Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
I don't think the itch to fight has ever left me, ever. I mean, I got paid to do what I love for a living, and I got paid very well to do it. So that's going to always be there. That's always going to be like, 'Man, I wouldn't mind getting out there again.'
A good feeling for me is when you train, and then you put on fresh clothes. New clothes after a training session - you have this rush of endorphins from exercise that everybody gets, and then you get that nice feeling of fresh clothes. It's a double whammy.
When I fight, nobody boos. Everybody likes it. Everyone cheers for me. I'm happy about that, because I'm one of the guys who is putting the grappling and jiu-jitsu on the level where people are interested in the technique. I can get people excited about it.
It was weird, I saw the Brian Stann vs. Wanderlei fight, I thought, if I don't have another of those in me, there's no point in continuing. I never really cared about winning or losing, then don't put the product out there at all if it's going to be subpar.
The hardest thing is that the people who don't know anything about fighting, they label you. Once they get to know me, they're like, 'Ah, you're not anything like I thought.' That's probably the hardest thing about being a fighter - everything else is easy.
In the WWF, or the WWE as they call it now, the one thing that I was not able to capture was that heavyweight belt. I'm telling you, I want a chance to be able to go after that belt, but only if Brock Lesnar has it, or The Rock has it, or Kurt Angle has it.
How you find out who somebody is, whether or not they are a true warrior, a true competitor all the way through... is people that don't know how to walk away or say, 'I'm retired.' Those are the ones that are purebred warriors. They don't know anything else.
I'll fight you, and I'll have respect at the end. If you win, I have respect; if I win, I expect respect, Ray Mercer, man, I don't want to mention this guy's name anymore. He gets no respect from me. He was not professional, and he showed poor sportsmanship.
There's guys who train hard. There's guys who believe they're real tough. But there's only a certain amount of guys who believe - like, really believe - they should be the champion. I know I have that mentality, and I know other guys who have that mentality.
The UFC are doing a tremendous job of promoting the sport worldwide. The views about the sport haven't always been so positive here in the Holland, but it's nice to see change and to see the UFC come to Holland, and everyone been really enthusiastic about it.
If you beat someone with a good name, of course some people are going to say he's past his prime, he's washed up, or he shouldn't be fighting. You're always going to have critics. It doesn't matter what the outcome is, whether it be good or whether it be bad.
As a fighter, that's not something that ever factors in, whether you go first or last or you walk out first or you walk out second. It's not something that ever factors in or you feel slighted about. I don't think that anybody would care. The job is the same.
I started doing martial arts since I was 12, and then I went into wrestling in college. After I met John Hackleman, I started getting really serious about it, and after a few amateur fights, I got an invite to the UFC and have been in love with it ever since.
When I'm doing my best is when I'm completely focused... You completely wipe off any thoughts of the future, there's nothing going on in the past, you're just completely locked in on the moment, and there's no thinking, you're zoned in on this moment in time.
For me there is no reason why to go up in weight class, because when you go up in weight class you have to fight bigger guys - then you have to train against bigger guys. The guys are not better, they're heavier, but it means you have more chance to get hurt.
There's probably a hundred more submission holds in the WWE because of me training to bring in those submissions so people could look at them a legitimize them for pro wrestling. You look at it before I was there and after I was there: it's different matches.
The reaction has been amazing because there is no woman that could look at these covers and not be like, 'That's what I could look like,' or, 'I pretty much already look like one of these chicks.' It really makes beauty seem so much more attainable to people.
You have to move on with your life at some point. You don't quit fighting, fighting quits you at some point. It's very unfortunate, but that's the nature of the beast. And that's one of those things, too, that I like to tell young fighters. Have a backup plan.
I retire from competition with great pride at having had a positive impact on my sport. I intend to keep training and practicing martial arts for as long as I live, and I look forward to watching the new generation of champions carry our sport into the future.
I come from nothing. Growing up I didn't really have too much, and I can tap into that anytime that I want to and just remember how bad things were for me growing up and just knowing that I never want to go back there and I don't want my kids to go through it.
Fighting somebody like Manhoef, who can take anyone out at any point in time - that was a big win for me and one of the best finishes. In that fight, it wasn't looking good for me, but I kept believing in myself and was able to land a big shot, which was huge!
I'm a person who believes that if a team that's producing a champion and producing contenders in that same division, then the coaches should be proud of that and pat themselves on the back because they're really creating a dynasty, so that's the way I take it.
I don't believe in ring rust. I used to believe in ring rust, but I talked to my buddy Dominic Cruz, who's a bantamweight, and he basically said it's a mindset. What you do in between in your time off determines how you're going to look when you come in there.
We had some rough times in TNA. We had some pay issues, and this and that, they were some other issues. But at that time, we were working harder than we ever worked. Even though, you know, we were being paid late and all, we worked harder than we worked before.
That's one of the reasons I retired. To stick around, the way I was fighting, I would have to start playing it safe. I went out on my shield. That's the way I liked it. I fought that way my whole career. I don't want to bore people my last three or four fights.
I'm honored to be one of the guys that is seen as a leader of this great team - a team that has stood the test of time. AKA is one of the only teams that has been around since the beginning of the MMA explosion, and it's a huge honor for me to be named captain.
