“Pereira, literally, one of the only things he says is, 'Chama,' and people are [yelling], 'Chama!' No one even knows what it means, but he has that 'it' factor. That's part of the reason why I wanted to compete against Pereira. I felt as if the brand that he represents and the energy that he has behind him will be remembered more than just five years from now... I’ve gotten to a point in fighting where I have a lot more to lose than to gain. That’s not being a coward or whatever, that’s just the truth”

– On Refusing the $30 Million Offer and Pursuing Legacy

“He did not train for almost 40 days for this fight. He came from Dagestan with some messed”

– up ribs and he sparred three times. Every time we have to stop the sparring. UFC knew about it, he was getting injections, he was getting cortisone -revealing that Magomed Ankalaev did not train for 40 days before UFC 320

“The only thing he did for 40 days”

– run, jump, jump rope, hit mitts and do conditioning. He did zero wrestling, zero grappling. I hope the UFC will appreciate what he done for them to keep the main event going on -revealing that Magomed Ankalaev did not train for 40 days before UFC 320

“Walking home from the arena, man, it just hits you, you know?Just got to keep it in perspective. Can?t win split decisions and be happy when I win them and then when I lose them, I can?t be upset, either.Much respect to my opponent and his team, and just got to get back to the drawing board, get better”

– reacted after UFC 320 loss

“I cannot push 100 percent.... This is my dream fight, but I already have a couple of surgeries in my knee and it's a big risk to go in with my injured knee right now to fight.”

“As you’ve all probably seen unfortunately, I’ve had to pull out of my upcoming fight due to injury. I want to sincerely apologize to the UFC, to my opponent [de Ridder] , and to everyone who was looking forward to this matchup. I also want to thank [Allen] for stepping up, it means a lot. To my fans, thank you for always tuning in, supporting me, and riding with me through everything. Right now my focus is on getting healthy so I can come back stronger than ever. When I return, I’ll be ready to make a statement.”

“I had to put my hands up and then the referee just stepped in. There was only like 20 seconds left on the counter as well. I felt like the fans got robbed of a proper fight. The ref was a bit biased.”