My whole life, I've been training for something, whether it be baseball or football or wrestling or martial arts.
It's a very complex sport, so judging is going to be very complex, too. And not everyone is going to agree all the time on who wins a fight.
A lot of people are blowing Shogun's fight with Mark Coleman out of proportion. He was coming off an injury, and he gassed early on in his first fight back.
Everyone is on a fair playing field. It's safer for athletes, it's safer for the fighters - it's just a safer thing for fighters. So I think the USADA thing is good.
It's one of those things: I'm never gonna get over not fighting, I don't think, but I'm content with my decision to retire.
That's one of the reasons I retired. To stick around, the way I was fighting, I would have to start playing it safe. I went out on my shield. That's the way I liked it. I fought that way my whole career. I don't want to bore people my last three or four fights.
I'm probably not going to be popular with the fighters with this one, but my biggest problem is guys playing it safe. I understand it from a coach's standpoint and a manager's standpoint. I understand why you'd want to play it safe and want to win the fight, win every fight. I get it.
My first contract I was offered by the UFC, or my second contract, it was 1-and-1, 2-and-2, 3-and-3. That's $12,000 for the year. Don't complain to me about fighter pay. It was $12,000 for a year, and it was exclusive.
People got to understand, the fighters at the top are the fighters that are supposed to get paid because they're the guys that are bringing people in, bringing eyes to the TV, getting pay-per-views buys, and putting people in the seats. I mean, that's what it comes down to.
Everybody doesn't want to hurt to lower guys from getting paid, but it comes down to, it's a performance-based business. You get good, you win, then you get paid.
Anderson Silva is a tough guy, man. He's dangerous. He's got heavy hands, and he's not afraid to throw them. He's a dangerous opponent for anyone.
I don't think the itch to fight has ever left me, ever. I mean, I got paid to do what I love for a living, and I got paid very well to do it. So that's going to always be there. That's always going to be like, 'Man, I wouldn't mind getting out there again.'
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.
Everyone says I drive like my grandfather, but that's not always a good thing because he didn't always watch the road because he'd talk to you and look at you. He was a deputy sheriff, a cop, for a long time. So he was always looking around, checking out other things, other than what's directly in front of him.
I drove the Ford Ranger until probably five years after college, till about 2001, when I was almost 30.
I hate hearing in a UFC corner, 'You won the first four rounds; just stay away from him this round.'
I've got a family, and I get to enjoy my family, and I get to do different things, trying the movie thing a little bit.
I've been on a lot of shows that I like, doing guest appearances and little things. I'm just trying to have fun with being retired.
I tell the guys all the time, 'if you have a good puncher, all the way in or all the way out.' Don't stay there and box.
I think the reasons I retired stay the same. I don't want to change my style. I can't take a punch like I used to for whatever reason. I've heard all sorts of theories as to why that would happen, but I can't do it.
My style of fighting is to go down and trying to finish the guy and trying to end fights, not laying up because I'm winning the fight, just keep going after it.
Having 'The Ultimate Fighter' was the thing that did it for us, live fighting on TV. That's what we had to do, was get a live fight on TV. It couldn't have worked out better.
I'll take what I can get when I go high with a hook, but the side of the head makes a big target, especially if his hands are down.