Quotes from Mirko Cro Cop

I think I owe a lot to the UFC and UFC fans.

I had it on my mind that I will fight in Cologne, because UFC is coming to Germany, where the biggest and largest Croatian community lives there. It was my big, big, big wish to participate. Even my doctor didn't believe I will make it, but I did.

Martial arts gave me everything in life. It is not about a paycheck; it is about how I live my life.

Obviously, I can't break my mental block in the Octagon.

To be a successful fighter now, you have to go to a camp.

K-1 is the sport where I started. This is my first love, and I find K-1 more attractive and more suitable for our Croatian fans than MMA.

I'm not angry or anything at Sonnen, but I will say one thing - I hope nobody gets offended; I don't wanna sound disgusting, and I am certainly not fan of any anthropologic theories - but you can see on that guy's face that he is limited and stupid, and his IQ is not higher than the size of the shoes he's wearing.

I train in the cage all the time. I have my own cage in my gym.

The cage is bigger than the ring, and it's a little bit different.

I'm not allowed to be woken up under any circumstances except if my house starts burning. Then my wife is authorised to wake me up, but only if fire gets to the door of my room.

I might be the first fighter who has ever been suspended after retirement.

I wish you could see a new Cro Cop, 15 years younger. I wish it was possible.

I need to raise my kids. It takes a lot of time and a lot of energy to raise kids and make men of them these days. I don't want them to be lazy and just spend their father's money.

I think it's stupid to say a guy who has trained in jiu-jitsu for as long as I have is just a stand-up fighter. I have trained with some of the best black belts in the world. I am comfortable on the ground. I can fight wherever the fight goes and not be concerned.

People say people who spend too many years in prison don't know how to act when they get free. I don't know how I am going to act, how I am going to kill time, once I am not a fighter. Retirement scares me, and I have to think about how I am going to handle it.

When my shoulder problems started, basic methods like massages and icing the shoulder did not help.

I'm 240, and I'm not fat.

It's not up to me. I will fight whoever the UFC puts in front of me. If it was up to me, I want to fight Dana White.

People ask me if I'm going to open a school. Why not? I think I should. Maybe not a typical school where anyone can come but with young fighters definitely one day. I don't have the nerves for amateurs.

Some of my fights in PRIDE, I felt tired. I would train on the punching bag and feel great but then get tired in my fights.

The biggest shock was the first fight. I didn't know what to expect. I fought Fujita. At that time, he was one of the most dangerous PRIDE fighters. He was a complete beast and with 130 kilograms of pure muscle.

It was a mistake of mine to train like that, with friends, at home. It was a handicap I should not have given myself. In Croatia, we do not have big camps like in other countries, but I was not willing to go away to train.

Win or lose, just stay calm.

I've heard that I could be facing Randy Couture. That would a great.