My dad would take me to judo a few times a week. I got all these things that I was able to do once we were set up in Holland. Everything was taken care of. I think Holland is a country that takes care of their people - one of the best countries in the world.Collection: Dad
I've been working on wrestling aside from MMA. That is something that I wasn't doing in the past so I'm getting more confident in my wrestling. I learned that I didn't know a lot about takedowns, it's a really big gap and I'm catching up and learning a lot.
I like fighting in America.
I have great people around me, I have great training partners, and I think if you really want something you work for it and you get it.
It's just a personal challenge, I'd like to see how I can do as a boxer.
I was champion in Dream at middleweight, I'm champion in Strikeforce at light heavyweight, and my final goal is to be heavyweight champion of the world.
A wrestler will always be a wrestler, and they will always go back to the basics.
People can't always judge by the records. Maybe a guy has 11 wins in MMA but he's fought the best. Someone else has 11 wins but he's fought nobody. It's a difficult sport because someone can be a champion in four fights, look at Brock Lesnar. So records don't always mean a lot.
Getting in the cage, it's not like I need a whole mental preparation for it. It's just a fight.
A fight is a fight. You can have any style.
For a wrestler, I think it is much better to fight in the ring than in the cage. The cage has more advantage for the stand up fighter.
I like Vitor Belfort. He's a nice guy and I have nothing against him.
I have no doubt in my abilities that I can beat any of the top ten guys. Once I'm focused I know I can beat them.
Some good fighters, they never won the belt, so it doesn't always show the whole picture. But it's an accomplishment.
I have fights where I thought I'm going to destroy the guy and then I had a very tough fight, I had fights where the guy's a big name and I win in the first minute.
I respect all my opponents and they do the same thing that I do to get ready for fights.
People always say I'm a bad loser.
I fought a long time ago in Canada, I fought a Croatian guy, I don't remember his name, but there I had a size advantage. At the end, I explained to him about cutting weight. He didn't know about weight-cutting, so I explained to him, and I was bigger than him at that time.
I think as I get older, I'm going to look for the fun fights.
I've trained with Douglas Lima, he's a tough kid, but I could feel the weight difference.
I feel like I'm one of the strong middleweights, physically.
When I was barely 21, I was making my Pride debut. That was at the beginning of my career.
I want to be healthy when I quit, and I want to quit while I'm on my top. A lot of fighters continue because probably they need the money. My goal was invest, get out of the game healthy and secure. I feel like that's a real champion. Not someone who gave it all in the ring, and then at the end of his life, they don't have anything.
I can't put on an act, so I try to be one of the best fighters so at least I get paid. Let's say Michael Bisping, he wasn't that great. He was losing, winning, but he was making a lot of money, and that was because he was outspoken and from the U.K. But not everyone can be like that. So, I tried to be the best I could.
With the UFC it's like, you make okay money, and only if you're the champion do you make good money. So they're keeping the fighters deliberately poor so they'll keep fighting.
I would beat Michael Bisping. I would jab his face the whole night. Easy.
Maybe I lose my fights because I don't fight smart.
Maybe I'm not the best fighter, but I'm always going to fight, no matter who it is.
People ask me questions, they ask me if I can beat Michael Bisping. Of course I can beat Michael Bisping.
If I would fight Michael Bisping, I would be the favorite. Everybody knows that.
Not being able to train or fight for a long time is not going to make you a better fighter.
You're going to lose eventually. It doesn't matter who you are.
I believe that style-wise, matchup-wise, I matchup much better against Anderson Silva than Jon Jones, but it doesn't mean that I'm scared to fight at 205.
I fought K-1 at heavyweight.
Even if I win the belt, I'm going to be underrated. It is what is it.
I see some fighters lose very badly, but still they get more praise or they're not overrated. They're just good fighters in a lot of people's eyes. But I feel like one loss with King Mo, it made me a very bad fighter somehow.
I feel like I have a lot of potential, and I feel like I can beat anybody.
Derek Brunson's stand up is horrible, I'm sorry. The guy is a good fighter but his stand up is just terrible. He's an amateur fighter stand up wise.
I'd rather fight somebody in the top five rather than somebody in the top 15, but I'll fight anybody.
Luke Rockhold's not going to take me down. Chris Weidman's not going to take me down. Their wrestling is great, but they have to set it up with strikes.
The truth hurts. It hurts to some people.
I have a lot of nicknames. They called me Kingo in Japan, they called me the Young Vagabond, but that sounds bad, then Soldier of Fortune, now they call me the Dream Catcher.
I was born in Iran, my parents are Armenian. We fled from Iran to the Netherlands when I was eight years old. We had a lot of family and friends in Iran, so it was hard to leave, especially for my parents. But we managed to settle well in the Netherlands, after a year in refugee camps. But I understood it was a process.
I made my money with good investments, I'm going to make maybe $1 million a year just with my real estate.
I think with fighting you have to have a desire to achieve something. You never see a rich kid get to the top of any combat sport because they don't have the drive. All the great boxers come from the ghetto. They all had nothing. They have the desire, the hunger but the rich kid is not going to get punched in the face. Why would they?
Maybe at the end of my career, I could do some fights at heavyweight, when I'm older and not cutting weight. When I'm in my prime, I should stay at my weight class when I'm at my best, but let's say the end of my career, I want to just make an extra buck and not taking it too serious, yeah, I'll get fat and I'll fight, sure.
People like crap. It doesn't matter. I think if you have a big mouth and you perform so-so, it is what it is. People are going to notice you more. Nice guys come last. Let's say it like that.
I don't like nicknames, to be honest.
I'd rather have no nickname, but with my style, you can't really put a name on it.
I have losses to Machida and Lovato, and I'm going to avenge them both.