The only reason I want to climb up the rankings – beating the champion and beating guys in the top five – those are the guys that get the endorsements and get the most money and get paid the most. That’s the only reason why.
A lot of people said I would never make it, and this and that, I’d never be a top 10 fighter, that I’d never fight for a title. Just stuff like that. Achieving all those goals and being the person that I am, this is going against everything everyone said I couldn’t do.
I just believe that my heart is the best in the sport. And I believe that’s what carried me through my whole career. Not my talent or my power or anything like that. I just believe my heart.
The one thing about me, if it is a 15-minute fight, I’m fighting every one of them 15 minutes. And if it’s a 25-minute fight, I’ll be fighting all 25 until the bell rings.
I wanted to start in boxing, but you have to train a little harder to be a boxer. A lot of those guys can take punches. MMA, you only have to hit someone so hard to knock them out.
It’s like I say all the time, it’s the heavyweight division. It doesn’t matter if the guys a black belt or if he’s a world-class boxer. We still have a 50-50 chance.
