“Cheating is nothing to be proud of.”
“Knowing and assuming are two different things.”
“I was K-1 world champion.”
“Your mind is the most powerful weapon you have.”
“I got injuries already from fighting from guys that have been cheating. And you’re never the same when you get injured like that. I mean, look at my hand. It’s broken, it’s got 16 screws in it. I’m not as strong in this hand. It just affects you, especially this body being my livelihood.”
“They can be King Kong, Godzilla, or whatever – I don’t care what they have. Once you get a punch in the face or a knee in the head, all of those skills are gone.”
“There should be no tolerance for cheaters, especially in fighting.”
“I’m not a liar. I’m a pretty straight up person.”
“It’s the fight game, and everyone loses. You win some, you lose some. You just try to get back up on the horse.”
“I’d be champ already if it wasn’t for the cheaters.”
“There is nothing wrong with fighting, but when you’re fighting an uphill battle on an uneven playing field, that’s what I don’t like.”
“You back me into a corner, I’m not going to lay down and die. I’ve been down that road too many years in my life.”
“At the end of the day, that’s just boxing – it’s a different sport altogether. But when I finish fighting for the UFC, there are so many different options I have. Boxing is another option I could take.”
“I’ve had a pretty chequered past, you know, as a kid, as a troubled kid.”
“You’ve got Jon Jones, for instance. That guy is the best, one of the best fighters in the world, but he’s a cheater.”
“I’m not gonna waste my money watching two cheaters fight. Why would I? They’re cheaters, in the end. That’s basically all they are. They should get nothing.”
“For me, with fighting, I’m not going to have any regrets. I’m throwing down to the very end.”
“All the guys at this top level, they’re pretty much dangerous all over the place. If you’re not good all over the place, you’ll be in a little bit of trouble. It’s hard to swim at the top end if you’re only good at one thing.”
“Everyone wants to be UFC champion, and that’s my goal and my dream.”
“If I get the boot out of the UFC, I’ll still continue to fight.”
“I never lose a rematch.”
“Sometimes I don’t sleep well.”
“I’ve still got my senses about me, and I know what’s right and wrong, which is the main thing.”
“You can hear me starting to stutter and slur my words.”
“My memory is not that good anymore.”
“I do watch some of my losses, but it just makes me think, ‘Well, you know, should have done this; could have done that.’ But that’s why I don’t like watching it. It’s a shoulda/coulda/woulda thing.”
“I’m never confident about anything, especially with law.”
“At the end of the day, I’m one of the greatest fighters on the planet.”
“I never turned down any fight. I’m always up for the opportunity.”
“What my thing is, I tell most of the time the truth, and sometimes it’s good for me, sometimes it’s bad. But, it’s true.”
“I don’t turn down fights unless I’m injured. Never have. So it’s a part of my makeup.”
“Everyone’s a world class ground fighter until they get a punch to the face.”
“There is nothing wrong with my health. Who doesn’t forget things from time-to-time? Who out there has never stuttered or slurred a word at some point?”
“Anyone who knows me knows how sharp my mind is. I speak at a thousand miles an hour. I’ll hold a discussion or a debate with anyone.”
“I’ve built a career in one of the toughest, most ruthless industries in the world. You can’t do that unless you’re completely with it.”
“My brain is fine.”
“My old man was ruthless. He terrorised us.”
“Yes, I was a bully. But the scrapping on the streets was my way of dealing with the anger I felt towards my parents.”
“Home was never a safe place for me. I felt safer on the streets.”
“I’d fight any of the top guys.”
“I’m always down for a battle. I was born down.”
“I love rematches.”
“I’d like to fight and get close to that title shot – that’s all I’m interested in. My whole purpose is to fight for the world title.”
“I’m a professional; I’ve got to be on weight all the time. There’s not excuses for that.”
“At the end of the day, none of us are really promised tomorrow anyway.”
“I don’t want to be remembered as just some tough guy who could take punches.”
“It’s always discouraging to lose. You look at it and think, ‘Man, what’s going on?’ It’s always discouraging. But I’m a fighter. I don’t like to quit.”
“I’ve been training jiu-jitsu for a while. It just didn’t really click in my brain. Maybe sometimes I get a bit lazy. By the time I realize I’m in trouble, I’m already caught. You can’t really think about it. You’ve got to just react as it happens.”
“I’ve got my dreams. I want to be the best fighter on the planet.”
“I have, like, 12 screws in my hand.”
“I never wanted to be a fighter. This is what God said I’m going to do, and I’m happy with that.”
“I feel blessed by God.”
