“Sometimes khabib says he doesn’t want to fight me in abu dhabi because of too many factors of distraction, i mean abu dhabi, and probably the white house event will be no different. The first ever tournament there, we don’t know what it’s going to be like. We are on the level where everything should be planned in good time. Say my fight in Australia, there were a lot of things we had to take care of during the event. A lot of issues we had to deal with for the first time. That’s why the fight turned out to be so hard. Maybe that’s the reason Khabib said it. We don’t know what it’s going to look like, and he doesn’t want us to be there”

– via Red Corner MMA, stating that Khabib Nurmagomedov does not want him to fight at the White House due to the lack of planning information and potential distractions, drawing parallels to the logistical issues they faced ahead of his first fight in Australia.

“I don't think Craig is helping Jack with wrestling... It doesn't work like this... We have a good example in Chimaev vs. Du Plessis. Du Plessis brought a lot of wrestlers, but nothing worked. This is something that you have to do for many, many years”

– via Main Event TV, commenting on Jack Della Maddalena's wrestling preparation.