“"This might be the least action of any fight ever. Next to Derrick Lewis and Francis Ngannou”

– via the JRE Fight Companion, reacting to the lackluster performance between Michael "Venom" Page and Sam Patterson at UFC London.

“I wanted to test myself against the best ever, that would've been great... I don't think he was scared of anybody. I think he wanted the right financial pay. But he did get offered $30 million. That's a lot of money. I would've done it for $30 million... $30 million is a whole lot of money”

– via the Under Your Skin podcast with Grace Neutral, reflecting on the failed negotiations for a heavyweight title unifier against Jon Jones.

“I don't think he gets past Ciryl Gane. I think that weight is real. He's also going up against a dude that was already popping up the undisputed champ... if you are going to fight for that third belt, it's got to be the undisputed belt.”

– via the Pound 4 Pound podcast, expressing doubt regarding Alex Pereira’s jump to heavyweight to face Ciryl Gane for the interim title at Freedom 250.

“I don’t think Khamzat is all that good. Look at the Usman fight... I thought Chimaev lost that fight. I don’t think [Khamzat] beats Strickland. I'm dumping the house on Strickland in that one. [Sean] can wrestle defensively... and Chimaev doesn't have the best gas tank”

– via the Death Row MMA Podcast, sharing his unfiltered take on Khamzat Chimaev and why he’s backing Sean Strickland in a potential matchup.

“I don’t think Khamzat is all that good. Look at the Usman fight... I thought Chimaev lost that fight. I don’t think [Khamzat] beats Strickland. I'm dumping the house on Strickland in that one. [Sean] can wrestle defensively... and Chimaev doesn't have the best gas tank”

– via the Death Row MMA Podcast, sharing his unfiltered take on Khamzat Chimaev and why he’s backing Sean Strickland in a potential matchup.

“[Nurmagomedov and Chimaev] aren’t the best wrestlers. They’re not the best freestyle wrestlers in the world, and they’re not the best jiu jitsu guys in the world. If you put those guys into ADCC, they would get beat pretty easily. But what they’re doing is submission grappling... they’re supposed to be the best MMA fighters”

– via the OverDogs Podcast with Mike Perry, providing a technical breakdown of Dagestani style grappling

“[Nurmagomedov and Chimaev] aren’t the best wrestlers. They’re not the best freestyle wrestlers in the world, and they’re not the best jiu jitsu guys in the world. If you put those guys into ADCC, they would get beat pretty easily. But what they’re doing is submission grappling... they’re supposed to be the best MMA fighters”

– via the OverDogs Podcast with Mike Perry, providing a technical breakdown of Dagestani style grappling

“You brought a guy in that fights once a year... He's just gonna sit on that fking belt and wait until they force him to fight. Every time this f**king guy fights, he has a mysterious injury”

– via ESPN MMA, venting his frustration over Khamzat Chimaev’s activity level and its impact on the middleweight division

“He’s a good fighter on his own, but if you look at how he got to the belt, there were four or five fights against questionable opponents. And when he fought really serious fighters, they were already worn out. Charles Oliveira was worn out, I think. Max Holloway was a tough opponent, but he’s not the same as before... Alexander Volkanovski was also not at the same level he used to be”

– via Meta MMA Plus, questioning the legitimacy of Ilia Topuria’s historic run to becoming a two division champion.

“Little sausage, the only thing you had to do was beat a 38 year old guy. You just lost the biggest paycheck of your life. You were going to get rich if you won. Justin, all I can say is congratulations... and I’d like to tell you to get ready, but you’re screwed no matter what”

– via X, dismantling Paddy Pimblett and issuing a chilling warning to Justin Gaethje following the UFC 324 main event.

“Little sausage, the only thing you had to do was beat a 38 year old guy. You just lost the biggest paycheck of your life. You were going to get rich if you won. Justin, all I can say is congratulations... and I’d like to tell you to get ready, but you’re screwed no matter what”

– via X, dismantling Paddy Pimblett and issuing a chilling warning to Justin Gaethje following the UFC 324 main event.

“I look at Dustin Poirier... He's come out and said, 'I'm having a retirement fight' and then he looked like a piece of dog sh*t. Got his head punched in for five rounds and looked like sht... If you're gonna retire, you can just do it. You don't wanna tell everyone, put too much expectation on his shoulders and got muffed in his own backyard. Made himself look stupid”

“I do have confidence that I can grapple with Paddy and not get submitted by him... He's just a human and not Khabib”

– via TNT Sports, reiterating his confidence in his wrestling defense ahead of tonight's UFC 324 main event

“An amateur here (Paddy's gym) could look good against Dan Hooker. You know what I mean? Someone actually here who can do jiu—jitsu would look good against Dan Hooker. Dan Hooker doesn't know how to do jiu—jitsu. He's a banger… I like watching him fight. He's a scrapper. He can't do jiu—jitsu. He’s bad at it”

– via Tom Aspinall Official YouTube, continuing his relentless verbal assault on Dan Hooker’s ground game.

“Not realistic. That was a couple years ago.”

– via Complex News (January 15, 2026), officially ending the three year saga of a potential Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler matchup.

“Not realistic. That was a couple years ago.”

– via Complex News (January 15, 2026), officially ending the three year saga of a potential Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler matchup.

“In the short term, this grappling match with Islam won't happen because Islam makes very big money in the UFC. I don't think anybody can afford to pay him that amount of money.”

– via Red Corner MMA explaining why a submission grappling superfight against Islam Makhachev is a financial impossibility.

“If Shavkat comes back, I don't think anyone will give him a title shot right away... The guy hasn't fought in over a year. He probably needs to win a fight first to earn a shot at the belt”

– via Ushatayka, questioning the title credentials of the undefeated Shavkat Rakhmonov due to his long layoff.

“Let me be clear on something, when i say the physicality, it’s not like francis ngannou came in here and threatened us or anything like that... we’re in there and he’s telling me that he deserves the $50k. I said 'you’re not getting it.'... and i’m like 'i’m done, i have another meeting'... so i started to walk out, and he put his hand on my chest, and he said, 'we’re not done talking,' and i said, 'oh, we’re f***ing done talking.'... it’s not like francis came in here and was like, physical. But that’s what went down.”

– via TheMacLife, clarifying his previous comments by stating that Francis Ngannou's "physicality" involved putting a hand on his chest and saying, "We’re not done talking," rather than a physical threat.

“From my perspective, that was more of him trying to go against paddy rather than help me. i'm not gonna go and start making drastic changes in my training camps. Arman would be a great training partner, but ultimately i might have to fight him one day, so i think that'd be not smart”

– via Submission Radio, commenting on Arman Tsarukyan's offer to help him train against Paddy Pimblett, stating that he believes Tsarukyan's motivation was primarily anti Pimblett, and declining the offer because he may have to fight Tsarukyan himself in the future