He Said What?!?! UFC Fight Night 36: 'Machida vs. Mousasi' edition

Some live up to their words, others don't.

UFC Fight Night 36: "Machida vs. Mousasi" took place last Saturday night (Feb. 15, 2014) from Arena Jaragua in Santa Catarina, Brazil, and it was a pretty good night for the Brazilian competitors.

Lyoto Machida got the win over Gegard Mousasi in the main event, beating him over five rounds of action which looked remotely close to a chess match. Machida now anticipates the word on if h's done enough to earn a middleweight title shot, or if he needs to prove himself one more time.

Watch highlights of Machida's win against Mousasi here.

In the co-main event, Ronaldo Souza was victorious over Francis Carmont, winning the fight by unanimous decision. "Jacare" is obviously another option for the promotion to consider, as he now has three wins inside the Octagon in three appearances.

Watch Souza best Carmont here.

Also victorious on the main card was Charles Oliveira, who submitted Andy Ogle in the third round to kick things off on the main card (highlights here).

Before all the mixed martial arts (MMA) action unfolded inside the Octagon, there were promotional appearances to generate awareness for -- and interest in -- a trip to Brazil. Fighters said this and that, answering questions galore when all they really wanted to do is be left alone and not be bothered.

MMAmania.com does a pretty good job of passing along all the noteworthy pre- and post-fight comments for each event. But, as we've done before, let us look at the words that left the fighters' mouths before they stepped into the cage last weekend.

"I'm really not too worried about Mousasi. I've shown everyone that I can finish fights. I'm sending a message that I'm the next title contender. I'm here to be champion. Fighting Mousasi is a great opportunity to fight a world class champion. Even though he's a complete MMA fighter, I'm far more dangerous than Mousasi. After knocking out Mousasi, I'll be the next title contender."

-- Confident, much?

That's the swagger of Lyoto Machida, who isn't one for disrespectful trash talk; however, he does let it be known that you're in for one hell of a fight when you sign the contract.

Machida may not have knocked out Gegard Mousasi, yet he did enough to warrant himself a title shot against the winner of Chris Weidman vs. Vitor Belfort at UFC 173.

Maybe.

Machida's style may not be a joy for everyone to watch, but he's one of the best fighters on the middleweight scene, let alone on the entire roster.

After an inconsistent run at light heavyweight, marred by controversies, "The Dragon" is reborn at 185 pounds.

"I'm going to put pressure on him, but steady. I'm not going to run at him. I want to fight aggressive, but you need two people, and he does not want to play that game. So you can't go trying to be the aggressive guy, because that's what he wants. But he's not really a hard-hitting fighter. If you don't do anything stupid, he's not going to be able to knock you out."

-- Hmm, interesting.

Maybe Gegard Mousasi was onto something in that last sentence, or maybe Mousasi did everything right except for get the better of Machida in their five-round fight in Brazil.

He was spot on about not running in, and even at that, Machida caught him. It's not like Mousasi didn't hit Machida, either. He had some fantastic moments in both the third and fourth frames, he simply couldn't put it together for the course of five rounds and establish himself as a true number-one contender at middleweight.

"I think that I always manage to impose my game, and my goal is a great fight. You should be very aware of what your opponent does, but ultimately you have to focus on putting your own game into practice. That's my objective. I train above and beyond what's necessary, so I don't have any worries going in regarding my abilities and tactics, and how they compare to my opponent's."

-- Man, Ronaldo Souza talks like he's been working at the same office for two decades now.

He's professional, experienced and like most fighters would say, concentrates on himself rather than worrying about his opposition.

Souza had a difficult task at hand, but disposed of Francis Carmont in the co-main event en route to a unanimous decision win, and kind of blurred the middleweight title picture.

"Limitless" opportunities?

"I don't agree with that. If he wins, he'll have two fights in the division and fight for a title. A lot of guys who are next for the title have four, five, six wins. I understand Machida is a big name, former UFC champ. I don't make the decision. It's the job of the UFC and Joe Silva."

-- Unfortunately for Francis Carmont, his opinion doesn't really matter at this point.

He had a chance to become the dark horse in this middleweight scramble, and failed to capitalize.

Seriously, for all you wrestling fans out there, Carmont could have been Chris Jericho winning the WWE Undisputed Championship when he won the one-night tournament between Steve Austin, The Rock, and Kurt Angle back at Vengeance 2001.

Carmont should have taken matters into his own hands, instead of worrying about his divisional counterparts.

"You've got to respect where you came from, but I don't want to be known as that. I came from there, so it's no big deal if somebody says that's what I am. I feel like it was part of my journey, but it won't be the be-all and end-all of me. It won't be the main thing in my career. It's going to be the start. I'm very young. I remember that, and I'm here to stay. I've got bigger goals than that."

-- You've got to give props to Andy Ogle to hanging in there with Charles Oliveira. He wasn't shy to hang out with "Do Bronx" on the mat either, but unfortunately, that was his demise.

Ogle was referring to being known solely as another one of those dudes who competed on The Ultimate Fighter (TUF), and maybe he will be remembered for that moving forward. Still, he should get at least one more chance to scrap it out in the Octagon and redeem himself.

That just about sums it up.

For extensive coverage of UFC Fight Night 36: "Machida vs. Mousasi," including results, recaps and video highlights, click here.