“I believe [Gable Steveson] has a real chance to be a world champion... I do think there are some factors that could slow him down. His coach is Jon Jones. As long as he lets the other coaches coach him, yes. But if Jon is actually coaching him, I don’t know… I don’t even think Gable is ever going to fall into that trap of making those mistakes”

– via The Ariel Helwani Show (January 14, 2026), weighing in on the future of Olympic gold medalist Gable Steveson and his high profile partnership with Jon Jones.

“I believe [Gable Steveson] has a real chance to be a world champion... I do think there are some factors that could slow him down. His coach is Jon Jones. As long as he lets the other coaches coach him, yes. But if Jon is actually coaching him, I don’t know… I don’t even think Gable is ever going to fall into that trap of making those mistakes”

– via The Ariel Helwani Show (January 14, 2026), weighing in on the future of Olympic gold medalist Gable Steveson and his high profile partnership with Jon Jones.

“Paddy Pimblett is awesome, Justin Gaethje is awesome, Arman and Ilia seem to have something in terms of not only skills, but between the two that we could build a great fight around”

– via Red Corner MMA acknowledging the star power of the interim title fight while insisting that Ilia Topuria vs. Arman Tsarukyan is the most significant competitive matchup in the division

“Paddy Pimblett is awesome, Justin Gaethje is awesome, Arman and Ilia seem to have something in terms of not only skills, but between the two that we could build a great fight around”

– via Red Corner MMA acknowledging the star power of the interim title fight while insisting that Ilia Topuria vs. Arman Tsarukyan is the most significant competitive matchup in the division

“I don't think that Yoel's going to beat him because Bo just wrestled and he's young. But boy, Yoel Romero is going to make it hard for him, especially after what I saw the other day. Yoel Romero's wrestling like he still wrestles international. He's good, man. He was always a freak. Now he's like unbelievable”

– via The Daniel Cormier Show, reacting to Yoel Romero's recent "steamrolling" performance and his upcoming title fight against Bo Nickal.

“I don't think that Yoel's going to beat him because Bo just wrestled and he's young. But boy, Yoel Romero is going to make it hard for him, especially after what I saw the other day. Yoel Romero's wrestling like he still wrestles international. He's good, man. He was always a freak. Now he's like unbelievable”

– via The Daniel Cormier Show, reacting to Yoel Romero's recent "steamrolling" performance and his upcoming title fight against Bo Nickal.

“Listen man, this guy just might be the best lightweight in the world, since Islam is gone. He is really good man. He is big, he is strong, he is physical. The champion Ilia Topuria is tremendous... I think they need a fight at some point. Paddy Pimblett is awesome, Justin Gaethje is awesome, [but] Arman and Ilia seem to have something, and not only something in terms of skill, but between the two, we can build a great fight around.”

– via Red Corner MMA, making the case for a fight between Arman Tsarukyan and Ilia Topuria.

“Listen man, this guy just might be the best lightweight in the world, since Islam is gone. He is really good man. He is big, he is strong, he is physical. The champion Ilia Topuria is tremendous... I think they need a fight at some point. Paddy Pimblett is awesome, Justin Gaethje is awesome, [but] Arman and Ilia seem to have something, and not only something in terms of skill, but between the two, we can build a great fight around.”

– via Red Corner MMA, making the case for a fight between Arman Tsarukyan and Ilia Topuria.

“Shavkat Rakhmonov is the guy that I think about and I go, 'man, that is a crazy fight to think about'... That would easily be the hardest fight of (Islam Makhachev's) career”

– via Good Guy/Bad Guy, expressing his belief that Shavkat Rakhmonov poses the toughest challenge for Islam Makhachev.

“Islam, you better set the tone of this fight. You cannot sit back and wait for Jack to determine where and how the fight takes place. You gotta push him against the octagon side and get him on his back foot. If you get him on his back foot, it will open takedowns, and it will also open your striking and chip away at the confidence that Jack is carrying into this fight after the Belal fight”

– Daniel Cormier advice for Islam Makhachev ahead of UFC 322

“I don't care what Anthony Joshua did to Francis Ngannou. If Jake Paul gets in there with Francis, Francis will knock his head off this planet. You don't want those Francis problems... Even if Jake got power, I don't think he's got the power to deal with Francis... If Jake actually fights Francis, I'll do nothing but give him credit...You play stupid games, you get stupid prizes. The stupid prize will be fighting Francis Ngannou. I don't care what money Jake Paul would make; he shouldn't be fighting Francis Ngannou... Stay away from Francis Ngannou”

– warned Jake Paul about a potential fight with Francis Ngannou.

“The rematch got a lot harder for Ciryl Gane, regardless of if Tom respected him this time. Because now, Tom Aspinall is going to know what Ciryl Gane can do and has felt him. He felt the speed, felt the athleticism”

– via Good Guy/Bad Guy YT Channel

“The way that they score mma takedowns is the problem... A takedown should not be when you get back up and the guy picks you up and just puts you back down. He never lost control. Merab didn't get 20 takedowns. Merab probably got five or six takedowns, and he got 14 mat returns.”

– via ESPN MMA