"If my fans don't want me, Dana [White] won't put me there. The boss is the fans. And the fans like to watch me, I'll have a job forever." - Wanderlei Silva. Oh, how a 27-second knockout changes everything. (ESPN)
"I think the guy has nothing left to prove." - UFC President Dana White, putting Silva on Retirement Watch. (MMA Junkie)
"He's a warrior. People love him all over the world, and I just don't want to see that happen to him anymore." - White. It was middling middleweight Chris Leben who faceplanted Silva at UFC 132.
"I think it's one of those ones where I'd like to sit down and talk to him and kind of Chuck Liddell him into it." - White. Sounds like Silva has a steady diet of blondes, booze, and blow ahead of him.
T-R-T / I'M DYNAMITE / T-R-T / AND I'LL WIN THE FIGHT / T-R-T / I'M A POWER-LOAD / T-R-T / WATCH ME EXPLODE!
"To me, if your testosterone levels are getting lower over the years, that's normal. You're getting older." - Grudge head trainer Trevor Wittman. Nate Marquardt revealed that complications with his testosterone replacement therapy -- namely, his doctor's insistence at using "more aggressive" testosterone injections three weeks from the fight -- were the cause of his medical failure and subsequent removal from the UFC on Versus card in Pennsylvania. (MMA Fighting)
"People are like 'give him a second chance.' This would be a fourth chance." - UFC President Dana White, who cut Marquardt after learning of his removal from the show. (MMA Fighting)
"But if we make a 35 or 40-year-old fighter as strong as a 21-year-old, to me, that's cutting corners." - Wittman
"Let's put it this way, he was either trying to cheat, or he has a horrible doctor." - White. You know, these two things might not be mutually exclusive.
"But if the doctor okays it, does that make it right? I don't know. That's something I can't explain." - Wittman
"It's an ugly loophole." - White, on fighters masking performance-enhancing intentions under the guise of legitimate treatment.
"I'll tell you what I'm doing now, and that's sit down with every fighter I deal with and find out if they're seeing a doctor and for what reason. If it's anything that has to do with enhancing, then I'm going to step away." - Wittman. And what of fighters indicated in a federal investigation as having received packages of steroid cocktails from unscrupulous pharmacists?
EVIL ALWAYS TRIUMPHS BECAUSE GOOD IS DUMB
"The guy is an emotional mess. He goes from throwing himself pity-parties to praising himself for all that he brings to MMA." - Urijah Faber, on UFC 132 opponent and bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz. (Yahoo! Sports)
"Not all of us had a lot of money growing up. Not all of us had the perfect life growing up and had our mom and dad to buy us a gym in the most beautiful part of California." - Dominick Cruz (Cagewriter)
"I'm sorry my life wasn't as picture perfect as Urijah Faber. I had to work for everything I've got. I'm fighting for family as I speak." - Cruz, as he danced around and pucnhed members of the media.
"He likes recounting his deprived upbringing (which doesn’t sound that bad, in my opinion) and pondering how he could reach the heights he has with all that’s wrong in his life." - Faber, riding around on his Green Machine tricycle. Goddamn rich kids.
"One truth remains: I have someone that chose me as an enemy out there. Cruz is fueled by negativity, jealousy and revenge." - Faber, messing up all sorts of Star Wars quotes.
THE WEEK IN CHAEL
"Well, I was cheering for Chris (Leben). I don't have any ill will towards Wanderlei (Silva). I hope he's okay." - Chael Sonnen, showing his softer side at UFC 132. (MMA Fighting)
"He can't do this work. This isn't a line of work that he's going to... he just can't do this work." - Sonnen
"The only guy that would have finished him quicker was me." - Sonnen, who did finish the legendary Greg Curnut in 67 seconds in 2003.
"I don't have any interest in getting in there with him. I don't want to be the next guy to force him to have a flashlight shined in his eyes." - Sonnen, who is not an optometrist.
WHITE NOISE
"His fight tonight was a Rocky story." - UFC President Dana White, on Charlie Brenneman, and mistaking "Rocky" for "Ricky." (MMA Torch)
"He's in his hometown, and he gets the shot at the guy who's hot and on his way to a title shot." - White. It's a subtle point, but Rocky fought the world heavyweight champion.
"He comes in and wins it." - White. Spoiler alert: Rocky loses.
"We're going to come to Japan, and probably soon." - White, who made the unfortunate choice of describing the UFC as having the momentum of a tsunami. (MMA Junkie)
"Listen, negotiations aren't fun. You get kicked in the balls sometimes in negotiations, and Spike kicked me in the balls. I owe them one." - White, addressing Spike TV airing Fight Night 22 (featuring Nate Marquardt) opposite the UFC's show on Versus -- and winning the ratings war -- and debuting the UFC 132 Countdown on a Tuesday at 1:12 p.m. The UFC responded by bringing in Cheick Kongo as chief negotiator. (MMA Fighting)
PARTING SHOTS
"When we got to weigh-ins, I was told, 'You may have to wait until 3:59, or you may not even know until tomorrow if you're fighting.'" - Charlie Brenneman, on filling in as a late-replacement in the UFC or typical matchmaking in Japan. (MMA Torch)
"Us fighters we’re very lonesome, that’s the way it goes I guess." - Tito Ortiz, reminiscent of this Ernest Hemingway quote near the 50th anniversary of his death: "Writing, at its best, is a lonely life." (Orlando Sentinel)
"It doesn't seem real. It seems like some sort of bizarro dream world." - Joe Rogan, on a typical Sunday afternoon. NBC rehired him to host their Fear Factor reboot. (TV Guide)
"To be honest, the UFC is such a well organized company that they themselves are managers of athletes." - Junior dos Santos, who left long-time manager Ed Soares this week. (R7 Esportes)
"Honestly, when I was laying on my back and (coach) Marty Morgan was standing over me, the first thing that came out of my mouth was, 'Yo man, I killed him!'" - Pat Barry, recounting his knockout loss to Cheick Kongo. (Sherdog via Cagewriter)