Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
I am a student of whoever I can learn from. I don't see myself in position like I'm above anybody else and I can never learn, or no one can ever teach me anything. You learn a lot from guys who are just starting off sometimes.
I thank God for my talents but, it took many years to achieve some of my goals. I work hard on a daily basis trying to maintain a certain fitness level, run two businesses, and teach classes in the fight game and pro wrestling.
Seven years is a long time, and seven years of fighting the best guys in the best organization in the world, the biggest organization in the world, it hardens you. You don't stay seven years without evolving. It doesn't happen.
I think it's a dying thing these days, taking a chance. People don't always do it because they have comfort. And, you know, there might be something else out there you can do that makes you happier than the situation you're in.
I would have to say probably some of my favorite highlights in the ring would have to be with The Rock. Because at that time, me and him were number one guys, both of us on the rise, and just the matches we had were good times.
I just don't see how it is possible to be a vegetarian or vegan when you break your body down so much. You have to recover. You need those proteins and proper amino acids, like leucine, which only really comes from animal fats.
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.
Life throws you curveballs and there are things that happen - you don't understand why they happened at the time. But then you step back and understand you're a better fighter and competitor because of the things that happened.
My dad had to quit school when he was in third grade. My mom had to quit school. They didn't know what I needed, and I didn't know what I needed to keep wrestling and go to school, so that's why I had to go to community college.
I do believe, whenever this is all said and done, we won't talk about Mickey Gall, the guy that beat CM Punk; we'll just talk about Mickey Gall, the guy who is a top 10 fighter, a good welterweight or maybe a great welterweight.
At a certain point, when I let go and was done - when I stopped and could say I was blessed and thankful to be a champion, when I finally enjoyed life from this different perspective - that's when I healed. Letting go healed me.
If you're not successful at a certain weight, it rarely has anything to do with gaining or losing 10 pounds. It's something inside of you that you need to fix in order to win. It rarely has anything to do with cutting 10 pounds.
I'm scared of failure so much more than any of the other girls I compete against that I work so much harder than they possibly could. I'm totally down with spiders and frogs and heights and snakes - everything; I'm cool with it.
You just got to remember that mine and Dana White's relationship is like we're a husband and wife. I do the man's stuff around the house. I do the fighting, all the man's stuff, and he does all the woman stuff - all the yapping.
My father had nine kids, seven boys and two girls, and my uncle had 21 kids, 11 boys and 10 girls. They had the opportunity to teach the art of Gracie Jiu Jitsu and that's how we got involved from a young age. It's in the blood.
You look at the top five right now and see guys like Kelvin Gastelum, who I've beaten, Carlos Condit, who I've beaten, Robbie Lawler, who I've beaten. How are those guys more notable than I am, and I'm the champion of the world?
Trust me, I've seen a lot of fighters come in hot and they disappear faster than they came in after a loss or two. This is the UFC and the best fighters in the world are here. If you fight the great fighters you're bound to lose.
I can choose whoever I want, in MMA things change very rapidly, sometimes you don't know what'll happen and there's a guy that upsets everybody. I could fight who the fans would like me to fight the most. For me that's important.
My first MMA fight was July 2006 here in Brazil. I won a few fights here in Brazil, and then I got a chance to fight in the UFC, but they put me against the number one contender for the title at that time. It was Fabricio Werdum.
I do believe there's a place for anger in spiritual life. Just as a mother protects a child, as parents protect offspring under threat, we need a place for the conscious use of that fire. The positive side of anger as fierceness.
In college, I tried to start wrestling as soon as I could and when it was available to me, as I loved competing, and then got into MMA under Pat Miletich, where I was able to sharpen all my skills and develop into a true fighter.
It's great that mixed martial arts allows people to still be in touch with their animal side and duke it out in a cage, but I think it's important: we're still nurturing beings, and we should still have compassion for each other.
When I started wrestling in the eighth grade, I just fell in love with it, and started shifting my focus more to that. I considered playing in college, but it made more sense for me to wrestle, because I weigh about a buck fifty.
I moved to the States, and that was a big thing for me. I moved to Miami, and I joined the Blackzilians. For me at the time, it seemed like the best logical solution, but sometimes surrounding yourself with new people is not good.
Me, my heart and my soul will always be a fighter. I'm not comfortable with saying, 'I'm done. I quit. I give up.' That's the way I am, and that's the way I always will be. From the day I was born to the day I die, I am a fighter!
Generating exciting new ideas burns 325 calories per hour and has no carbs. Banging your head against a wall uses 150 calories an hour. Rambling aimlessly about a point that someone has already made burns only 3 calories per hour.
