The Weekly Wrap: Dec. 11 - Dec. 17

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Quoteworthy  

“He could do it now. He’s cleaned out the division now. Georges St. Pierre has beat everybody. He lost to [Matt] Serra but came back and avenged it. That’s what it’s all about to me. I don’t like guys talking about fighting each other in different weights until they’ve done what those two (Anderson Silva and St. Pierre) have done. And they’ve both done it, so it’s hard for me to say no. It’s hard for me to say the fight doesn’t make sense. When I was saying it, I was saying it when I thought [Silva] should go to 205.” -- UFC President Dana White on the possibility of St. Pierre vs. Silva in remarks to the media following UFC 124

“It’s so important now to have a good jab. Georges St. Pierre, his jab is like someone’s right hand because he throws it with a lot of power.” -- Boxer Mickey Ward on St. Pierre’s UFC 124 performance on ESPN “MMA Live”

“I thank you so much.” -- Josh Koscheck to the Montreal crowd for adding fervent excitement to his UFC 124 fight with St. Pierre

“I got 10 more of them kicks coming when I go to [the] UFC.” -- WEC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis on his otherworldly fifth-round kick against Benson Henderson at WEC 53

“There’s lots of different techniques we do. We try to be as creative as possible. If there was no creativity, they’d still be running the option and the wishbone in football. I want to train my fighters to be hard to fight, not only because they’re aggressive and strong, but because they have a style that’s hard to prepare for.” -- Duke Roufus, Pettis’ trainer, to MMAFighting.com

“I think with the infusion of new blood, too, into the UFC at the 155 pound division, I think it will be great for the UFC, a shot in the arm, a wakeup call. Some of the 55 fighters who are comfortable with just being in the UFC, [thinking], ‘Oh yeah, I’m in the UFC. I’m good to go. I’m OK.’ No, not anymore. Your job’s on the line. You’re comfortable in your job, I’m going to come in and take your spot. You’re not going to have a job anymore.” -- Henderson on the WEC-UFC merger to “Inside MMA”

“Before that fight, I was still working a full-time job, and now I can devote every ounce of energy into fighting to become the best fighter I can. I just know that I’m a completely different fighter than I was then. My ground game is better. My wrestling is better. My stand-up is much better. I have weapons everywhere. I just know I’m on another level than him.” -- Dominick Cruz on his 2007 loss to Urijah Faber during the WEC 53 post-fight press conference, as reported by MMAJunkie.com

“When Dominick won his last fight against Joseph Benavidez, Benavidez’s mom was talking trash to Dominick’s mom. People don’t say stuff about that, but I’m going to say something. I don’t care. His team was throwing coins at me and my coach. You’re throwing coins at us? I don’t like that. That’s disrespect. The whole team is wrong. I see you smiling at my face. I see you smiling at my boy’s face. Stop being fake. Keep it real. Don’t be smiling in somebody’s face if you don’t like them. I don’t care if you’re hyping up a fight or not. Show some respect. Don’t forget who Dominick is; he’s the champ. Period. He did it.” -- Mike Easton, teammate of Cruz, to MMAJunkie.com

“I carried him to my corner, and all I saw was [Quinton] ‘Rampage’ [Jackson] in my eyes. He was going for the guillotine, and my corner was yelling at me to frame away on his face. So I framed away on his face, and I was grabbing behind him so that he couldn’t jump off. Either way, whether he held on or jumped off, he was getting slammed. I was going to slam him one way or the other.” -- Eddie Wineland on his fight-winning slam against Ken Stone at WEC 53

“I’m still thinking [about fighting in Rio], but I’m always training. This return of [the] UFC to Brazil touched me, made me feel the wish of coming back to the Octagon. Everything [is] being negotiated with [UFC President] Dana White. Let’s wait.” -- Royce Gracie on the UFC’s return to Brazil in August, as reported by Fighters Only