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By the time I was 4 or 5, I was doing 250 push-ups and sit-ups a day. When I was 6, we bumped it up to about 500 push-ups and sit-ups a day. Some days it could even be 750 or 1,000.
I do have a lot to learn, and I think that has a big factor in everything. Being 19 years old and being able to be in the UFC has a big effect on every single thing that people look at.
I think that every single fight you have is to prove yourself. Even if you're the world champion, the UFC champion of the world, you're still proving yourself; people are coming to beat you.
I'm young, and I learn not only from every fight but from every practice. When you're young, you soak it all in. You have a lot to learn, and you can get better and better as each day goes by.
I know people want to get out there, and they're all tattooed up, and they're all serious and stuff and ready to fight. I'm ready to fight, but I still have a smile on my face at the same time.
I'm training to be the champion. I become the champion of whatever I put my mind to, so I believe I will be the champion. I think the UFC will be able to realize that, and we'll see what they say.
I'm honoured and blessed to even be in the UFC, much less be 19 years old in the UFC, knowing I have so much time to learn, so much technique to learn, everything all around to make myself better.
Every day at Team Alpha Male, I'm improving. The biggest thing with that camp is everyone is so positive and has the work ethic to go out there and push the pace and keep going and going and going.
I started working out and doing martial arts when I was about 4 years old, and I was competing by the time I was five or six. So my mom and dad had me doing push-ups and sit-ups from a very young age.
It can be kind of difficult because of the workload I have at Texas A&M, so I have to find time to study as I pursue my major, but also to travel and compete and train hard for my fights to come in the UFC.
I've had such a tough time making weight at 155 all the time. I'd make the weight, but I don't feel like the same kind of Sage. My power in my punches, my explosion, my speed - it just doesn't feel the same.
Personally, I think I might end up fighting heavyweight in the future. I can just see myself keep growing. I'll be 24, 25, growing 2, 3, 4 more inches, and putting on a lot of muscle. I can absolutely see it.
There's always going to be people saying negative and positive things. If you let all that into you, and you're always contemplating that and thinking about that, I'm sure that can get to you. I try not to do that.
The UFC offered me a fight against one of the Top-10 fighters named Demian Maia. I believe he was, like, No. 2 at the time. They obviously believed in me to think that I could face one of the best guys in the division.
I have my coach, Urijah Faber. He's watching me do everything pretty much all the time. I'm training or grappling or sparring live. He's over there making adjustments. He's really hands on, so that makes a big difference.
I wanted to study to be a petroleum engineer and get my engineering degree and fight in the UFC at the same time. But unfortunately, to be the best I can be at the UFC, I needed all focus to be there, and more focus, also.
Being in school and doing the fighting stuff, it is very tough. I had school work all the way from Monday through Friday, and then on the weekends, you had homework, engineering projects and stuff. That makes it very tough.
The new 'Creed 2' movie is coming out, so I was actually going to audition for that. Got a little audition tape, so hopefully that goes through. That would be pretty neat. Being Ivan Drago's son in the movie? That would be pretty fun.
At 155, I kind of feel, when I'm fighting out there, I just don't feel like I have the right thinking ability. I kind of feel like my mind is foggy, if that makes sense. I don't really know how to describe it. Maybe it's the weight cut.
I just want to say real quick, whatever kind of problems you've been going through, maybe you're having a hard time at work, maybe you're having a hard time with your family, whatever it might be, you can overcome that. You just have to keep your hope up.
I was at my house, and me, and my brother, and my sister were kind of just playing around. And I was like, 'I wonder if I can twist this apple and rip it apart?' So I was playing around, and I did it, and I was like, 'Wow, that kind of takes a firm grip.'
What's neat about Sacramento is that you can drive - which I've done with the team a bunch of times - is drive, like, an hour or an hour and a half, and you're in Lake Tahoe, and you can go out to the lake or go up in the mountains or go off-road driving or hiking.
I believe the UFC knows what they're watching and looking for, so I always try and put on a great show for everybody watching and try to go out there and finish my opponent and do something exciting. I believe a lot of people come out to watch me and see me perform.
A lot of people have a lot of things going on in their life. You'll be walking past ten people in the middle of the day and not even notice, but someone might have a family member that died, or someone might be going through a hard time. Sometimes you're the only person that someone might see that lifts them up.
Being sick is a different story than having an injury. If you have a right arm injury, you can still use the rest of your body. You still have the energy to perform. But when you are sick and can't really get out of bed or walk or even breathe, you're not yourself. You don't have the cardio, strength, speed, or explosion.
Having full-time classes, it doesn't really work out because there's so much workload and so much studying that you really don't have time to train. I'd stay up until two or three in the morning just studying, and then I'd have to go get a few miles running, work out at the gym super late, and try to get my working out in late at night.