The Weekly Wrap: Aug. 29 - Sept. 4

Quoteworthy

“I proved to them, you know, I’m in the game. I can fight for a few more years. And the secret is yoga, man. We did a lot of yoga.” -- Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira to Sherdog.com following his win over Randy Couture at UFC 102

“If I were his manager, I’d be trying not to have him fight me, as well. I know that Anderson Silva is really trying not to fight me. It’s obvious.” -- Dan Henderson in an interview with SI.com

“I saw him on the screen, and I was hoping he’d come in [the cage] cause then definitely I’d get a shot.” -- Nate Marquardt talking to ESPN Radio 1100 about his post-fight challenge to UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva

“A punch to the chin, like the one I took at the beginning of the fight, is probably the only defeat you cannot make comments about. I cannot complain about anything. Now, I just have to stand up, train hard and be ready for the next challenge.” -- Demian Maia to Sherdog.com following his 21-second knockout loss to Marquardt

“That’s not me trying to be arrogant, but there’s maybe three or four guys out there that are as athletic as I am. This week has been the least-stressful week of my last year -- no question. Finally getting to walk out there, it was probably the most calming feeling ever.” -- Heavyweight prospect Todd Duffee to Sherdog.com after he knocked out Tim Hague in seven seconds at UFC 102

“Lyoto is a nice guy, and we have been kind of friends for a while. But even though we are friends, I was very, very surprised to see him on the plane and actually sitting next to me, side by side, on the whole flight all the way from Brazil to here.” -- Mauricio "Shogun" Rua commenting on an awkward plane ride to the UFC 104 press conference alongside his scheduled opponent, light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida

“I don’t like just to watch fights without thinking non-emotionally about it. I really like to worry and be involved emotionally and worry about someone I know, and to help them.” -- Fedor Emelianenko to Yahoo! Sports

“My friend came up with [“The Dreamcatcher”], so blame it on him. I don’t like nicknames, to be honest. I have a lot of nicknames. They called me “Kingo” in Japan; they called me the “Young Vagabond,” but that sounds bad, then “Soldier of Fortune.” Now they call me The Dreamcatcher. He said that’s a good name. It’s original. I read on the Internet that people don’t like the name. I’d rather have no nickname, but with my style, you can’t really put a name on it. A good nickname for me hasn’t come up. I told Strikeforce that I didn’t want to use a nickname, but they put it up anyway.” -- Strikeforce light heavyweight champion Gegard Mousasi to Yahoo! Sports

“We judge a sport by its worst moments. Its lowest form is what it is. We talk about the concussions in football, and the drugs in baseball. And in the end, I figure UFC has come a long way since its inception, but still has work to do. Because when we talk about the worst of UFC, we have to talk about its crude nature. Someone is going to die in the Octagon someday. We’re headed straight there, and anyone who saw the damaging blows to the brains on Saturday, including UFC head Dana White, can’t ever say they didn’t see it coming.” -- John Canzano, sports columnist for The Oregonian, commenting on UFC 102