FRANK MIR: “I EVENTUALLY WANT TO FIGHT IN THE SAME WEIGHT CLASS AS MIGUEL TORRES.”
“Right now I have a couple months off, so I’ve actually been toying with the idea of maybe going down a weight class.” – Frank Mir. Yes, the same Frank Mir who recently added some 20 or 30 pounds of muscle in a calendar year leading up to his fight with Shane Carwin at UFC 111. Are you having a laugh? (MMA Figs)
“Since I don’t have a fight for a couple months, I’ve just been watching what I eat and see how my body without trying to put size on; what my natural weight will fall now at now since I have lifted a lot lately to add size. I’m kind of curious where I think I would fall at.” – Mir. I’m gonna guess it doesn’t fall much lower than 240. Since, you know, that’s what you fought at before your teenage girl weight obsession.
“Sometimes I stand next to Forrest and I think I’m in the wrong weight class.” – Mir, who has a reputation of not being the hardest worker in the gym, comparing himself to the prototypical gym rat.
FIGHTER FOR HIRE
“Strikeforce has exclusive negotiations for a certain time period and then there is a ‘right to match’ period, when I can start negotiating with other organizations, but Strikeforce can match.” – Strikeforce middleweight champion Jake Shields, outlining his negotiating options post-Strikeforce contract. (MMA Manifesto)
“To me, there’s going to be a value that we feel is fair, and that’s going to be it.” – Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker, who doesn’t sound too worried about losing his middleweight king. (MMA Junkie)
“The options are all good.” – Jake Shields’s manager and father Jack Shields, touching on all two of the options at his disposal. (MMA Junkie)
“If it works out, great. If not, Strikeforce has a bunch of great middleweights, and we’ll go into the tournament business.” – Coker. You could also just put the belt on Nick Diaz because you know the UFC isn’t interested in him. They are? Um. Dan Henderson still has a name, right?
MMA IS NOT A TEAM SPORT, EXCEPT WHEN IT IS
“Dana White doesn’t like me, apparently.” – Josh Koscheck. Josh, hate to break it to you, but Dana’s not the only one. (Las Vegas Review-Journal)
“I’m not a team player. I don’t understand how he can say that. To go on record and say that, I think that’s a bunch of [expletive].” – Koscheck. You know Dana says how MMA is not a team sport? How friends have to fight friends. Totally true. Except when you start talking about Team UFC. Then it’s about being a team player.
“I’m the type of fighter that steps up and fights anybody, anytime, anyplace. I’ve taken short-notice fights for him. I always do whatever I’m asked.” – Koscheck. Anyone not named Jon Fitch in the UFC Octagon, anyway.
THE WEEK IN CHAEL
“If I beat Anderson Silva, win the world title, I imagine I’ll get in a public dispute with the UFC. I’ll call Dana a bunch of the names throughout the media. I imagine I’ll leave the company. After about a year or so I’ll realize there is no where else to go, return to the UFC with a raise and probably coach the reality show.” – Chael Sonnen, number one contender for the UFC middleweight title. Shouldn’t making a movie or seeing Energy Drink Jesus be in there somewhere? (Fight! Magazine)
“But I’d love to get a night off and beat up some of those… for god sake, 205 had a karate guy that was their champion. I mean that weight class is a joke.” – Sonnen. Trollin’, trollin’, trollin’. Be sure to check out the Twitter post this week for more entertaining Sonnen material.
WHITE NOISE
“Most of these goofy MMA sites, what you have to understand is, these guys are in it for the money.” – UFC President Dana White. What you have to understand is, he’s into fight promotion for the money. (Cage Writer)
“They get paid from all the smaller promotions. They get paid a lot of money from the smaller promotions.” – White. Like the UFC paying Scott Ferrall for coverage? Pot. Kettle. All that.
“So they feel like they have to put some of their guys. That’s the way it works. It’s sick and drives me crazy.” – White, who’s welcome to produce officially sanctioned UFC rankings at any point.
PARTING SHOTS
“It was actually a little bit easier going out there without my brother.” – Dan Lauzon. Must have been easier to accept defeat without having your brother around to watch you get your ass kicked. (Boston Herald)
“Both weight classes at the time when we were champions had enough contenders in them that you didn’t have to worry about who you were going to fight next to defend your title.” – Rich Franklin, on fighting Chuck Liddell this Saturday at UFC 115. I’m not sure Evan Tanner, Nate Quarry, and David Loiseau are the best examples of having enough contenders in a weight class. (MMA Fighting)
“The truth is, we went to the hospital together and then we went and ate at Denny’s together.” – Leonard Garcia, detailing the aftermatch of his WEC 48 bout with Chan Sung Jung. (MMA Fighting)
“Acting is kind of gay. It makes you soft.” – Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. Case in point: UFC 114. (L.A. Times)