10 Best MMA Quotes

The 10 best MMA quotes are listed below -- or at least ten of the best so far.  As long as fighters put their hearts and souls into competition with each other, they will be producing entertaining observations about life as they see it.

1. "I'm not impressed by your performance." (Georges St. Pierre, to Matt Hughes).  An understated quote, but coming from the scrupulously polite French Canadian, as dramatic as a five-minute rant from most fighters.
2. “I will beat you into a living death.” (Ken Shamrock, to Tito Ortiz).  Shamrock's personality is summed up perfectly in this quote -- loud, bombastic, and thin-skinned.  As it turned out, also a punching bag for Tito Ortiz.
3. "You do not have to have an attitude to be tough! That is why we have a ring: if you are tough you can prove it in the fight.” (Royce Gracie).   The toughness of the thin, quiet champion of the first UFC (in a time before weight classes, by the way) has never been in doubt.
4. “I went to the bar, he went to the hospital.” (BJ Penn).  BJ came up with this gem after one of his few losses, to Georges St. Pierre.  He's not the only fighter to feel he got robbed by a judges' decision, but he's probably the one to respond to it the most eloquently.
5. "Boxing is like checkers, and mixed martial arts is chess."(Pat Miletich).  Spoken by a pioneer of the sport, from the days before anyone really knew what this newfangled MMA stuff was anyway.
6. “Not bad for an old man.” (Randy Couture).  That was how Couture summed up his night after coming out of retirement at age 45 to take on a reigning heavyweight champion nearly a foot taller and 40 pounds heavier -- and thoroughly beating him.
7. "You can buy muscles, but you can't buy cojones." (Bas Rutten).  Bas was talking about steroid use in MMA, but it seems a pretty darn applicable quote to just about any sport today.
8. "Right leg hospital, left leg cemetery." (Mirko "Cro Cop" Filopivic, on his kickboxing ability).  It's funny because it's true.
9. "You can make a mistake and get caught in a submission, but Chuck made a mistake and he got caught in an ass whoopin'." (Quinton "Rampage" Jackson).  Rampage can generally be counted on for a good sound byte, and his analysis of his second fight with Chuck Liddell was no exception.
10. “My diet is like Atkins, but with the carbs.” (BJ Penn).  BJ has been criticized his entire career for not taking his diet and conditioning as seriously as most professional fighters.  But, his nickname is "The Prodigy" for a reason -- he's won multiple world titles nonetheless.