“If you lose three or four in a row, people start talking about retirement. They are not used to this sport like they are used to tennis. If you take a look at how many times Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer lost, it’s all part of the game. Soccer is no different: teams go through bad times and then rise again.”
“I live my life – I walk the right path – but I can’t be like, ‘Oh, I’m scared of this or that.’”
“Even if you win, or you lose, you have to respect your opponent.”
“I never underestimate anybody.”
“Every time you step into a different cage, you can feel the difference.”
“My father is a master in karate. He always taught me the philosophy of Karate. When I’m talking about philosophy, I mean respect to willpower, self confidence. Those qualities, I think it’s very important, not just for fighting, but for any person.”
“My father was a very tough guy with me and my brothers. He wanted to teach us a lot of discipline and life philosophy. As I became more interested in martial arts, he started teaching a lot of fighting philosophy and karate philosophy. While he was a tough father, he also knew when to be sweet and show a softer side.”
“Hard moments can happen with anyone. And these are the situations that you have to overcome.”
“Having your father to help you to get back up is good, but you need to get up by yourself and walk alone. Life goes on.”
“I won’t cling to the past.”
“Learning is constant. I learn something new every day.”
“I believe in me.”
“My father is a Japanese Shotokan karate master, so I have been training karate with my family since I was three years old. I got my black belt in karate at 13 and got introduced to judo and sumo shortly after.”
“Anderson Silva, Georges Saint-Pierre, and Rodrigo Nogueira are some of the top fighters in the UFC among many other great fighters. The UFC has many of the toughest fighters around.”
“I eat very healthy all the time, low on fats and sweets and no fried foods.”
“In the mornings at around 5:30 A.M., I train karate with my family.”
“I’m a real martial artist, my father always taught me that some way I have to train every day, no matter what happens your life.”
“Its not just about competition: it’s my life, my lifestyle. So I train every day, and I feel very good, because sometimes training is like meditations for me; it’s a good escape to me to the problems for everything.”
“When I was 15 years old, I watched Royce Gracie in the cage, and I thought I’d like to do the same thing.”
“Machida Karate is for real combat. Other karate may be not for real combat because there are many rules for the competition, and a lot of the rules aren’t good for real combat – you can’t do some takedowns, you can’t finish the fight on the ground. Machida Karate is very different.”
“Brock Lesnar is a big challenge for me because he’s a big guy: very, very strong, very, very powerful, very, very fast. I like the challenge. Brock Lesnar, for me, would be a very good fight.”
“I respect Brock Lesnar as a fighter, but I know that I can fight him.”
“I always go into every fight trying to forget about what happened in the past, whether I won or lost.”
“I think to keep my principles. To keep my principles, I think, is the most important thing. Every day, everyone change. It’s normal, but your principle never can change.”
“It’s best to keep a strategic fight and try to win because the level of the sport is so high.”
“Only because you moved forwards, it doesn’t mean you were effective. Sometimes it’s the wrong criteria to be used.”
“I can’t say ‘OK, let’s begin to exchange and see where it goes.’ We want to give a fight and give people a good show, but you have to play on a safety zone.”
“One of my brothers teaches karate at our gym and also handles the administrative side of the gym. My other brother is a fighter like me and teaches a class at the gym. So my brothers are always at the gym together training.”
“Karate is my main martial art; that is what I train in every day. It has always been in my life. Sumo is another Japanese martial art that I got into at an early age. It is something that has helped and added to my overall stance and is a good base. It is not something I necessarily use in all my fights, though.”
“The way I stand and my posture really complicates my opponents; they don’t understand it and don’t know what to do about. The way I stand there in front of them really throws them off.”
“I believe in my striking game against Weidman’s wrestling. He’s complete in every aspect of the game, but I’m confident in what I do.”
“I focus on my opponents the same way whether they are a champion or not.”
“I believe in myself.”
“I have a good relationship with the UFC.”
“I like to be busy and fight many times a year and showcase all my potentials.”
“I don’t like to rush things.”
“I think we both matured together in this sport, so I think fight between Michael Bisping and myself would mean a lot.”
“If I had a choice, I’d rather not fight someone from Brazil, but as a professional, I couldn’t say no.”
“I don’t want to be in this sport just to participate. I want to be in this to win, and that’s what motivates me every day to break down barriers and to get better every time and to exceed my limits and to win fights.”
“I feel that not only have I been out there promoting my style of karate, but just promoting the traditional martial arts, and it makes me very happy.”
“I will not talk bad about the UFC.”
“Many of my greatest fights and moments were in the UFC, and they were always good to me.”
