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I put myself in a position where I made wrestling an option for me. I don't have to wrestle. I don't have to take another shot for the rest of my life if I don't want to. I have good enough hands, good enough boxing, good enough timing to strike with anybody in our division.
Every injury is specific to what has happened, but the advice that I will give is that if you have a lower body injury, to work your upper body out. If you have an upper body injury, work your lower body out. Again, move what is not broken and you will definitely feel better.
If you want to be a proud person, then you want to avenge your loss. For me it was [Josean] Serra and [Joe] Hughes, and for Michael Bisping, Henderson is one of his losses - one of his most painful losses. So I understand why he wants to avenge it. As an athlete I understand.
Meditation plays a big role in my life. Meditation fortifies my spirit, improves my focus, my desire. When I fight I try to empty my mind. It's called Mushin. When I don't see anything around me, I only see that moment. Nothing else matters. that was how I was taught to live.
I think overall body awareness and knowing exactly where I need to be makes a big difference. Knowing how much weight to put on each foot or where I need to put my hands are things I'm very good at. Obviously with the wrestling background those are things that come naturally.
'Dancing with the Stars' was a really great experience. People were definitely surprised that I'm a fighter, or they couldn't believe I'm a professional fighter, but I feel like I'm going to get that for a while. I'm excited to bring a new demographic over to MMA and the UFC.
When I started and first got to the MMA gym the guys would start and say, 'You're like the All-American kid.' It was because, I don't know, I go to church every Sunday, I got married young and I've always been an All-American in college having gone All-American all four years.
There's times where you get the loud, crazy comments from me, and there's times where I say basic things, and stay quiet because I don't want to cause any drama. Sometimes I'm in the mood where I'm just going to tell it how it is, and have fun. And whoever doesn't like it, OK.
Everybody's got a puncher's chance in this game. I mean every single person on Earth. But my whole focus, my whole style, my whole dynamic is built around taking that power away from you. So where is the logic in why you're different from anybody else? There is no logic in it.
I have a tremendous support from a lot of the Underground fans. They believe in me, they want to see me do well, and they're behind me. But there are a lot of people out there who don't believe it, and so I want to separate perception and reality. I want to be able to do that.
I have this creative mind where I can create a lot of different things, but a lot of people never really gave me the chance and opportunity to do that because when they see me, they just see this dumb fighter that fights in the cage and howls like a wolf and knocks people out.
See, for some reason, I feel like it's a victory if I wake up one minute before the alarm. It's like I'm in a contest with myself, with my foot kicking around until it wakes up the rest of my body. It's the stupidest thing. But it makes me feel like I've already won something.
I think the problem people get into is they want to go into the gym and look at other people's workouts, or they want to lift what other people are lifting. I started out really small. I actually did a lot of research, and I learned all about working out. So take gradual steps.
The Latino people in the U.S. and the Mexicans in Mexico need a UFC champion. We have a rich tradition in boxing, and to not have a Mexican heavyweight champion is unheard of. We need it. I'm glad I'm able to be in a position to give them that champion they so desperately want.
Every fight day, I just stay in my room the entire day, and I just stay in bed. I sleep as late as I can, which usually isn't very late; I'm kind of an early riser. But I try to just stay there in bed. I don't usually eat the day of the fight. I don't eat until after the fight.
You have two choices: You can take what you're given or build with what you've got. I choose to build with what I've got and try to make the best of it because I've still been given a stage. I've still got cameras in front of my face when I want them, and I plan to run with it.
A lot of time I fight guys and after a few rounds, they accept my dominance. They aren't fighting to win anymore. They're fighting to not lose. I've seen it many times. It's very hard for me to finish a guy like this. He doesn't want to get hurt. It's normal. It's human nature.
I just think that with my wrestling background there's not going to be any doubt in my mind that if I have to go through a three round war that in the third round I'm gonna be more fresh, more tenacious, I'm gonna want that win more than anybody else I'm going to have to fight.
Make sure you are doing something you love to do when working out. Nobody likes to work, so when you do choose a workout, make it something you enjoy doing. You won't stick with it if you hate it and if it feels like work. Find something fun. My favorite thing to do is Jujitsu.
Take Wanderlei Silva, everybody knows we don't like each other, but if he's fighting I'm going to watch because he's a very exciting fighter. I'm a Wanderlei Silva fan, but Sonnen, I don't know why people watch him. They probably watch him to hear his interview after his fight.
The true game of mixed martial arts is putting your wrestling in there, putting your striking in there, but also being deceiving - hiding behind your punches if you're wrestling and hiding behind your wrestling if you're punching. It's just a matter of blending it all together.
I was very much a student of the sport. I wanted to know everything, all the moves. It was the coolest thing I had seen. I started winning matches. Dads didn't want their sons to face a girl. Coaches didn't want to put any of their wrestlers up against me to be beaten by a girl.
I'm a God-fearing man, go to church every Sunday, and have since I was a boy. But if I ever found out that God cared one way or another about a borderline illegal fist-fight on Saturday night, I would be so greatly disappointed that it would make rethink my entire belief system.
I hit adversity when I was at the top of the world. Most people hit adversity when they're just at the beginning, when they're just getting started. I hit it when everybody was watching, and everybody had comments and everybody was doubting me. It was a tough situation to be in.
Financially, I've done very well doing what I do. I've got plenty of money in the bank. I've got gigs with FOX doing analyst work, media work. The UFC has been very kind to me. Ultimately, however, I want to be world champion. I have to achieve that to validate my entire career.
I don't want to say I was a big Shinya Aoki fan, but it's just that I felt like he got out and was able to do a lot of the tricks that I like to do before I was able to do them. I guess you can say, a little bit jealous in a way that he was making that sort of show before I was.
