“I don't care who, but my stand is still the same. Now I believe I am in position to fight for the belt”

– via X (formerly Twitter), making a definitive claim for a title shot after a dominant 2025 campaign.

“You know, win [or] lose, Alex and his team, Glover Teixeira there, and all of these guys, we have a good relationship with them. I really wished him to win because [of] all this bullsh*t [that] Ankalaev brought before and all these nonsenses. What he talked about himself, about others. So that was why I was happy because I saw really angry Alex going forward to Ankalaev, and that was something what I needed to be in my fight, too”

“This is something that I already deal with. You know me, I meditate and do a lot of inner work... I can’t have that attitude of vendetta towards him. The only thing I can say is I believe I’m on a level where I can beat [Magomed] Ankalaev or Pereira.”