You go after your dreams no matter how many obstacles. You want to go forward. That's what I did.Collection: Dreams
I just keep getting better and keep learning. Keep an open mind, and live in the moment, and love what I do. Discipline myself, and hard work.Collection: Learning
I grew up watching 'Vale Tudo' and Marco Ruas. I fight imagining the bouts from a past generation, when everything was legal.
It's so great to fight in the UFC because the whole staff, they treat you so well. The people are happy to work there.
You look at the staff, the whole staff, from the security to the nutritionists, everybody. Everybody's happy. They want to be there. They look like they want to be in the UFC.
I'm just living life, but I'm happy to still be fighting at 41. It's something I like to do, so the more I can do this, the better.
The secret is to listen, open your mind, listen to the pros. With the help of the UFC's Performance Institute, too. Listening to my coaches and listening to my body, too. Having discipline. It's not just listening, too, because sometimes people have the knowledge but don't know how to use it. You need to be able to put that to practice.
It's important to have the right strategy. I can't commit to things or fight like I used to. I can't just bang it out. I have to be more intelligent in training and in fighting.
I always go forward and try for the knockout or submission. I'm going to finish my opponent. I'm not going to try to win by decision.
I'm not greedy - I have a pretty good life. I don't have an expensive lifestyle, so I can make my living teaching classes at my gym.
I'm not fighting for the money. Of course, money is good, but if I don't feel like going to the gym anymore, I can stop fighting and do something else.
I grew up in a very small town, on a farm. There was not even a TV in my house at that time. I didn't have much connection with the outside world and couldn't see martial arts. When I was 10 or 12, that's when we got our first TV. We only had maybe two channels. At 16 years old, I remember watching Marco Ruas on TV.
I used to love martial arts movies starring Bruce Lee and Jean Claude Van Damme. In one of Van Damme's movies, he would break a pine tree. I would kick banana trees because I used to live on a farm. My father would get mad at me because I would break all of the banana trees around.
My favorite fight was when I fought Rampage. I always wanted to fight Rampage because of the way he fights. It's about pride. The way he comes forward. My friends in Brazil would always tell me they wanted me to fight Rampage. When I fought him, it was a big deal for me. It was the first big fight I was in. It was a great fight.
When I came to the United States, I saw a lot of Mike Tyson. I would stay up and watch all of the Mike Tyson fights. A friend here said, 'You got to do Jiu-Jitsu. That's the thing.' I said, 'C'mon, Jiu-Jitsu would never beat Mike Tyson.' So, he showed me the Royce Gracie tape. I was so impressed with the thing.
Seven years I worked in landscaping. It was a good job, I don't complain. I liked going out to different houses every day, traveling.
I was always a hard worker, and that's why I got invited to come to America. My uncle actually said, 'You've to go to America. You work like this in America, you're gonna make a lot more money.'
When I come to the United States, I came here illegally. I didn't know I was going to be a fighter. I just thought I was going to work landscaping for, I don't know, three, four years, then go back to Brazil and live my life.
Jose Aldo became champion when he was 22. I didn't get into the gym for the first time until I was 22.
Without a doubt Jon Jones is one of the greatest fighters in history, and, of course, we do see errors that we'll try to exploit.
My jiu-jitsu style is definitely not the most entertaining one, so I'd rather do boxing and entertain the fans a little more.
My jiu-jitsu style is not a beautiful style. I have very simple submissions. It works, but it's not like Demian Maia or Nick Diaz's very exciting style.