Quotes from Mirko Cro Cop

I'm not old. I'm 37, but I can do things that fighters 10 years younger cannot. I will prove that, or I will die trying.

I usually train twice a day, and Thursdays and Sundays are supposed to be my days off. But even on those days, I'm training at least once. I have to do at least one session each day to be happy.

Sooner or later, the time comes when a man has to think on the health. I had a really long and great career, and I believe I left a deep mark in the martial arts. I have no regrets.

Conditioning is the most important thing in MMA.

For my whole career, I didn't have sparring partners. I was frustrated when I came to the UFC because, after a few minutes of the first round, I would feel dead because I had no sparring partners.

Nobody should underestimate me. When you have a self-made fighter like I am with the Pride belt I earned, it's not good to underestimate him.

I underestimated the difference of fighting in a cage.

First I'm a sportsman and then a politician.

The UFC was the black spot in my career and my life.

I really think me and my family live humbly. I've secured my life, and I won't have to open the newspaper and be looking for work.

Training is not the key. Head is the key. For me, it's head. How aggressive you will be. Who will attack first? But you need to be good in your head, and there will be no problem.

I think I should be respectful of fighters. This sport is brutal enough itself. I don't think you should say stupid statements or should act like savages.

Saying that fights in Japan were fixed and that me, along with other guys like Silva, Minotauro, etc., did not win those fights legitimately is an ultimate and absurd nonsense.

I'm a guy who likes to have fun, and I like everything normal people like, but I am always quoted before the fight when I'm jet-lagged and focused. In everyday life, I am different.

I'd most prefer to be a free agent and fight up to six times a year, but that is unlikely.

I'm not the kind of fighter who just hates each other before the fight. I can talk to you until one minute before the fight, and then I will take your head off if I can.

I broke people's bones, tore muscles, ribs, faces, inflicted some serious and heavy damages to my opponents, etc... I got hurt myself, too, from serious attacks.

I want to beat all the opponents who have beaten me before.

Even though I didn't do as well in the UFC as the rest of my career, I feel like I did everything that I could to have an overall successful career.

Of course I will submit if I have a chance, but I always prefer to finish a fight in a stand-up position.

I won a lot of money in UFC. I earned that money. The money wasn't given to me as a present. I earned every dollar of it.

Of course I could keep fighting, but every man comes to the point when he asks himself, 'Do I need it anymore?'

People don't get it. Martial arts is my life.