I don't shy away from any questions. I'm not scared of any question. I'll give you an answer. A lot of people are scared of having actual opinions out there. People are so scared of criticism I'm not scared of people disliking me.
I travel seven months a year, so it's a lot of hotels and airplanes. I teach about three hours a day. I always go for a run. I try to lift some weights if I have the time and the strength. But running and teaching, that's my life.
I would go into practice pushing the body despite any injuries. It's a good thing but a bad thing. It's good because your body is quick to adapt, but it's a bad thing because you are forcing your body, and it can't recover as well.
One element of wrestling that I know what I grew up with we put a lot of emphasis towards was the takedown. But, you could win an Olympic championship and never score a takedown, and I don't know if MMA fans are even aware of that.
Gay, straight, whatever - none of that actually matters when you're fighting someone. Not what you have in your bank account, what you drive, what sex you are, none of it. I think that's the message the UFC has been trying to push.
I don't believe a champion is the biggest, baddest, meanest dude in the world. I think the champion is like a warrior; it's like the head knight or lead samurai: humble men of integrity, respect, and honor that treat people kindly.
I'm chasing my goals, and I haven't been able to make things happen the way I want them to happen. It doesn't feel good, but the answer is simple: I just have to work hard and to focus on cutting down the number of mistakes I make.
You don't always come off the way that you want to or look the way you want to. I go out there and just act up and become the evil villain, and I'm calling guys out and stuff. It seems to have worked. I'm getting the fights I want.
I took so many years off my fighting career arguing with Dana, trying to get a fight with Shogun Rua, not trying to fight this guy, trying to do all this stuff. At the end of the day, it didn't really matter much. I just lost time.
I grew up so poor and now I have an opportunity to provide for my family in a way that I never imagined. I take that in consideration and try to exploit every single opportunity because when it's over it's over, there are no redos.
Everyone wants to win. But to truly succeed - whether it is at a sport or at your job or in life - you have to be willing to do the hard work, overcome the challenges, and make the sacrifices it takes to be the best at what you do.
You go through every single inch of the emotional spectrum on fight week. You're the most stressed out you've ever been, you're the most pressured you've ever been, you're the happiest you've ever been - it's hard. It's exhausting.
Tito Ortiz vs. Chuck Liddell III, the fight that all the fans wanted to see for the longest time and never got a chance to. I never got a fair shake when I was with the UFC against Chuck, any of the times I ever fought against him.
When you get in taekwondo, it teaches you the life skills of respect, self control, discipline-that's why I love it. I really attribute those skills to really getting over my dad's death. If I didn't have that, I would have lost it.
A lot of people love what I do and a lot of people don't like or hate my style, so it's external - I really don't care about that. I'm happy with the people that appreciate it, but I'm not unhappy with the people that don't like it.
My parents were divorced and my dad was in the Marines. I lived in California until I was 10 then we moved to Bettendorf, Iowa when I was in the fourth grade. I had an older brother so it made it a little easier to adjust to things.
Do I ever get tired of being the first female everything? Not really, I just happened to be in a position where the job that I wanted was not really there for me. I had to create an opportunity instead of waiting for an opportunity.
That's why I like Demian Maia and Fabricio Werdum. Demian will take you down and do his game. Werdum learned the stand-up to know what's coming, but he never stopped using his jiu-jitsu. He will clinch, take you down and submit you.
In wrestling, you've got to be an athlete. You can't just be a body builder; you can't just be this big strong guy who picks people up and throws them around. For longevity in the business, you got to keep your body fit and together.
My unpredictability is what separates me. If you move in so many ways, your opponent is not focused on what he's doing. He's focusing in on what you're doing, and it freezes him. When they freeze and you hit, they shatter like glass.
How sad that we often diminish our best gifts by struggling valiantly to develop in someone else's area of ability. It is better to focus on your uniqueness and do that with excellence than to end up with mediocrity in several areas.
I remember being a kid and saying, 'One day, I'm going to have a ranch. One day, one day, one day.' And now, I'm fighting in the UFC. I'm here making the money, and that one day is here. I can finally go get those things that I want.
I'll beat a bunch of good guys, and then I'll get a ton of fans come up to me and go, 'Do you think you can beat Conor McGregor?' And I'm like, 'Oh my God. You guys are disillusioned.' They think because this man's popular he's good.
We grew up in an era where there was a lot of fear of HIV. Everybody worried about it and everybody took precautions, and everybody knew that it was a thing that was out there. As it slowed down, it left the spotlight, people forgot.