“Of course I am tough, but I am smart, too. I’m more smart than tough. People watching my record and say that this guy is tough. This is not about tough; this is about mind. You think when you fight. This is about everything.”

Next fight? If the UFC tell me, ‘What do you want?’ I’m going to say Tony Ferguson.

My best background is, like, smash opponents. I all the time go forward. I all the time try to take down somebody. Make him give up. This is my style, you know. This is what I do all my life.

When I fought with Michael Johnson, when I took his arm for the kimura, I can break it, but I go very slowly, be careful, because I don’t want to give him injury.

I never have a problem with the weight cut. My number one enemy is injuries because I train so hard.

I train, eat, sleep, and repeat.

My style is not like anyone’s. I’m not a typical wrestler.

They’re all fake belts. To be honest, I think real belt is Tony Ferguson’s.

I think about only me.

You have to punch hard for knockouts, and to beat me, you have to knock me out.

Where is Conor? He wanna fight with a bus. I want to fight with a real gangster. Iaquinta, thank you so much.

I don’t fight for the money. I fight for my legacy. I fight for history. I fight for my people.

I never fight for the money, but every person is different.

I don’t think about, ‘Oh, I’m finally getting my respect,’ because I don’t care about this.

I care about my legacy.

I don’t think I’m a bad guy from Dagestan. I think I’m a good guy from Dagestan. But for my opponents, for sure, I’m a bad guy because when I go to the cage every time, I smash my opponents.

Give me 30 minutes rest, little drink of water. Give me 30 minutes, and I can fight with anybody.

There’s nothing like being young, and happy, and fighting.

The man who fights for his fellow-man is a better man than the one who fights for himself.

To fight, you must be brutal and ruthless, and the spirit of ruthless brutality will enter into the very fibre of national life.

I have lived my life, and I have fought my battles, not against the weak and the poor – anybody can do that – but against power, against injustice, against oppression, and I have asked no odds from them, and I never shall.

Why do men fight for their servitude as stubbornly as though it were their salvation?

It don’t matter if I got a broke hand, got a torn muscle: I’m going to fight like heavyweight champions do.

I got in a fight one time with a really big guy, and he said, “I’m going to mop the floor with your face.” I said, “You’ll be sorry.” He said, “Oh, yeah? Why?” I said, “Well, how are you going to get into the corners?”

A little fight in you. I like that.