I grew up originally in Rochester. It was where I was born and a very tough neighbourhood with a lot of violence. I consider myself lucky. When I was aged 11, in 1998, Dad moved us to a suburban area from what was a ghetto area. It gave me a chance of survival.
I never got into MMA to be famous, I got into it to compete and pursue athletic aspirations. They were my pure intentions. I came from a true sport, an Olympic background, winning multiple national, international and Olympic medals. So I entered MMA as a sport.
I was always pushed to do that much more, and in the long run that made me more of an MMA fighter. My mom always told me that if I let it go to the judges, I'd lost. There was no way I was going to win a decision, so I had to find ways to finish the fight fast.
I would never discredit the sport or my opponent by reading my injury list before or after the fight. I've always thought it's a very underhanded thing to do, and it's a very cowardly thing to do, to come out and say, 'I'm hurt,' particularly if you win a fight.
I was supposed to fight a guy back in the day. He didn't shower, specifically to throw off his opponents. Thank God I got injured, and I couldn't fight the fight. I was so worried about it. I was like, 'Oh my God - I heard about this guy.' It was the worst ever.
My parents moved around Stockton and Lodi. I had a lot of anxiety about jumping into another classroom. They were always putting me in special ed. But I was smart; I wasn't like these kids in the special-ed classes. But it would make me feel a little bit stupid.
If I could have had everything exactly the way I wanted, this is how I would have written it down. Win all my fights in the first round, then go to the UFC and headline a show, and have it as a pay-per-view and at home. People's dreams don't come true like that.
What's on my playlist when I'm fighting is not so much hip-hop. Sometimes, it's something more inspirational. I get a chance to think about what I'm fighting for, like, my family. It takes me to that state because a lot of times, it's a spiritual warfare for me.
Even though I was painted, even though I had on seven layers of paint - to the point that I got a tan, it was as thick as a fabric - I think I felt the most naked because I couldn't cover myself at all. I didn't have to, so I had to be much more open and relaxed.
Just know on the inside that you won't quit. That's it. There is nothing else. Shakespeare said, 'To thine own self be true'. I don't know what the @*$% he meant by that, but just don't quit on yourself. It's worth it. The juice is worth the squeeze. I assure you.
I've always mid-lined myself where I don't really expect myself to do big things or to win big fights. It's not a lack of confidence, it's just that I think to an extent that you need a bit of an ego if you're going to think that you're going to conquer something.
You can have a whole warehouse full of weapons, but if someone attacks you need to get that weapon fast. If you have to run to the warehouse and look around, you're going to get killed. You're better off with a little backpack of weapons instead of that warehouse.
My family's lineage, we are warriors. The McGregor clan, we are warriors all through. We are famous all through the world for our fighting capabilities of all generations. So I have no doubt that's stood to me and that led me down this path and gave me what I have.
Working at the hospital, there was a lot of starchy food. I was in good with the lunch lady, so she would hook me up with all kinds of macaroni and cheese and potatoes and that kind of food. I would eat it all night to the part where I hated food. I got pretty big.
If I don't have the drive and determination to wake up every day and train with young, hungry fighters, if I don't want to do that, then I need to get out of the game, but as long as my body says I'm all right, and my hunger stays the same, I'm going to keep going.
No one ever wants fight of the night. Every fight I've gone in, I want knockout of the night. I want to be in and out quick. Sometimes, these guys just have a lot of grit - they're highly trained, and I just can't get them out of there, so I get fight of the night.
It takes a lot of discipline to become and stay champion. It also takes a lot of discipline to stop while still feeling that you're in the best physical and mental shape of your life, but I've always planned to leave the sport when I'm at the top and in good health.
I'm truly excited to be a part of the Reebok family. What really comes through when working with Reebok team is that they live and breathe fitness. They have an incredible heritage in training and know exactly what it takes to help athletes be as fit as they can be.
Muhammad Ali was hated, and then he was loved at the very end. Floyd Mayweather was hated, and a lot of people are really coming around on him. So, I'm just trying to stay positive and try not to offend too many people along the way and hope for the best end result.
If you truly care about animal rights and have a passion for it, take some action. Whether it's hands-on or political, just go for it. No matter what path you choose in life or what you decide to do, you can use your voice to educate other people and help the cause.
I don't really think about the title, to be honest with you. I'm just going to go in there and fight. I'm a proud champion, but at the same time I'm not really fighting for the belt. I'm fighting because I love to fight and don't wanna lose and I don't like to lose.
I'm always interested in furthering our sport. Like, I would love to be a correspondent newsperson, somebody who informs the fans a little bit more and able to bring a little more closure to our sport where it's more of a black and white as opposed to the gray area.
Everybody gives Trump an extremely bad rap. He's a businessman, so he is not trying to rub your back and tell you everything is going to be OK. He is going to set standards and, when everything is in chaos, you need someone who is willing to do what needs to be done.
I really didn't know If I wanted to pursue the Olympics for wrestling. I didn't know what to do with my life. So, I prayed about it. My manager called me a few weeks later and asked if I wanted to fight. I agreed to give it a shot, and I went out and got knocked out.