Quotes from Mirko Cro Cop

Talking about a fight with Randy Couture is a jinx for me.

I really believe that I'm a better fighter than Gabriel Gonzaga.

I just hope that God will give me the strength that I can prove my worth.

Even the biggest heroes turn into cowards when they get tired.

The best feeling in the world is a hard workout, a shower, and a protein shake.

I don't know if I will take the UFC title, but I will die trying.

I have to be honest: when you have 70 fights under your belt, your priorities change.

I was a professional and did my best to prepare for every fight, but after PRIDE Grand Prix, to be honest, I didn't have motivation to go on.

I have twenty years of training like a spartan behind me. It has caught up with me. My body is broken down. I've been worn out.

I had 33 kickboxing fights, 37 MMA fights, plus 44 amateur boxing fights, which most of them were international. I will keep fighting as long as I feel good, but I will repeat once more, any fight could be the last one.

Gabriel Gonzaga is a very solid fighter, and I've seen some of his fights. He's a tough guy.

Frank Mir is gonna be my toughest fight in my UFC career. It won't be easy.

People consider me a striker, but I have trained jiu-jitsu for 10 years.

Now I am training with sparring partners who are nice people, sure, but not my friends. These are sparring partners who want to knock me out in sparring. In the Croatian media, they said it was 'life and death' sparring - it was not quite life and death, but it was all-out fighting, very hard.

Training, and every morning I have to take my dogs out into the forest. That's all I'm doing. I'm staying out of everything else. All other things that can take out my concentration and my energy from the training.

I was training in an old garage - just a roof. And when its snowed, it would cover the floor, so I would have to clear this first. I didn't have a punch bag. There was no place to buy it, so I managed to get a speed ball, but it didn't have the swivel mechanism, so I just nailed it to the ceiling and started kicking.

I am aware that I have come to the end of my martial times, but training with pain I want no longer. My body is battered by countless trainings. I collected nine operations; the body has become prone to injury.

I've made some investments during my career that I'm happy with, so my life, talking financially, is definitely OK.

Everything was good when I was in Japan, and then, unfortunately, the injuries started.

I feel that Japan is like my second home; this is where I want to fight.

In 1993, I joined the Croatian army. I was a radio telegraphist.

I never liked to say any trash talk about anyone, and I never go low on that level.

When I came to UFC, I was treated like a king.

Low kicks, you need to throw at least 20 to finish the guy, and he has 20 chances to block you, and you can break your leg.