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.
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.
That’s what really gets me going, thinking about my past. I think about all the tough times and bad times I’ve had in my life and I bring all that into the Octagon. That’s only because it’s hard going in there trying to fight someone who didn’t do anything to you.
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.
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’ve been in that situation three or four times before where I’m losing the fight – the fight seems almost over with – and I knew I had to finish him and stop playing possum as much.
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 think Cormier is gonna come out and try to wrestle me, try to get me tired, and try to push the pace. I know he might not say that I’m on his level but I think I am and he thinking that I’m not, really.
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.
