“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.”

You’ve really got to stay ready 24/7. You really can’t get ready because there’s no telling. They’ll call you short notice to fight anyone so you really have to stay ready.

If I’m the champion, the whole UFC division should be ashamed of themselves for a guy that had no damn skills being the champion. They should all just go relocate somewhere.

I tell people all the time that it would be good if they forget about me next week, that they don’t even mention my name anymore.

You’ve got to try to find some type of mental edge on your opponent.

I throw so hard because I sit and wait for that perfect moment.

I just really want to put the past behind me, because it makes me angry thinking about it. But it’s also the reason I’ve made it this far in my career. It’s like, built up in me. It’s what I think about when I fight. My childhood.

You have 20 fights, you should know what it takes to get yourself ready. If you don’t feel like you’re ready, you let your coach know ‘hey we need to work on a little bit more of this.’

I believe I get the belt then I’ll get the money. I’m not trying to be the best fighter in the world. It’s all about the cheddar.

My goal is just to make as much money as I can in the sport, and that’s it.

The guys in the top five, they’re good everywhere. Me, I’m just almost one-dimensional.

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.

I’ve been in deep waters a bunch of times in my fights.

You eat salad and you’re hungry the next 30 minutes and you’re hungrier from when you ate the damn salad.

I speak my mind too much, and the UFC probably don’t really like that. But I really don’t care.

I just feel that all the top fighters in the world are making all the money.

This heavyweight division, it takes just one punch for anyone. It doesn’t matter how hard you train or what.

Hunger is the best sauce in the world.

Now, I am perfectly willing to just enjoy my career by choosing roles simply because I consider them to be a challenge and doing the best possible job I can.

I have lost my seven best friends, which is to say God has had mercy on me seven times without realizing it. He lent a friendship, took it from me, sent me another.

In the end, the best way to succeed is to go small. And when you go small, you say no – a lot. A lot more than you might have even considered before.

Becoming the best version of yourself requires you to continuously edit your beliefs, and to upgrade and expand your identity.

The goal is not to simply eliminate the bad, which does nothing more than leave you with a vacuum, but to pursue and experience the best in the world.

You can either be angry for what you don’t have or thankful for what you do have. Do your best and God will do the rest.

Optimism is my best defense.