Chael Sonnen file photo: Dave Mandel | Sherdog.com
“It’s going to take time, just like it took time for [Georges St. Pierre] to be considered to be the best welterweight because Matt Hughes was so good for so long. Now, GSP has so many wins and people think he’s the best. It just takes time for me to get my respect, and that’s how it works. You have to earn your time.” -- Frankie Edgar to the Sherdog Radio Network’s “It’s Time” show
“If I was to say, ‘Screw the plan, I’m just going to go out here and try to knock this guy out,’ that would be a slap in the face to my team. My coaches are coming up with these great plans, and it’s, like, ‘You know, you don’t know what the [expletive] you’re talking about. I’m just going to make it a crazy fight and knock somebody out. If it doesn’t happen, then I’m going to get knocked out.’ If I did that, they’d be kicking me out of the gym real quick.” -- Gray Maynard on his fighting style to the Sherdog Radio Network’s “Savage Dog Show”
“The fight has to happen; it’s already happened once. Maynard got the edge on him. I think Frankie’s better now. I like it from a competitive standpoint. It needs to take place; it’s the right fight. From a business standpoint, acting as though Maynard vs. Edgar is going to sell out an arena is about as optimistic as hanging on to Jim Morrison’s mail.” -- Chael Sonnen on Edgar vs. Maynard 2 on ESPN’s “MMA Live”
“In all honesty, I’m just telling the truth. The biggest revelation I got from spending that evening at the Garden was how astonishingly boring this thing is. It is the most overrated … I do not remotely understand the appeal. There isn’t enough blood, there isn’t enough action … There are a sophisticated few martial arts experts who appreciate when there is a well-executed martial arts move to create a submission, yes. That is not the majority; it’s a small minority. The people want to see boxing, slugging, and they want to see when a guy gets down his face punched; that’s what gets them excited. It is the most boring nonsense.” -- Renowned Boston Globe sports writer Bob Ryan on “Sports Tonight” on Comcast Sports Net on his cageside impressions of UFC 118, as transcribed by FightOpinion.com
“I hate to say this because I don’t want to take anything away from Gray Maynard, but I think Kenny is just one of those guys who chokes in big fights. I’m not bad-mouthing him or trying to disrespect him; I’m just being honest. Every time it’s a big fight and there’s a lot of things on the line, Kenny just ... Kenny’s hands are unbelievable. Kenny’s ground is unbelievable. Kenny usually kicks guys to the body and legs so hard that he busts guys up. You didn’t see any of that tonight. He stood there and stared at Gray Maynard for three rounds.” -- UFC President Dana White on Kenny Florian, post-UFC 118
“I don’t think that really makes any sense. For me, it’s someone who is just looking at the big picture and not looking at the actual fight game. It’s someone who isn’t actually that familiar with the full technique of the game. I didn’t crumble. I was outwrestled. Gray fought a smarter fight. That was it. I didn’t freeze at all. I felt fine. I felt relaxed. The guy was a better wrestler than me; that’s it. He controlled me very well on the ground. He pinned me up against the fence. I don’t understand where this mental block is coming from.” -- Kenny Florian to The Boston Herald in response to White
“akiyamas at jacksons mma, I guess hes gonna try and hug me to death then.” -- Michael Bisping on Twitter on his UFC 120 opponent, Yoshihiro Akiyama
“Maybe he was thinking he was going to wristlock him or something. I heard about it and saw them hugging before the fight. After we heard about it, we got Jean Claude Van Damme in to train with us, but as soon as we saw how Anderson did, we kicked him out.” -- Nate Marquardt to Fighters Only on Steven Seagal cornering Anderson Silva at UFC 117
“I would train here for a month. Then I would go to Korea to train for a month, and then we fight. The name of the show would be called ‘Pick on Somebody Your Own Size.’ Hong Man Choi, I’m coming for you.” -- Shaquille O’Neill to ESPN on facing Choi in a televised MMA spectacle
“Are you asking me if we’re going to be in business after Dynamite? I don’t know. It’s very difficult. Obviously, we’re short on revenues, and we need to -- besides restructuring -- we need to be able to find new sources of revenue. You need money to make money, so to speak. I don’t sit in on the financial meetings, but it’s very challenging. We need investment money. That’s the bottom line.” -- Michael Kogan, executive for Fighting Entertainment Group, parent company of Dream and K-1, to MMAJunkie.com