"I don't know how he got my number." - Jon Jones, on a call he received from Steven Seagal. I'm sure that conversation went swimmingly and was not strange at all. (The Jim Rome Show)
"He was like 'Hey listen, I think you're gonna win the fight, and when I predict someone's gonna win I'm never wrong and there's some things I wanna go over with you.' It was all very strange." - Jones, on a separate conversation with Leland Roling.
"I don't wanna bad mouth him too bad, he had good intentions, I think. But yeah, I definitely wasn't having Steven Seagal in my corner." - Jones, who didn't want to bad mouth Seagal too much or too little. He wanted to bad mouth Seagal just the right amount.
"I could see if it was Jet Li or something, Jet Li would be pretty cool. I would definitely take that call, for sure." - Jones
...AND IT BEGINS
"He's ruined my special night twice now. The time will come." - Jon Jones, on Rashad Evans entering the cage at UFC 135 to officially challenge him. (MMA Mania)
"Think about how stupid that sounds. Like it's my idea to get in the cage. ... Say the UFC and Dana White ruined your night! We're selling a fight, stupid! Just shut up!" - Rashad Evans
CAN WE GO BACK TO HATING LARRY MERCHANT AGAIN?
"Anyone who can make a multimillion dollar business out of street fighting has to be respected." - HBO color commentator Larry Merchant, reacting to critical comments made by UFC President Dana White. Merchant, of course, being the same guy who called a world championship bout involving blatant headbutting, what some would call a sucker punch, and a 94-year-old curmudgeon wishing for a Delorean and threatening to kick the ass of an undefeated champion. But yeah, street fighting. (BoxingScene.com)
"My opinion is that anyone is allowed to put up a tent, put on a show, and invite people to come." - Merchant. What a filthy old man you are, Larry.
"I don't get a so-called sport in which you can have a 6-2 record and be called a world champion." - Merchant. Title belts, how do they work?
THE WEEK IN CHAEL
"I don't think that treatment for Anderson's problems is prohibited by the UFC, even right before a match. Some medications are limited, as you know, but Anderson is in a state of medical legitimacy because I don't think that Midol is prohibited, nor are chocolate or Gerard Butler movies. I have never personally had to deal with his sort of condition, but I feel for him and I really want to see what his top fighting form actually is, since we apparently haven't seen it yet." - Chael Sonnen (PaulLazenby.com)
"I can't remember the last time that he didn't say he was hurt for a match, and it's starting to alienate the fight fans. So he should take care of himself when he's suffering, or else the public will be stuck with the same unengaging fights and lackluster victories until he either dies or finally hits menopause." - Sonnen
"But the fact of the matter, whether I like to admit it or not, is he's done a better job than anybody, he's done a better job than me, and he's the champion. That's not going to stop me from sticking my finger in his chest, but at some point fairness has to kick in, and you have to look at what he's done, and tip your hat to him." - Sonnen (MMA Torch)
WHITE NOISE
"We’re going to bring Melendez over ASAP. We’re looking to bring him over now." - UFC President Dana White, on Strikeforce lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez. That would leave one Strikeforce division free from UFC poaching. (MMA Weekly)
"When we go to Japan next year, we are going to be putting on a show at the same time in Las Vegas." - White, wanting to recreate Wrestlemania II. (Yahoo! Sports)
"The fight in Japan would go live on free TV before the pay-per-view [in Las Vegas]." - White. So, are we talking about 20-fight, 8-hour UFC Saturdays? (MMA Torch)
PARTING SHOTS
"I’d be there in a heartbeat. Money doesn’t really mean nothing at this point, my money’s good, I’m happy with my money, if he told me to come fight for the same price, I would do it." - Gilbert Melendez, an excerpt from his new book "Negotiating for Dummies." (MMA Weekly)
"One thing about him (Kawa), I didn't like him, because ... he talks too fast. When people try to talk too fast, they're trying to hide something. He talks down on people, like he's better than them." - Rashad Evans, on friend of Bloody Elbow Malki Kawa. (Pro MMA Radio)
"The only way you really lose is if you come out of an experience and you don't take anything away from that." - Pat Barry. Trasnlated: The only way you really lose is if you still have yet to develop competent grappling defense ten fights into your MMA career. (MMA Mania)