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It doesn't matter if I'm a rival of Anderson Silva's or not; I'm also very objective. And I'm not going to take something from a guy that he earned. Anderson Silva earned the right to be called the greatest of all time. And those are just the facts.
I studied every move, I became fascinated by thinking what I could have done differently. And I take that approach now as a professional. I am on it, all the time, never stop thinking, learning. You don't get to be world champion unless you do that.
From the beginning of your career until the end, you have people telling you, you can't do something or you're only going to get so far. That either drives you to be become the best or it stops you at the stipulations that other people have for you.
It was really difficult being away from MMA because it's been a way of life for me for 13 years. But being on the outside and coaching helps you sharpen your skills because you have to explain what you do, why things work and why other things don't.
I had a lot of trouble speaking as a kid. I didn't really speak in coherent sentences until I was, like, 6 years old. There was a long time where everybody was very worried, because my sisters were so advanced for their age, and I would barely talk.
One of the things I like most about Roufusport is, really, the culture. A lot of times, you're training in fight camps and running and hitting mitts and sparring. Those things get old kind of quick. I like the fact that they allow fun into the room.
The fact is that everything I've done, no one else could do. I don't want to be cocky or arrogant or think I'm the best, but what I've tried to do all those years was to show I was different from the others. And that's not my opinion, but everyone's.
My experience here at the WWE Performance Center has been amazing. I'm just looking forward to being here and learning as much as I can the time that I'm here. I've been a fan of the sport since I was a little kid, and now I get to participate in it.
I remember kickboxing and traveling the world when I was young. I would go to Japan or Africa, and I would go for the experience. As soon as I got off the plane, we'd go have a good time, party. Fighting was just the outlet of what I was doing there.
I've always kind of been the guy next door who just happens to fight for a living. I tried to figure out what was special and marketable about me early on in my career and I realized that there's absolutely nothing special about me, so I wanted that.
For like a year, even after I retired, my ear would just bleed. There was just some scar tissue on it that tore open so many times that it just started bleeding all the time. It's rough on the wife, she has to keep washing the sheets again and again.
I feel bad for guys in other sports that never work a job. Think about it, most MMA fighters have had to do something for money whereas a guy who was an athlete in college sport then went straight to the pros, he's never had a skill outside of sport.
The best car I ever had was a Mazda 626. I paid $72 for it. The guy told me if I towed it off his property I could do whatever I wanted to it. So I paid to have it towed to my house and me and my step-dad fixed it up and drove it until I totalled it.
I used to want to be a pro wrestler first, a stuntman if I couldn't do that, and a fireman to fall back on. The guy who used to live across the street from me was the fire chief, so he was going to help me out if I didn't succeed at the other things.
If you're unwilling to leave someplace you've outgrown, you will never reach your full potential. To be the best, you have to constantly be challenging yourself, raising the bar, pushing the limits of what you can do. Don't stand still, leap forward.
Have I been overly aggressive in some sparring sessions? Yes, I have. There's things, there's punches and things I've thrown that's been too aggressive and I've gotten to where I've had to tell myself, yeah, I shouldn't have done that, kind of thing.
No matter where you're at, there are always guys you don't get along with. If it's any kind of job or any kind of situation in life, there's always going to be someone that gets on your nerves, and it definitely is the case with some of the fighters.
But what astonished me is that this Croatian, this Mirko Cro Cop guy, called me the best in the world, a legend in front of me, but behind the computer he's talking a bunch of crap. What kind of man are you to say this crap online and not to my face?
The thing about mixed martial arts is you have to know every single martial art in the world or you're at a disadvantage. So, there's so much to learn. I have to know wrestling. I have to know kick boxing. I have to know boxing. I have to know karate.
You've got so many guys coming up and putting in work, and everybody wants to be in my position, so I gotta be paranoid and think that if I'm not producing, if I'm not going out there and winning fights and winning impressively, I'm gonna be replaced.
For girls it raises your testosterone, so I try to have as much sex as possible before I fight actually. Not with like everybody, I don't put out like a Craigslist ad or anything, but if I got a steady I'm going to be like 'yo, fight time's coming up.
I've physically seen profiling. I've seen me walking up the street with my friends, and the police officers get out of their car and bust the hell out of my friends. And they can't do anything about it, and the cop gets back in his car and drives off.
It's very difficult to make a 100% turnaround. It's tough when you actually do exhibit patterns of bad behavior. You need to have a very strong support system of people who are willing to keep you in your place if you're going to overcome these things.
When it comes to MMA, there is a big chip on my shoulder. There is a way that I look at myself. I think it's really, really important, and it's something I'm not really apologetic for it. As I get older, and I win more, I start to embrace it even more.
I fight for everybody, national and international, no matter where they are. I want to help those athletes. Not only those in the UFC - those that are in the big league and can have a better future - but those in the small promotions and need our help.
I say it all the time: it's different when two heavyweights, especially when they are the size of Ben Rothwell, face each other in the Octagon. Even the leather - right in the back seat of the arena, they will be able to hear the sounds of the punches.
