This sport is growing. It's about patience, rather than getting caught up in five in a row, want a title shot, main event. The goal is to put on a great fight and be smart.Collection: Patience
Sports are sometimes unforgiving, and it is what it is. Take my fight with Jacare. I had the flu and I went to the doctor and I had to get nursed back. I didn't train for like 10 days and I fought four or five days later.
It's not an excuse, but I'd say I didn't perform well in the big fights because I wasn't prepared properly.
When you're talking mixed martial arts, to have a win over a guy who is by many considered the greatest of all time, is definitely going to take your career to the next level.
Jacare, he has power. We're two strong guys. He relies on being aggressive and coming forward. He looks to get the takedown. He's punching and he's shooting. I've never been taken down in a fight. Now, I'm not disregarding that I could be taken down, but I just know that I have a little bit more when it comes to giving up takedowns.
Lyoto is never going to lose his skills. He might lose his timing, speed, cardio, but he'll never lose his skills.
Strikeforce let me take a fight on short notice outside the promotion and I got robbed on a split decision against Kendall Grove. I easily won that fight. So, I went from 9-0 to getting robbed and suffering my first loss.
I match up against everybody well. I just have to stay consistent and keep going out there winning fights.
Pass-rushers with boxing or kickboxing go hand-in-hand. You've got to have fast, sharp hands and be straight down the middle, because linemen are coming off and you have to be able to pop their hands down.
I know, every fighter knows, you've got to pile up wins in a row. You can't lose two in a row, three in a row and then you hear mentions of losing your job.
I'm a wrestler, a very polished wrestler and some of my best attributes in wrestling are my scrambling ability and my clinch.
I'm going out there as I do in every fight to put guys away but I'm going to do it in a smart fashion.
I'd say I just fell in love with trying to knock people out really quick instead of letting the fight develop.
The quick knockouts are nice, but going through a war now and again is a good experience to know I've done it.
My fight against Chris Leben was a war, and I was fulfilled with that victory because that guy has a ton of experience fighting in the UFC.
There are a lot of guys getting popped for steroids and other PEDS, and I can honestly say I've never taken a PED in my life. I've never even thought about it.
I'm down to fight anybody that's going to move me up and help my career and get me closer to that title shot.
I expect the best Anderson Silva. I don't think he'll toy with me like he toyed with other guys, I can explode in and touch his chin, and all it takes is one shot.
Romero, I was beating him two rounds to zero, I was dominating the whole fight. He was able to catch me with a punch with about a minute left. If I would have just danced around for a minute, I would have got that win.
So I've definitely had a crazy career, but I'm starting to put it together and starting to take my time and know that I can really do some damage if I just slow down just a little bit.
I'm always looking for those knockouts but I'm looking to do it in a better fashion. Not rushing, not blitzing, not putting myself at risk. Not just being too greedy.
I look at a lot of my fights and I'm like, 'man, that was too greedy.' I can even look back on my fights, even the good ones where I got the knockouts, and think, 'I should have probably toned it down a little bit.'
I came into MMA and I had a strong core and a lot flexibility. I could put myself in a lot of different positions when it comes to scrambling.
MMA is a sport. We go out here and we do battle. Everybody has family, friends, they train really hard.
And honestly, I'm not being cocky, I'm not talking trash, but anybody who beat me would have to get lucky. Nobody is just going to out-technique me.