We've reached the calm before the UFC 202 storm. News has slowed a bit, but there were plenty of interesting quips during this week's build up.
Conor McGregor not interested in Aldo rematch (Jay and Dan Podcast, h/t Bloody Elbow):
"if Jose could dominate him and build my interest in that again, but I saw a safety performance. Running. Fighting evasively. There was no want in it. For the last 20 seconds I was screaming at them both to fight, but, whatever. It is what it is"
Carlos Condit on the Diaz Brothers' mind games (SiriusXM Rush Fight Club, h/t MMA Fighting):
"Nick and Nate definitely like to try and get in your head, try and get you to fight emotionally. When you see guys that kind of disconnect and don't play into that game, they do very well against them. But when you get guys like- for instance, when Donald Cerrone fought Nate he was all riled up. He was pissed. Nate had him going and he went out there and fought like shit. I think there's something to be said for that. Conor's a proud guy and he's not disconnecting like I said. I don't think that's a smart way to go into this fight against Nate."
Neil Magny wants a title shot (MMA Junkie):
"It’s all about me going out there and proving I’m one of the best welterweights in the world and earn my title shot,” Magny said. “I feel like I’m super close. The two guys I’ve beaten in my last two fights – Kelvin Gastelum and Hector Lombard – guys who have beaten them prior to me both got title shots. I feel like I’m right there in the mix to be fighting for the title.”
Lorenz Larkin on fighting on the prelims (to MMA Junkie):
“We were originally slotted for, I think, the second fight on pay-per-view. The viewership number would’ve been crazy. But, if we’re on Fight Pass and we get marketed the right way, then it makes sense. Because a lot of things, I always look at it from a fighter’s aspect and look at it from the business aspect too because you can’t just be one-sided all the time.”
Michael Bisping on Diaz's getting under people's skin (The Countdown):
"I think if you look at the press conference, Diaz did get under his skin. Diaz is playing it cool."
Rick Story on fighting Cerrone (MMA Junkie):
"When they said, ‘Cowboy,’ I was like, ‘Oh, that’s awesome. He likes to bring it, and he doesn’t do super good with pressure or people that put pressure on him. I’m going to be putting pressure on him. “He’s got a huge fanbase. He’s got a cool personality, and after the fight, I’ll probably share a beer with him.”
