Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com
"It's never easy for an athlete to hear it's over. We were looking at a potential death in the Octagon." -- a UFC source to UGO.com on the release of Mark Coleman.
"So I actually think that somewhere in say the next 3 to 5 years, you will see that there is this niche there, that if they were to do a master's division, of 40-plus year old guys going against other 40-plus year old guys. That look's like a very competitive match to do something along those lines and will bring a whole new demographic to the mixed martial arts world. It's very competitive looking, I wouldn't make that as your main event but put that as maybe third or second to last match for the night and honor these guys but I think there is a market definitely for it." -- Dan Severn to 1Wrestling.com.
"People don't know what UFC stands for, the athlete's are forgetting. It's the 'F' that's confusing everybody. Some guys think this is the Ultimate Mitt Hitting Championships. They think it's the Ultimate High Altitude Training Championships. The Ultimate Let Me Go Away In Seclusion and Eat All The Right Food for 30 Days Championship. This is the Ultimate Fighting Championship. And while these guys are out there swinging a sledgehammer and flipping a tire around, I'm throwing fists at a partner's head, neck and chest. I'm fighting in practice every day." -- Chael Sonnen to MMAFighting.com.
“Nate didn’t execute a game plan very well. I think the closed guard is dead in MMA right now, unless you are Demian Maia or Shinya Aoki, forget about it. You are either getting up or getting on top, forget about pulling off submissions from your back nowadays. Strong wrestlers like Chael Sonnen will just pound you out all day long." -- Jon Fitch to Fox News Fight Game after watching Sonnen's win over Marquardt at UFC 109.
"There's some basic problems with my standup that I wasn't addressing, and that cost me. I got away with things over the years and then I got caught, and now I need to go into fights knowing I can't get away with the same things I used to." -- Chuck Liddell to MMAFighting.com.
"I was trying to look at all the upside, but I definitely knew there was a big downside -- the emotion dump. Plus we couldn't corner each other. I was screaming in the back room at the TV, almost like I'm coaching. Obviously (Dan]) can't hear me, so I'm being retarded, but I'm screaming. I saw the reverse triangle coming way before Danny did, way before my coaches did. I could tell the way Cole fell to his side that it was coming, but I couldn't do anything about it." -- Joe Lauzon to MMA Junkie Radio on fighting on the same UFC 108 card with his brother Dan.
“Obviously, I know that guy didn't want to fight. I felt bad. I mean, I didn't -- I do feel a little bad for him. Before the fight even happened, he didn't seem like a guy who wants to fight. He doesn't have it in his heart. He's kind of being pushed into it because he's a Gracie. I almost feel bad for the guy because he had so much pressure going into that fight, but it's business. I know I was brought in there to lose so I had to ruin their plans. It is what it is. -- Joey Beltran on UFC 109 opponent Rolles Gracie to MMAFighting.com.
“When the media talks about athletes, it’s always the white athletes that are hard workers and blue-collar, and the black athletes are explosive and athletic, you know what I’m saying? Now, anytime you start saying things like ‘racist’ or ‘racism’ in a sport where a high percentage of your fans are white, you’re going to lose a lot of people… People think racism is the word ‘n----r’ and nothing else, so by being positive all the time about race, you’re also absorbing the negative and playing along with it. And if not doing that means being portrayed as a villain, I’ll be whoever I have to be.” -- Phil Davis to Sherdog.com.
The Week Ahead
The UFC sets the table for its first event in Australia, UFC 110 next Saturday in Sydney. Plus, the longstanding King of the Cage promotion makes it live debut on HDNet, the first in several cards on the network this year.