Frank Mir

“I've always been a fan of martial arts, even before I did jiu-jitsu tournaments. I did point karate tournaments and wrestled in high school. To me, it was just an evolution and mixed martial arts was the next step. I just wanted to compete and train in it. I had no illusions of it being a paying gig.”

“I've been a pretty big guy my whole life.”

“I have an ability to overcome adversity. I've got a toughness that helps.”

“To have an effective striking match, you need gloves on. Junior dos Santos would have a very short career if he was in a bare knuckle fight. The early UFCs, before gloves, were grappling with some striking.”

“I don't perform well when my family isn't around me.”

“If you break down actual techniques and knowledge of MMA, I am more knowledgeable than the head coaches of all the guys I'm fighting. Forget the guys I'm fighting. Obviously I know more than they do, nobody is going to question that. But I also know more than the guys who are teaching them about fighting. I could teach them.”

“He doesn't like to be hit. Not that anybody likes to be hit, but Brock for whatever reason has shown much more of a dramatic response to the negativity of those shots. To the point where he's not asleep, it isn't like he got knocked out, he's not getting dropped, but he just turns his face away from adversity.”

“I've been training in martial arts since I was a baby running around the school. Everything from wrestling to muay thai. I started wrestling when I was 15.”

“I want to fight Lesnar. I hate who he is as a person.”

“I'd rather fight named fighters and Fedor's somebody I've always wanted to fight and I think that it would be nice to be able to complete that kind of Who's Who of my resume.”

“Growing up in Vegas there is that complaint that we have no sports team. We have boxing, but no boxers are ever from Vegas, they're always from the east.”

“Georges St. Pierre has the best takedowns and dominant wrestling ability, and he's a great athlete, but he's shown he can be knocked out. I think B.J. Penn is the better fighter. He's the great martial artist.”

“With the half-guard and guard, if you have a belly it's hard to pull your knees up.”

“I was having multiple surgeries after fights and not really addressing them the way I should have and having a proper off-season. So it was leading to more injuries and really making a strong influence on the way I was fighting. I was having to fight around injuries and not fight because it was the most efficient technique to use.”

“Fedor has great killer instinct, he's tough, he's strong. If I fought him I'd try to catch him in a submission, but I don't know if Fedor can be beaten.”

“Those guys at AKA know how to make adjustments.”

“You have to know how to move properly. A lot of these heavyweights go out there and they're fighting like it's a street fight. They're trying to win in the first 30 seconds.”

“If I get too political or if I say things... the whole religious thing, which if you know my background, kind of baffles me anyway. I leave that to the people that are religious and that's their thing. I just try to steer clear of it.”

“Brock Lesnar will never be able to beat me because he has no submission skills. What's he going to do, knock me out?”

“I respect Brock, all the other fighters, and the sport of mixed martial arts.”