"I'll fight whoever they want. I'm not scared of winning or losing. I've been through all that, and I'm not hiding behind the belt. They even considered having me hand over the belt."

"Ed told me that Joe Silva said something about having me give up the belt, and that things would still be pretty much the same, but I'd be free to put on super fights or fight in a different weight class. However, we thought about it, and came to the conclusion that this was something I earned with a lot of sweat and tears. It wasn't something I did on a whim, and I'm not the champion on a whim."

"I think that would be disrespectful to the fans. I don't plan on giving up the belt, and I won't do it. I might lose it in my next fight or a little further down the road, but much like I won it, I hope someone else really wins it. I want it to be earned the same way I earned it."