“I have a great run in the UFC.”
“I don’t believe in ideal places for a fight.”
“We teach the karate methodology, bringing back the history of the martial art, the attacks that stopped being used when the martial art became a sport and that my brother and I use in the cage.”
“We must recognize our opponents’ merits.”
“Fighting in Brazil is always great because you’re close to the fans. It’s a good energy on fight day: during the open workouts, the support on social media is always closer.”
“I’m a guy that always had positive thoughts in every situation in my life.”
“I like to empty my mind and focus on developing my abilities in training.”
“I have no control of life. I have to prepare myself for any situation.”
“When I prepare for a fight, I never expect it to be easy. I believe that that would create a chance for me to not give my best in the Octagon.”
“I always go there to put on a fight knowing that my opponent is well prepared and will do his best. That’s the challenge that motivates me.”
“A fight involves the emotion, the strategy of combat. There are many factors connected to a fight.”
“I have a lot of respect not only for the fighter but the man Vitor Belfort. I think he has done a lot for the sport, and we all have to respect him.”
“Sometimes when you chat about something, a few ideas come up, you go this way or that way in training.”
“If I have a chance, I’d like to fight at 185 pounds.”
“I like to be busy, especially after I lost against Luke Rockhold. The best way to recover is to get another fight.”
“Right after my fight against Luke Rockhold, I had surgery on my left hand. I just took out some fragments from back then. Too many training, and I had some fragments in my hand.”
“My main objective is always the belt.”
“I’ve always worked hard and stayed focused.”
“Chris Weidman is a tough guy; he’s well rounded. He’s known for being a wrestler. He’s very good on the ground. He can knock people out standing up.”
“Every fight is a little bit different.”
“My dad taught me; Mr. Steven Seagal taught me, also.”
“As you go in there, you keep winning; after you’ve had a loss or two, people start to humanize you.”
“I feel like Randy Couture has helped build the history in this sport.”
“Whether you’re winning or losing, you’ve constantly got to be changing.”
“It’s an honor to fight someone like Randy Couture.”
“I tried all my life to be a champion.”
“If you have a dream in your life, go hard. It’s possible.”
“We always want the knockout or the submission.”
“If you want to get to the top, you can’t say you won’t fight this one or that one. You have to be open to fight the best.”
“It’s important to have the support of your family, but when is time to move away? You have to walk with your own legs one day.”
“I loss that fight to Phil Davis, but I’m not convinced on that fight. Because it wasn’t fair for me. I’d like to do another fight.”
“The future belongs to God.”
“It’s not my style to talk trash to my opponents.”
“I want to be the middleweight champion.”
“A fight is a fight, and you never know what is going to happen until you start fighting.”
“Every fight is a new story, a new training camp.”
“For sure, Jacare would be a great opponent. I have all the respect for him, but I would like a lot to have the opportunity of facing him someday.”
“Your technique, your drive – that’s what you should carry with you.”
“In karate, there’s a lot of respect. In fact, when an opponent accepts to fight me, he’s giving me a chance to show my work, so I can’t diminish him at all.”
“If you want something, you can get it.”
“Rafael Carvalho deserves a lot of respect and seriousness in my camp.”
“I try to learn from my losses, see how they can help me in the future.”
“Every fight has taught me something.”
“At middleweight, I started to find an ideal weight for me. I face guys my size, my height, and with my physique.”
“Separating your profession from friendship is very difficult.”
“Fighting in Bellator is a dream come true for me.”
“I’m a fan of Fedor, have been a fan since he was in PRIDE, a great champion, and since I like to challenge myself, new challenges, that was one of the offers that came with my move to Bellator. Of course fighting Fedor would be an honor, a dream.”
“I have fought my brother some times before. We got hurt sometimes, needed stitches, but it was normal after the fights. We always had a positive rivalry that pushed both of us to our best.”
“I don’t fight without being prepared, even when I lose.”
“Mousasi is a very tough fighter.”
“My way of thinking is like that: always positive.”
“As a professional, I get in a dilemma between sport and entertainment. There’s these two sides.”
“It’s very hard because the sport evolves so fast, changes so fast. So, you have to be there to see the changes that are happening in the moment. That’s why I keep training every day. I try to mix myself in all of the academies.”
“I’m not gonna change my principles. I’m not gonna change anything just to make money.”
“Everything Mousasi says only motivates me. I have a win over him, and I think he’s a little bothered by it.”
“When I signed with Bellator, I knew this would be a new positive chapter in my career.”
“I’m a professional, and I focus on one fight at a time.”
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