“I’m not going to underestimate any fighter.”
“Coming from a standing background in striking, I couldn’t catch up to the guys with 20-plus years of training on the ground. I had to learn submissions. I found out it wasn’t an easy road. I had six losses in a row, but I still felt I was the best fighter in the world.”
“Every fight is different.”
“Every fight could be my last.”
“Mentally, I could fight forever. I feel I’m the best fighter on the planet. My mind says I can fight forever, but physically, I won’t be able to do it.”
“I love fighting.”
“If you don’t like to be hit, you’re in the wrong sport.”
“In the end, I think everyone should be treated fairly.”
“I’ve done it my whole life: as a kid, when people made fun of you, I put positive stuff in there to keep me going.”
“My whole career’s been an underdog’s.”
“I won the world title in K-1 as a nobody.”
“I don’t ask to fight anybody. All I ask is to fight the best fighters in the world.”
“I’m always going to say I’m going to knock someone out.”
“Every loss I take, I’ve accepted, and I move on.”
“I used to make $300 a week, struggling to put food on the table, but I have become one of the highest-paid fighters in the world. I feel that’s destiny.”
“I’ve been fighting since I was a child, fighting to get out of my circumstances.”
“I couldn’t believe that talk about Jon Jones fighting Lesnar – that would have zero legitimacy. In society, we punish people that do bad things. Why isn’t it the same in fighting?”
“I eat too much.”
“It’s not my decision, what goes on with who gets a title shot. I mean, some people get their shots in two or three fights. They’re pretty lucky. I wish I could be like them.”
“Whenever I start something, I try to finish it.”
“It’s a dream of mine to be a mixed martial arts world champion.”
“I’ve been the best fighter in the world at kickboxing – they can’t take that away from me – but when I started in MMA, I realized how great this sport is. It’s the ultimate combat sport, and that’s why I want to be the world’s best at it.”
“I’m knocking fools out. I’m beating guys because that’s what I was born to do.”
“That first loss in the UFC was a tough one. I hadn’t fought in a year, and you start again, different organisation, different scenario, and it all plays into it.”
“All I’ve ever said I need is an opportunity. Give me a chance, and I’ll take it with both hands and run with it.”
“Normally, a loss, it’s hard to swallow, but you get over it sooner or later.”
“A loss is just a loss. You get up again, dust yourself off, go at it again regardless of the circumstances. That’s the way I look at it.”
“I was a cheap criminal; I did many, many wrongs. I admit that. Of course, if I could tell each person I’m sorry, I would.”
“Part of my gift as a fighter is being a human punching bag.”
“I don’t feel pain like most people.”
“My sister is strong.”
“A few months before my dad died, his eyes had started to go, and his skin was turning green. When he finally went to hospital, he was diagnosed with late-stage pancreatic cancer. None of us kids knew why the old man ignored the doctors and refused their help, but none of us were surprised, either.”
“I always remember my dad’s blue overalls and the blue overcoat he wore in winter, and I remember my mum’s big old Afro. Sometimes, though, in my memories, smudges have replaced their faces.”
“Most of the neighbours didn’t like our parents, and they particularly gave Dad a very wide berth. We kids didn’t have that luxury.”
“I’ve been given a platform with the UFC, so I might as well share my story.”
“I was in jail a couple of times, and I was probably heading back there for a long time. But martial arts saved my life and some of the choices I made with it.”
“People always say its an aggressive and bad sport and just like street fighting, but it’s not the same thing. You go into work at the gym every day, and it takes away from being an aggressive person in public. You’re training every day, and you’re losing that aggression for the public.”
“The whole reason I fight is for my family. Everything I do is for them.”
“I’m always going to be a New Zealand fighter. I’m a Kiwi, of course, and I’ve still got my New Zealand passport.”
“My hands aren’t even that big.”
“You don’t learn anything from quick knockouts. I learn more about myself from hard fights.”
“Knocking someone out cold means you just caught them, that’s all.”
“When I’m fighting, I’m trying to find a reaction. I try to make the guy move; I try to make him do things that I want him to do. If he likes moving a certain way, I try to set something up so I catch him if he moves that way.”
“I’ve fought the best in the world.”
“It’s not that I don’t enjoy fighting. I don’t enjoy the circumstances around fighting.”
“Fighting has been a part of my life for my entire existence.”
“There was a lot of pride, being one of the elite fighters in the world, in the best promotion in the world. That’s what I was proud of. To be called a UFC fighter, that was important.”
“If you want to be the champ, you’ve got to beat the champ.”
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