“I had better fights than him, and he’s like, 'He sucks.'... I’ll beat the f**k out of Ilia Topuria... You don’t know what you’re talking about. You’re f**king four feet tall... Bro, I’ll slap the sh*t out of you.”

– via The Ariel Helwani Show, Nate Diaz fires back at Ilia Topuria's criticisms, dismissing the champion's resume and threatening him with a physical confrontation for his cocky attitude.

“Let me tell you about this fking p*ssy. I was there when you walked off the mat and had COVID and retired. His dad, Ali, had to call him and say, ‘You better get back there and make me money.' I almost died in a motorcycle accident. Did I fking quit? Did I fking retire? You let the common cold retire you. Don’t talk about me being a b*tch. You had a cough, and you quit this fking sport”

– via UFC 328 Press Conference, delivering his final, brutal assessment of Khamzat Chimaev’s mental fortitude.

“I used to train with him and beat him up every day. He didn't like training with me. We had a team chat... When I went to Xtreme Couture, he'd go to the UFC PI. When I went to the UFC PI, he'd go to Xtreme. When I went back home, he started talking bad about me... When I hit him hard, he'd run to his coach and say I needed to calm down”

– via UFC 328 Promotional Media, revealing his version of the infamous 2022 training sessions with Sean Strickland at Xtreme Couture

“You think you're tough, we'll see who handles deep water better. You're gonna drown”

– via UFC 328 Promotional Media, issuing his signature ultimatum to Khamzat Chimaev ahead of their championship clash.

“He talks a lot and he has to answer for that. It's bad for him because I have to smash him. If he's scared, good. If not, we'll make him”

– via UFC 328 Promotional Media, responding to the relentless verbal onslaught from Sean Strickland ahead of their championship fight.

“He's a one trick pony one hard punch, tries to dry h*mp you and gets tired. I truly believe I'm better than him without a doubt”

– via The Mac Life, delivering a scathing technical critique of Khamzat Chimaev just days before their UFC 328 title clash on May 9

“I truly believe I’m better than him, without a doubt... I think he’s a weak man... Look at [Paulo] Costa, bro. You got punked by Costa, dude... Whenever people do such theatrics to get into a fight, you just know it is cowardice”

– via his latest media appearance, continuing his scorched earth psychological campaign against Khamzat Chimaev just eight days before UFC 328.

“I saw Khamzat commenting and saying how boring that fight was. That's kind of rich coming from him. I mean, at least Charles Oliveira went for some submissions. He didn't just lie on top of [Holloway].”

– via Fight Forecast, mocking Khamzat Chimaev for criticizing the BMF title fight between Charles Oliveira and Max Holloway.

“I would recommend Justin get injured in camp and let me step in and get the title; after that, he can fight me”

– via Red Corner MMA, offering some bold "advice" for Justin Gaethje ahead of his title unification bout against Ilia Topuria.

“DC on max on top 'he should stall' lol. He should have elbowed all the open targets. payback. 'Stall' lol f—k off. Shockingly bad fight. I am shocked. Charles is a little Charlie ahahaha very bad Charles very bad. Hang your head bad. Good luck. Dont crown that belt”

– via X, unleashing a stinging critique of the main event at UFC 326.

“Honestly, I laughed when I saw that. If that’s the best you’ve got to get in my head, it’s gonna be a long f**king night. That sh*t does not faze me... I hope he keeps that same online energy in the cage because I’m going to f**king torture him”

– via New York Post Sports, responding to Sean Strickland’s controversial social media posts ahead of their headlining bout at UFC Houston

“I'm not Khabib. No one else is. I'm me. I'm an even harder puzzle to solve. I'm proper weird. You knew what Khabib was going to do. You don't know what I'm coming to do”

– via the UFC 324 pre fight press conference, firing back at Justin Gaethje's assessment of his grappling skills.

“I'm definitely going to turn him into a wrestler, I promise you that”

– via New York Post Sports (January 16, 2026), responding to Paddy Pimblett's claims that he will out strike "The Highlight" in their UFC 324 interim title fight.

“You watch this fight with Islam and the f*cking Australian. The poor guy is like... I don't feel sorry for him cause he needs to learn to get up... I'm not f*cking Islam.I'll pass your guard and tap you out. Islam's not going to pass your guard and tap you out. He's going to stay there and keep control from there. But why are you being controlled from there? That's the question.”

– via the Jake Shields Fight Back Podcast, offering a technical critique of JDM's grappling approach against Islam Makhachev.

“It’s embarrassing, Bo Nickal is a complete coward. He is a quitter. The fact that he didn’t want to wrestle a guy who missed weight by a couple of pounds... That's two times in a row he has pulled out from wrestling Yoel Romero. It's embarrassing, but it makes sense. We all know Bo Nickal is a quitter”

– via Submission Radio (January 11, 2026), blasting Bo Nickal for withdrawing from their scheduled RAF 05 light heavyweight title bout.

“Oh, the quitter Bo Nickal? I call him Bo Nickles. He bailed on RAF the last fight against Yoel. He bailed on this one. He quit in his last fight. Actually, I want to apologize to Reinier de Ridder, because I called him a Dutch kickboxer. My bad, he is actually a grappler. So, a grappler made Bo quit in the octagon. So you know Bo is a quitter. I don't have time for quitters”

– via RAF 5 post—fight press conference (January 10, 2026), doubling down on his "quitter" narrative to reject Bo Nickal's challenge for a fight at the UFC White House

“You should make the top—ten before you start talking about a sport [MMA] that built another sport [Wrestling]. Wrestling is here on stage because of MMA, and you've done absolutely nothing in the sport of MMA. You quit. You quit before the knee even hit you, Bo. Button it up... What have you done on a world stage? Absolutely nothing. You're a college b*m”

– via RAF 05 pre—fight press conference questioning Nickal’s transition to MMA and his lack of international wrestling credentials.

“Dan Hooker is a piece of shit!!!!!”

– via X in support of his long—time friend, Paddy Pimblett, following Hooker’s "RIP Ricky" comment.

“He’s just an a**hole. I tried to make peace with him many times, and he made it very clear that he wants to be enemies for the rest of his life. He's a d*ckhead. Look at the way he treats his staff”

– via Red Corner MMA (January 8, 2026), delivering a scathing review of Daniel Cormier after the two finished filming as rival coaches on ALF Reality in Thailand.

“Dan Hooker couldn't grapple a f***ing rapist off his ma.”

– via an interview with The MMA Guru (January 9, 2026), sparking the most toxic lightweight feud of the new year by using a graphic analogy to mock the Kiwi’s wrestling