Don't focus on the outcome, when you focus on the outcome it creates anxiety and it builds. I just need to enjoy the moment and let it be. If I just fight I know I'm going to go out there and perform and do it my best. Don't focus on winning or losing.
Honestly, at times, I still get bored. 'Dancing with the Stars' kept me busy, and that's what I like. When I first started fighting, I was working two jobs, and I was still going to school at the same time while training. I'm meant to be a busy person.
I think what it is, is that fighters have become business people. I actually love what I'm doing. When you're a business person, sometimes you think of it as, 'Ah, it's work.' I love what I do, but then, on the other end, some guys do this as a living.
I took my son to Thailand and really immersed myself in the stuff I wanted to learn and I wanted to improve on, and when I got a taste of that motivation and that inspiration as far as what I wanted to see my body do, I immediately was excited about it.
I don't walk around looking into cameras and telling people I'm the best fighter in the world just to hear myself talk. I say it for the same reason they put warnings on packages of cigarettes, and fighting Chael Sonnen may be hazardous to one's health.
Yes, I think about having a career in boxing, but I want to start from the bottom, start from zero. I want to get ranked and one day fight for a belt. I don't want to fight just to fight, for money, to go after big fights and challenge a great champion.
Bellator has taken care of me, and I've taken care of them. It's been the perfect storm of a symbiotic relationship - them having an asset they were not willing to lose, and me being in a situation where the grass isn't always greener on the other side.
Make excuses to work out. Go for walks and enjoy scenery. You'd be surprised how many calories you can burn during the day if you just make an effort and become more aware. Also remember to start slow, don't go into it too hard if you are just starting.
I was getting a lot of good work with my wrestling up in Iowa, but I needed a more all-around game, striking, jiu-jitsu at a high level. I had a lot of good coaches out at ATT to work with. They pushed me. Everything was smarter. Everything was precise.
Brazilians tend to have that weakness, they get emotional. You can easily get them upset and get them out of their comfort zone. They're clever too and very gifted athletes but they have that emotional thing, which we Europeans also have a little bit of.
People think hard sparring will get you sharp. And you do get sharp in the gym. But anytime I've trained that way, I've actually been a little bit flatter in the fight. And the knockout shot hasn't come. It's almost because my training has been too hard.
I just love fighting. I know I'm not the best, but I'm still pretty good, there's a lot of people I can still beat. What do you do. What else am I supposed to do? I have no other skills. I enjoy doing this. There's nothing I'd really rather do, you know?
If you are out there golfing, and you hit a bad shot, anyone who knows golf will tell you that you just have to forget about it. If you don't, you'll hit another bad one and another and then another. It plays with your head. It's the same way in a fight.
Thus men of more enlighten'd genius and more intrepid spirit must compose themselves to the risque of public censure, and the contempt of their jealous contemporaries, in order to lead ignorant and prejudic'd minds into more happy and successful methods.
I always support British athletes of all sports, including Tyson Fury. I think he's a great boxer. However, if he's calling out UFC Heavyweight Champion Cain Velasquez, then quite frankly, he's living in a fantasy world and needs to come back to reality.
I remember coming across some DVDs of the UFC and so I started watching that and became a fan of it. It was a little boring because of all the grabbing and holding and I fast-forwarded through a lot of it, but I still watched because I like martial arts.
My strength is my unpredictablity. I can wrestle, I can strike, I can move fast, and I do a good job of covering up. And because of my experience, I'm able to put myself in good positions in the ring. The guys I fight, they have to be ready for anything.
My real fear with fighting is just not letting it go out there and hang out. I don't fear other guys. I'm just scared I'm not going to go out there and give everything I have. Like I'm only going to give a fraction of the things we trained and worked on.
There's always the pressure to win. That never goes away, but being a main event, I want to go out there and put on a great show for the fans and live up to being a main event. That doesn't really stress me out or pressure me anymore. The fight is enough.
Do I want a shot at the belt? Yes, of course I do. Put it this way: I am Barry Sanders on the Detroit Lions. You love to watch me, but you'll never see me play in the Super Bowl. It's just one of those things. It's about politics. It's not about fighting.
I feel like through martial arts I'm able to face my fears head on. It makes me not run away from challenges in life. I'm able to transfer my martial arts training over to other challenges. To be able to conquer your fears is the best feeling in the world.
I was always throwing a fit about it, like somebody I was fighting had their hair painted and I would be like, it's not enough that this guy has to win a fight against me, but he's gotta do it with his hair being on blast, like big mohawk. Just a wild man.
The hardest fights I've had have been in the gym, not in the cage. It keeps you motivated. One day, you'll go in and feel like you can beat anybody in the world. The next day, you kind of get humbled. That's what keeps us coming back to train more and more.
As I got older, I lived right next next to the Long Island Railroad, so in junior high and high school I'd just jump on the train with friends and head to the city. We'd run away from the conductors, hide from them in the bathroom. It was just what you did.