I'm based in Stockholm and I train at Nexus Fighter Centre, it's my club and my head coach Andreas Michael but for two weeks now I went to Vegas to train with Team Alliance with coach Eric Del Fierro, Phil Davis and top level guys. I had top level sparring so I'm more than ready.
I was in all the Pay Per Views and all the house shows, and I thought I made a pretty good impact and helped change pro wrestling - not by myself, but definitely, I was a part of it in the Attitude Era. There is no recognition towards me or about me, and I'm kind of disappointed.
You can't tell me to stop being me. As long as there's something out there for me, or somebody offers me something that's reasonable, people that I want to fight, not just anybody, it's gotta make sense... but as long as those fights come around, I will continue to keep being me.
In the Buddhist tradition, where mindful meditation comes from, anger is regarded as a somewhat unhealthy,unskillful emotion because we can be blinded by it. We don't see clearly and tend to do things and say things that are harmful out of the anger because we don't have clarity.
I remember when I fought Kevin Randleman, I was so wary about him taking me down, I figured it if he takes me down, was going to be so hard for me to get back up because he's just so good at ground and pound and keeping you on your back and it takes so much energy to get back up.
Jiu-Jitsu is the bond or styles all between all the other styles. Take Jiu-Jitsu out, a boxer is just a boxer, a kickboxer is just a kickboxer. Take Jiu-Jitsu out of the wrestling - what is he going to do, take the person down and? There's no finishing holds, there's no striking.
When Scott Coker first mentioned to me that Ken Shamrock wanted to fight I said, 'Thank you.' I played a little hard to get, but for sure I knew we had to do the third fight with Ken; there was no doubt. He still insisted on fighting me. I guess the guy cannot sleep for 22 years.
For me, boxing's like checkers, and MMA's like chess - there are so many ways to win the match. It's not barbaric; it's boxing, kickboxing, Jiu-Jitsu, wrestling, cardio and it's all reached such an amazing level. As fans learn more about the sport, they just fall in love with it.
I have had people that I was doing some promotion stuff with go, 'You know, we had an idea. We should have, like, a legends fight.' It's always that. That conversation always comes up when we're talking about doing some promotion for a company or helping them promote their league.
He puts on a great show every time he fights, so I enjoy seeing Mark Hunt fighting, and I'm glad he's still fighting; he's 44 and still fighting in a high performance, so it's good to see someone like this always putting on a great show and giving us, MMA fans, these great fights.
Some people are born for a certain thing. And for me, unfortunately, I wish it was something a bit more artistic or whatever, but I was a born fighter. That's what kept me coming back. It makes me feel alive. And, I just know, there is nothing I do better in this world than fight.
I don't fight for my legacy or for the glory or anything like that. The feedback from the fans is nice, don't get me wrong; it's a good feeling having them - you on their side. But I'm motivated by making a good living for my family, and that's what made me get serious about this.
You don't want to be in a fight of the year. It takes years off your life. But, it's why fans tune in; it's why people gravitate toward your fights. It's why people want to watch you fight. It's important to get into them, but it's important to try not to get into too many of them.
Machida Karate is for real combat. Other karate may be not for real combat because there are many rules for the competition, and a lot of the rules aren't good for real combat - you can't do some takedowns, you can't finish the fight on the ground. Machida Karate is very different.
You see it from my area, from any area, really, so many who want to be great and have the drive, but don't have the resources. I'm very blessed that I have a family that was financially stable enough to get me to tournaments and camps and to practices so I could wrestle year-round.
I think the reason why people have trouble fighting me is because I don't come from a specific background, and they can't prepare to fight me. I come in, and I push the pace, and I think that pushes a lot of people off their game, as much as I push the pace through the whole fight.
Boxer guys are very tough and they play a very tough game, but its a game. Karate guys, tae kwon doe guys, kickboxers or judo guys, they are very tough guys and a lot of heart and a lot of training, but its very specifically as a sport. It's not a fight. A fight is everything goes.
I was in Las Vegas when the Nogueira brothers first touched down in America. There was a bus - this is a true story. There was a bus that pulled up to a red light, and Little Nog tried to feed it a carrot while Big Nog was petting it. He thought it was a horse. This really happened.
I feel like a lot of my fans hold high expectations of me when it comes to inside the Octagon - not so much outside of the Octagon - but I feel like most of my performances are pretty dominant, so I don't feel like I have the luxury to not perform in an extremely impressive fashion.
I was an angry young man, as you say. I was a punk rocker, blaming the government, corporations, and anything external, like my family, for my anger. I was pretty miserable, festering in my own mind. I began to think, there has to be a different way, there has to be another way out.
For me, I've been known as a very well-rounded fighter, and I think that's really important, that you're well rounded and comfortable in every situation that a fight can go. A lot of people focus on just one discipline, and when they get out of that, they're in a difficult position.
If you grow up with a wrestling coach, you learn differently. If you were late, everything was about push-ups and laps around the gym. I once said, 'Am I on a wrestling team or a damn track team?' That resulted in me running for the entire practice. It gives you a certain mentality.
As a 6'5' guy, the suit fit is extremely important. Getting a suit made for my body means it will fit in all the right places. For me, I look for a suit that fits well in the arms and shoulders and allows me to move... after all, I'm a fighter, so it needs to give me room to breathe.
I would train with a gay man. As long as he respected me, it's all right. I don't think much of it. The fact that a guy is gay doesn't mean he's going to accost you. He can be gay, have a relationship, live among guys who aren't gay. He can do whatever he wants with his private life.