home, aka “The Country Club.”],” he says. “I just train an hour and a half a day, six days a week. Some guys go twice a day, but that doesn’t mean they’re doing more. They’re taking it easy and pacing themselves, whereas I go all out.”
— Big Country -325 says he has nothing but respectful words for Stefan Struve +250.
HT: mmaweekly.com, ufc.com