Issue 090

July 2012

“Georges St Pierre and Carlos Condit] two of my champions are fighting each other and I just step out of it, let the other coaches get a lot of credit. We have all these protocols now after this situation where, ‘OK, now we do this, this, this.’ So I step out and those guys will have a lot of fun and I’ll be eating a cheeseburger somewhere.”

Ultracoach Greg Jackson’s habit of producing top contenders could make him a Burger King regular.

“I think it all has to do with being genuine and the fans sense that: when you are and when you’re not. I’m pretty much who I am all the time and I don’t know if they get that impression from [Jon Jones].”

Former Pride champ Dan Henderson, the next contender to Jon Jones’ UFC light heavyweight title, casually pitches a zinger.

“Do you want to be a football player throwing a football around or do you want to be the heavyweight champion of the world? Seriously, is there any debate?”

UFC president Dana White, as always, frank and on the money.

“I just can’t live with knowing, ‘Hey, Rashad is better than me.’ That does not sit well with me. So I got to get better now so that statement is no longer true. I got back in the gym right away. I’m glad he poked holes in my game because I can now know where and how to fill those holes. Losing is not the worst thing in the world. The worst thing in the world is not getting better.”

If UFC light heavyweight Phil Davis doesn’t have the heart of a champion, who does?

“I remember the last couple of punches, [Josh Barnett] almost knocked me out a couple of times. I got some black and white flashes and I was like, ‘All right, that’s enough.’ I think that was awesome. That was fighting.”

UFC veteran and glutton for punishment Gilbert Yvel reminisces about his January 2009 submission to current Strikeforce heavyweight Josh Barnett’s strikes.

“When people ask me, ‘Hey, tell me about the time on the bridge.’ You know, no. I don’t want to talk about it. Those are painful memories, stuff I lose sleep over. It’s not something I thump my chest about. War sucks. Nobody likes it. No warrior who’s been in real combat wishes that the country would go to war. They don’t. They want to see things end.”

Former Marine turned top UFC middleweight Brian Stann.

“Can you believe there is a car on my street with a ‘Team Hughes’ sticker in the window? I wonder if he knows how much of an anus he is.”

UFC favorite Dan Hardy does not like those who like Octagon legend Matt Hughes.