Jon Jones
Life is supposed to be about love and good times, and so I've forgiven myself after paying the consequences of my bad decisions, and I'm ready to move forward and allow my life to be a light to others that it's never over, even for a person like me, who has lost a tremendous amount of respect among my peers, my fans, my friends and family.Collection: Good
You've got to give your past attention, but you've got to forgive yourself, acknowledge what you did wrong, and be a man, taking responsibility. You can't not fly anymore because of the things you've been through. You've got to believe in a brighter future, that better version of yourself.Collection: Future
I grew up originally in Rochester. It was where I was born and a very tough neighbourhood with a lot of violence. I consider myself lucky. When I was aged 11, in 1998, Dad moved us to a suburban area from what was a ghetto area. It gave me a chance of survival.Collection: Dad
I don't believe a champion is the biggest, baddest, meanest dude in the world. I think the champion is like a warrior; it's like the head knight or lead samurai: humble men of integrity, respect, and honor that treat people kindly.Collection: Respect
I believe I have the attitude of a champion and a winner, and I'm not apologetic for it.Collection: Attitude
It's not my business what other people think of me.Collection: Business
The moment I let fear slip in is the moment that the fights are gonna start getting closer and closer.Collection: Fear
Muhammad Ali was such an original - his antics, his character, his charisma, his strength, his individuality.Collection: Strength
Fitness really changed my life.Collection: Fitness
Just staying healthy, that is true wealth and true happiness.Collection: Happiness
The struggles don't define you. It's how you handle them that determines who you are.
The higher the risk, the higher the reward.
Fighting is not what I do - it's who I am. It's what I was meant to do, what I was meant to be. I knew that right after my first MMA practice.
It's a cold world out there, and this world will pass you by if you give another man anything over yourself.
You have to turn the lemons life gives you into lemonade, and you have to take time to sit back and enjoy it.
A champion without his belt is like a knight without his sword. I've got to have it.
For a long time, I consciously tried to be a good person for others. Not anymore. Caring about other people keeps me in line, but I've decided to just be myself.
A rough beginning doesn't have to mean there is a rough end.
I'm extremely confident. I do believe my own hype. And I'm working towards making it true.
There's never been a southpaw fighter to make it five rounds with me. These are championship fights, and most of them can't even make it out of the normal rounds. Fought Chael Sonnen, TKOed him in round one. Fought Vitor Belfort. He made it to round four when I ended up submitting him.
I just need to be myself and allow things to happen. If it's God's will, good things will happen.
I will get out there and train harder than anyone, five times a day sometimes. You have to be a special person to do that - like, special forces, military maybe.
The first time I crawled into the octagon, I just felt like an animal, you know? Like a creature, like I wasn't quite human.
I feel as if I'm God's champion, and I have a lot of pride in that.
I want to take this time to thank Daniel Cormier for being my biggest rival and motivator. He has absolutely no reason to hang his head. He has been a model champion, a model husband, a model father, a teammate, a leader, and I aspire to be a lot more like that man, because he's an amazing human being.
In my mind, I've never lost a fight.
I feel like a lot of my fans hold high expectations of me when it comes to inside the Octagon - not so much outside of the Octagon - but I feel like most of my performances are pretty dominant, so I don't feel like I have the luxury to not perform in an extremely impressive fashion.
We're all going to make mistakes; they're inevitable. It's what you do after these mistakes that matters.
Call it weakness if you will, but even the toughest individuals need assistance getting back on track.
Even though I have bad qualities in my personal life, as an athlete, I can turn it on.
I'm a champion, and I believe that if you're a champion, you can't be afraid to go out there and test yourself against the greatest challenges.
I'm not saying Gustafsson isn't a champion. He's not the champion that I am. He's not a champion at all. I've won the belt seven times. He got tapped out by Phil Davis and lost to me fair and square. This guy gets so much praise. Having a close fight with me was the greatest thing he's ever done.
I genuinely wanted to be an inspiration to other people and inspire people and be a role model.
I don't enjoy hitting people; I enjoy outsmarting them.
I think once you start to think that you're the man, and you know it all, and your style is unbeatable and stuff like that, that's when you get caught and clipped and get humbled really fast.
My parents always kept us in the house. We weren't allowed to spend the night at other people's houses. We were sheltered kids.
Having that Christian base keeps me focused on what I have to do. It keeps me out of the clubs and in the gym.
I just keep my eyes open and focus on the things I'm not good at and what makes other people better than me - technique and things outside the Octagon.
If you do something bad, it doesn't mean you're a bad person. It means you had bad judgment.
One day when I was bored, I just went down to a powerlifting gym, Via Strength Systems in Albuquerque. I knew I needed to expend my energy somehow. I started working out with them four days a week. I became obsessed with lifting and being fit.
I absolutely hate when people mention Rashad Evans.
When it comes to fighting and other fighters, I try to be respectful.
I don't really deal in trash talk too much. But I show my confidence.
My friends and family all know me, and that's the important thing.
I'll fight anywhere, man.
I notice that I'm full of myself, and I am arrogant to some degree, but it's honestly only when it comes to talking about MMA.
When it comes to MMA, there is a big chip on my shoulder. There is a way that I look at myself. I think it's really, really important, and it's something I'm not really apologetic for it. As I get older, and I win more, I start to embrace it even more.
I just would hate to have to fight my own teammate. I would never want to.
To see my little brother Chandler outdoing me, it's great; I want to be able to cross-market and feed off his star power.
I wouldn't argue that Anderson Silva is the best pound-for-pound fighter in MMA.