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
If you look at my career, it's been nothing but consistency.
In MMA, you can literally cheat over and over again, and it's OK. The media will back you.
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.
I know what I'm capable of when I'm prepared and dialed in.
I'm a dangerous guy.
It's not an excuse, but I'd say I didn't perform well in the big fights because I wasn't prepared properly.
I miss my family so much, my kids are everything to me.
I don't think Anderson Silva is less of a fighter.
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.
Every fight, I train for the opponent very hard and smart.
My striking is on a different 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.
Everybody at middleweight has been working hard to be a champion.
I don't think too many guys are raising their hands trying to fight me.
Obviously, you've got to go out there and focus on each fight before moving onto the next one.
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 don't know if anybody can sign a contract to fight me and feel confident that they can beat me.
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.
Middleweight is the best division in the UFC, in MMA in my opinion.
I always watch Anderson Silva and I always watch his fighting style.
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.
My motto has always been hard work.
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 grew up watching Anderson. He was my favorite fighter.
MMA in my opinion is the hardest sport in the world, no doubt.
Anderson knees people in the face from the clinch. That guy is a world class Muay Thai fighter.
Fighting Anderson Silva was a signature and career-defining moment that was stolen from me.
I haven't been given a lot of respect in the division. But you know what? I'm OK with earning it.
I'm a straight animal.
I fell in love with the knockout. I was in a relationship with the knockout.
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.
Guys lose. You learn from it and move on.
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 used to cheerlead back in high school.
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.
Nobody has seen my jiu-jitsu, but I have really good jiu-jitsu. I submit black belts.