Michael Chiesa

“I've got to become 'The ultimate Ultimate Fighter.'”

“I'm not here to be mediocre. I'm not in the UFC just to get a paycheck and make a living. That's really not what I'm here for. If I wanted to make money, I would have gotten out of the sport and done something else. I want to be a world champion.”

“Going to fight Gilbert Burns while not training jiu-jitsu, I mean, that's just stupid.”

“Mario Yamasaki should just crawl in a hole and never step inside of any type of professional mixed martial arts event. He should never officiate, ever again.”

“I'm a big guy; people don't realize that.”

“I could string together 15 wins in a row and still not get a title shot.”

“I get a pit in my stomach every time I think of that last attempt to make 155 for the Anthony Pettis fight. I just get this nasty feeling in my stomach, because no exaggeration, that was one of the scariest moments of my life. I remember that I couldn't stop my body from shaking.”

“I want a shot at being an analyst. I love watching 'UFC Tonight.' I'm very critical of all the new fighters they have come on there.”

“I've won five bonuses in my nine fight UFC career.”

“With Masvidal, I dropped him and it's the first time I'd ever dropped anyone in my life. I kind of started to turn the corner after that, and it was just a realization that if my hands were a weakness, it was only because I didn't believe in them. I had the talent to do it.”

“Give Tony Ferguson a title fight. He needs it!”

“I'm the type of guy where I feel like if you throw me in against the guy that's gonna be my hardest match-up, I think that's gonna bring out the best in me, and I know that the best of me can beat anybody on any given day to become the world champion.”

“I haven't fought for a while and didn't want a warm-up fight. I wanted to jump right back in the pit and I got what I asked for. I got Anthony Pettis.”

“We're never going to solve weight cutting, we need to just get past that. People are always going to cut weight.”

“I've talked to my coaches, and I don't even know if I would go to 165. I might go to 175.”

“I think Neil Magny gets picked on a lot because people don't think he is that good. I like the guy a lot.”

“I'm around a world-class staff that is pushing me to the limit while making sure I don't break myself, which is something I've had a problem with.”

“I'm not a small guy. I can get up to 205 pounds and be athletic and be in shape.”

“I just don't throw things against the wall that aren't gonna stick.”

“I had never fought a guy before that I had put on a pedestal the way I did with Carlos Condit. I've got his walkout shirt. He's a former champion. I'm a huge fan. I doubted myself a lot of times.”