Everyone knows that getting punched in the head is not good for your health, so you're trying to minimise that risk as much as possible in a fight and in the gym, but it's something that we've been mitigating the risks of for a very long time.
We could fight in a car park, if I'm being honest. We could fight in the car park, we could fight on the roof, we could fight underwater - I don't care. As long as I get my hands on Dustin Poirier I'm a happy man.
Once you are in the UFC you're far, far from finished; you're kind of just starting the journey of a fighter.
When you're not in the UFC, you think getting into the UFC is everything.
The UFC pay me my money because they know I'll go out there and fight for it.
A career's not one or two years. It's your career - once you finish you want to be set up for life, you don't want to go back and have to start again somewhere else.
I don't go out there to win rounds. I'm going out there and I'm setting up a finish.
Whether I'm winning, whether I'm losing, I'm setting up a finish.
The day you stop evolving in this sport is a very bad day.
You can look at mixed martial arts and you can look at the way the teams and the best gyms in the world approach it. That's something that's constantly in evolution, that's constantly in motion.
Nothing is infinite in this sport, it's constantly in flow and in motion, so you have to keep up with the time.
I want to be a contender, I want to be competing against guys at the top, I want to fight the prospects, I want to fight the guys that people don't want to fight, that's what motivates me to do this sport, not big money and things like that.
I know everyone has weaknesses, I know everyone's human.
It's a very natural thing for me to just get in there and fight... I don't have to motivate myself for a fist-fight - that's just something I enjoy doing.
I am good everywhere; I can pick and choose the tools on the day, or even adjust during the fight.
I'm closer to middleweight than I am to featherweight.
You run back and you look at who I've fought, you just look at the division and ask yourself, 'Who don't people want to fight?' That's who I'll probably end up fighting.
New Zealand's got so much more talent to showcase.
There's so many positive things that you can take from training martial arts, not only fitness-wise but it's also mentally challenging.
I've grown as a fighter in the UFC I don't think like anyone else.
I look at Gaethje, I look at Poirier, I look at Ferguson and I look at Khabib. I watch their fights, I see their skill, I respect their skill entirely. But I can see ways around it and I can see ways that I get it done against those guys.
It is quite overwhelming when you are a kickboxing student and you get taken to, say, a jiu jitsu class and are being taught something completely different.
I'm not here to have the veteran vs. veteran fights. I'm here to be the best.
I'm here to challenge myself against the best guys in the world.
I want to fight title contenders. That's what I'm here for, that's what gets me out of bed in the morning is trying to be the best.
I want to stay active. I want to fight and understands how this sport works.
I certainly don't have a time machine. I think Floyd Mayweather has a time machine. If anyone has a time machine, Floyd Mayweather has a time machine. I do not have a time machine.
You're always frustrated after a loss.
No one has a good chin. That's a myth.
Saying I don't look like a fighter - what does a fighter look like? I don't know.
If I have drama with a guy or I actually dislike someone, I have no problem sorting it out. I have no problem getting into conflict about it.
I enjoy conflict. It's what I like to do, physical conflict. I like confrontations. I'm not going to create something though. That's fake.
I'm not creating anything, I'm not trying to put on a persona. It's just not who I am.
I don't feel like Dustin can take a shot as well as Paul Felder can. From watching the tape of both of those fighters, I don't think Poirier has the chin Felder does.
I feel like pressuring me, taking a shot, giving it, taking a shot, giving a shot is just not the way to best approach it.
If I had to fight Sean Strickland or Rob Whittaker, I will fight Sean Strickland.
I feel like featherweight is the weight class that I can really thrive at and it's a weight class where I can really capitalize on all of my advantages.
Head and shoulders, the No. 1 guy that I would love to get in there with would be 'The Korean Zombie.' I would love throw down with 'The Zombie.'
If I could fight any lightweight on the face of the planet, it would be Khabib. I want to see how I measure up with him.
I'm a guy that's not ever been scared to put myself in terrible positions or bad positions in a training environment.
I don't want to live off the credit of taking fights. I want to life off the credit of beating the best guys in the world.
I show up on weight as a respect for my opponent, as a respect for my gym, as a respect for representing who I represent. It's a sign of respect to the fans, it's a sign of respect to the promotion.
I'm not that easy to rile up.
That's the real motivating factor to go down to featherweight, is that I didn't want to tread water at lightweight. You want to be a world champion. That's your goal, so you want to get there as quickly as you possibly can.
Advancements in the science around weight cutting have really developed.
To worry about a maybe in the sport of maybes is a difficult thing. It's kind of distracting and sidetracking.
To say that I'm unwilling to fight a wrestler, that's just silly. If you think that, you're kind of kidding yourself.
I'm 6-foot with a vicious hook.