The Weekly Wrap: Dec. 27 - Jan. 2

Quoteworthy

"To come back and fight the best heavyweight to ever fight in the UFC and get a win over him after what I've gone through, it just shows… I'm proof you can do things. I didn't think I could beat Nogueira. If I was a betting man, I wasn't on Mir's side tonight." -- Frank Mir after defeating Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira at UFC 92.

"Nogueira was training with Forrest Griffin and Wanderlei Silva for this fight; that's all the people he trained with. Those three guys just got together and hugged each other while I had Frank train with reputable professional boxers – one heavyweight and one light heavyweight. Then I had him spar with kickboxers, wrestlers and Olympic-level judo players. When you have a chance to train with so many different high-level guys, there's just no way around improving. .You've got to get better . . . I mean, who's going to say, ‘You're going to spar professional boxers today? Well, I'm not a boxer.’ I don't care. You're going to box them, and you're going to survive because that's what is going to get you the hand speed. That's why he was so much more efficient boxing." -- Ken Hahn, Frank Mir's striking coach, to MMA Junkie on what brought Mir to the level he was at for UFC 92.

"Nogueira had some other problems too going into [UFC 92]. Nogueira had just gotten over a staph infection and he had some other problems but when [Nogueira] fought in PRIDE. PRIDE put on such freak shows — guys fighting out of their weight class, things like that. That's why I'm so against it. That's how you ruin guys early. If you're a professional athlete, time is not good to you. Time catches us all." -- UFC President Dana White during a radio interview with "The Carmichael Dave Show."

"When he like gave me his best combo I was like, 'oh yeah, that's all you got?' We're out there fighting and we're fighting in front of people, but when you're in there, you're competing against another man. It's kind of like on the basketball court. You hit somebody with a mean cross, so you kind of want to clown him for a second. I was caught up in the moment . . . It's just me man. I can't help the way I am. It's just me. I get down like that. I have fun with it." -- Rashad Evans to Sherdog.com's "Savage Dog Show" on his controversial gesture during his fight with the Forrest Griffin.

"A lot of people think that my personal problems I'm going through right now would disturb me. I'm not that type of person. I put all this stuff behind me. I always have problems." -- Quinton Jackson in post-UFC 92 press conference.

"UFC is the only one now. They are doing a great job of marketing the product, but UFC are making the bulk of the money. It's a very different model from boxing, where the boxers make most of the revenue. I would like to see that change. The pay scale in fights is often no more than a popularity contest." -- Dan Henderson to The Daily Star in the U.K.

"This time, I want to go for the finish. I don't want to go to a decision. I want to take him out." -- Georges St. Pierre, training jiu-jitsu at Gracie Barra in Rio de Janeiro, to Sherdog.com on his fight with B.J. Penn

"Satoshi Ishii has the potential to be very successful in mixed martial arts. We can't wait to start working with Mr. Ishii, we look forward to helping him with his training, his career, and his eventual debut in a professional fight" -- UFC President Dana White in press release about Beijing gold medalist Satoshi Ishii visiting UFC 92.

"Wheelchairs mentally take a toll out of you. I'm slowly putting pressure on it now. I'm hardheaded. They say it takes the average person six months to heal. I'll do it in two and a half . . . "I remember lifting my head up and I looked at it and I saw the bottom of my foot. I'd never seen the bottom of my foot before . . . I don't think it matters if you're a big guy or a small guy, you kick something as hard as you can and it runs into science. Action and reaction." -- Corey Hill to Sherdog.com's Loretta Hunt on his stomach-churning tibia break on Dec. 10.

"For all MMA fighters, and everybody, who think respect is important: there you go." -- Alistair Overeem following his knockout of K-1 heel Badr Hari in an K-1 rules kickboxing fight on New Year's Eve.

“The reason why I was able to get his leg was because I was really scared of his power. If he punched me, I thought he’d kill me. So instead, I thought I’d go straight to my finishing move.” –- Shinya Aoki on his win over Eddie Alvarez.

The Week Ahead

The Japanese “Sengoku” promotion holds it biggest card to date, “Seventh Battle,” on Jan. 4 at the Super Saitama Arena. The card will feature the crowning of a middleweight champion with Kazuo Misaki vs. Jorge Santiago and lightweight champion with Takanori Gomi vs. Satoru Kitaoka.