“And that's an absolutely winnable fight. I just have to not almost get knocked the fuck out in the second round. Uh, congrats to Merab for almost doing what he said he was gonna do. But not quite. Um, so good on him. He's a good face for the division. I'm proud of that dude.Uh, I absolutely still believe in myself and that I'll be champ”

– Via X

“And at this point, the way that I'm training and the way that I'm feeling, and the way that I know I could do everything, I just don't see a path to victory for Merab. The way I'm doing stuff, man, I just can't see me losing.”

“I've made mistakes in past fights against guys similar to Merab, where I was a little too defensive. This time I'm all offense, and it's going to be Merab who has to deal with me.”

“Merab you had a good run but it's my time.”

“He beat Umar by Umar getting way too tired. I don’t get tired. He beat O’Malley because O’Malley got outwrestled. I don’t get out wrestled. Merab’s way of winning is getting people tired and wrestling them, and no one’s ever beat me like that”