The Weekly Wrap: Sept. 19 - Sept. 25

Quoteworthy

“Take for example, when a man spends 30 years in prison. You let him out, he robs a store and takes only a pack of cigarettes, just to be returned to prison because they can not live outside. This is my fear. The problem is that my way of life is saturated with this military discipline, which does not allow for such things as Christmas or New Year holidays. Training is never a problem. If you offered me all the money in the world not to train, I would refuse. This is my routine with which I have lived for 20 years.” -- Mirko Filipovic talking about his future in an interview with Croatian newspaper Slobodna Dalmacija

“I’m not like Randy Couture. My body has been getting so many different injuries that I won’t be able to fight until my 40s, and neither do I want to fight that long. So I feel like my second career could be in jeopardy . . . so I’m done fighting. I’ve been getting negative reviews from the dumb ass fans that don’t pay my bills or put my kids though college. So I’m hanging it up.” -- Quinton Jackson on his Web site discussing his decision to walk away from MMA

“My new weapon is karate. I want to use it. As soon as I saw something and attacked, I wanted to take his zip code, area code and social security number.” -- Vitor Belfort following his victory over Rich Franklin at UFC 103

“I knew that Dan was a tough guy, but I thought I was the better fighter in every area. My theme going into this fight was that he’s probably the future of the sport, but I’m the present. After today, I guess I’m the past and he’s the present.” -- Nick Thompson following his loss to Dan Hornbuckle at Sengoku “Tenth Battle”

“His manager kept saying if anybody messes with his beard while he’s sleeping, there’s gonna be some big problems. That was like a big deal in the whole contract negotiation.” -- UFC President Dana White to SpikeTV.com about negotiations to get Kimbo Slice onto “The Ultimate Fighter”

“He told me, the first time he went and trained at a jiu-jitsu gym and put him in an armbar. He said he went to get his glock and shoot him. He wasn’t playing. It wasn’t a game. ‘He’s got me in an armbar. He’s gotta die.’ Just thinking that way is crazy.” -- Rashad Evans to Yahoo! Sports on Kimbo Slice’s initial MMA training

“I’ve been training for several years. I would play college football games on Saturday and then compete in martial arts tournaments on Sunday after church. I’m now looking forward to opening up another chapter in my life and to competing in MMA.” -- NFL veteran Herschel Walker on his upcoming MMA debut in Strikeforce

“I have a problem when you have an official who is put into place to have an impact on the sport I love when they don’t understand the sport, when they don’t understand what the fighters are doing. They understand someone getting hit in the face. They don’t understand the manipulations of the ground game and who is winning the fight. I probably should’ve shut my mouth because I’ve got a big mouth, and it’s got me in a lot of trouble, but it’s the truth. I want everyone to understand what is really happening in the sport so they can make educated decisions and judgments.” -- “Big” John McCarthy discussing past comments regarding officiating in MMA with Sherdog.com; the Nevada State Athletic Commission did not grant his recent application for an officials’ license

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The Week Ahead

All eyes will be on the Kevin Ferguson vs. Roy Nelson fight on episode three of “The Ultimate Fighter 10”. Plus, several of the sport’s top names -- from Urijah Faber to Renato Sobral to Cristiane Santos, will compete in the 2009 Abu Dhabi Submission Wrestling World Championships in Barcelona, Spain.