Kazushi Sakuraba: Sherdog.com
“Basically, I learned not to take so much time off and try to compete at the top level. You know, it’s really hard when you do that. I thought I could do it, but, you know, I was wrong. I’m not proud of it, but that long layoff, I couldn’t even train when I was on [‘The A-Team’] set. I tried to train a couple times, but all the makeup and different tattoos and hairpieces I had on for the Mohawk, it was almost impossible to train. So by the time I did go into camp, everything ached. I shouldn’t even been there.” -- Quinton “Rampage” Jackson on his UFC 114 loss to Rashad Evans on Sportscenter
“It’s karate. Karate we found out sucked years ago. So I think everybody got mesmerized with his movement. Nobody cuts him off; nobody tries to cut him off.” -- Tiki Ghosn on Lyoto Machida during “Countdown to UFC 123”
“With my loss, it’s taken my superiority out of the picture, so it’s just making me look like a normal human being. Yes, it was a big relief. Every time I put another victory on my belt, the weight just got heavier. Every time I had a victory, I would feel the pressure. I didn’t want that pressure. I just wanted to be normal.” -- Lyoto Machida to ESPN.com
“He’s not black.” -- Michael Johnson to Josh Kosheck during the Nov. 17 episode of “The Ultimate Fighter” after Koscheck had muttered “a little black-on-black crime” as Johnson faced off with Alex “Bruce Leeroy” Caceras for weigh-ins
“To grow the sport, you have to keep educating. We want to do business in Germany. We want to show the people and the newspaper people ... that’s the only way to do it. If you just walk away and say, ‘Gee, they won’t let us be on TV,’ it doesn’t make sense. So we’re just going to keep pushing. It was the right decision, and I’m glad we did it.” -- UFC Vice President of Regulatory Affairs Marc Ratner on “The MMA Hour” on why the UFC returned to Germany
“It gives both fighters some kind of an advantage. It gives him more grip, and it gives me more grip. That’s just part of the reality of wearing and sort of fabric on your body. It can’t be denied. Does it give me more of an advantage over my opponent? No. I think it gives both an equal advantage. It gives us a level playing field, and that’s really the bottom line.” -- George Sotiropolous during the UFC 123 press conference on knee and ankle braces he wears during fights
“This is, well, you know what, it’s going to be to my advantage to have a better grip, so I’m going to wear these and I’m going to take advantage of a gray area in the rules to give myself that added advantage. And I’m all for getting every added advantage you can, but at the same time, it’s going to be my advantage if he doesn’t wear them. And if I can stop him from wearing those, why should I let him?” -- Joe Lauzon to Sherdog.com on Sotiropoulos’ gear ahead of their UFC 123 matchup
“I always try to look at it from the other guy’s perspective. What are Tim Boetsch’s coaches saying to him? They’re saying something, and it’s positive. They’re probably like, ‘This guy thinks he’s good. He thinks he can outwrestle you. He can’t.’” -- Phil Davis on his UFC 123 opponent on the Sherdog Radio Network’s “Jordan Breen Show”
“The [Marcus] Davis fight wasn’t bad like my last fight, but I got knocked down, and me and my girlfriend talked about it. I decided if I got knocked down again, that was going to be the end of my career. So, I just hung up my gloves. I didn’t think about doing this or that -- that was the end. It’s enough getting hit for me. It’s really enough.” -- Jonathan Goulet to Sherdog.com on his retirement following a knockout loss on Nov. 13
“The individuals that have the say in whether a match was very good or not are not the fighters or producers, it is the fans that buy the tickets that come to see us fight. Like, say you win, but the fans tell you, ‘that was boring.’ To ignore the existence of the fans and place all your focus on winning or losing is not good practice. Maybe because I am from the pro wrestling business, the thought, ‘In the main event, you have to build the climax of the event’ is always a lingering thought in my head. Will the fans get a rush they can feel through their bodies, or will they leave as sad souls. It is the job of the fighter participating in the main event to leave an impact on the fans, making them think, ‘I have to come see this again.’ -- Kazushi Sakuraba in his book “Me,” as translated by MMA-Japan.com
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The Week Ahead
UFC 123 closes the book on the B.J. Penn vs. Matt Hughes rivalry, while a slew of fighters look to establish themselves as vital title contenders, including main event principals Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Lyoto Machida.