“Well, I suppose I learned last summer that life is short, definitely too short for holding grudges. So when @GamebredFighter said he wanted to sit down and break bread, of course, I took him up on it. Today he came to Wisconsin, sat down, had some dinner and chatted it up. Turns out we have more in common than different. Felt great to bury the hatchet and make a new friend”

– via X, reflecting on his historic meeting with former rival Jorge Masvidal.

“I'm happy it didn't happen because he would have beaten my a** worse than Brendan Allen did that night. In that state, I don't think I beat anybody, to be honest”

– via the Standemup podcast (March 2, 2026), reflecting on the nixed short notice fight against Israel Adesanya.

“I didn't prepare for this specific fight. I was ready for everybody. But I wasn't training specifically for Petr Yan... It's all my mistake”

– via The Ariel Helwani Show, reflecting on his title loss to Petr Yan at UFC 323

“I don’t think he likes me. I love Anderson Silva and I love his son—maybe because I beat him, that didn’t help”

– via his YouTube channel FREESTYLEBENDER, reflecting on the strained relationship with his idol after Anderson Silva reportedly went on a social media tirade against him

“I don't have anxiety about not training to fight. I miss the time i spent with my friends in the gym like Cain Velasquez, Luke Rockhold, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Islam Makhachev, Josh Thomson, and Jon Fitch. I miss the camaraderie of being in the gym with my friends”

– via Warrior Code International's YouTube channel, revealing that the thing he misses most about fighting is not the training or the competition, but the camaraderie and time spent in the gym with friends like Khabib Nurmagomedov and Islam Makhachev.

“I don't have anxiety about not training to fight. I miss the time i spent with my friends in the gym like Cain Velasquez, Luke Rockhold, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Islam Makhachev, Josh Thomson, and Jon Fitch. I miss the camaraderie of being in the gym with my friends”

– via Warrior Code International's YouTube channel, revealing that the thing he misses most about fighting is not the training or the competition, but the camaraderie and time spent in the gym with friends like Khabib Nurmagomedov and Islam Makhachev.

“This was a such a beautiful moment that, as a father, I felt deeply.”

– reacted when Oliveira lifted his son high in air after a win against Gamrot.