I'm consistent.
At my academy, I have a full 20x20 canvas but I don't have any ropes around it and do that for a reason so I don't get on my back on the ropes.
If I were to fight Khabib, guaran-damn-tee you I would throw him from his feet to his back and beat him like in sambo like a five-point move in wrestling. That's my background.
This is a fighter sport.
I own 170 and 155. These are my weight classes.
I'm beefy. I feel good at 170. My wife loves me at 170.
I'm a superstar. And I move like a superstar in that Octagon, and I expect somebody to move like that when they signed that dotted line with me.
Don't give me an easy fight. I want somebody that's worth it, that's put in their time and put in the amount of effort.
It's not just about knockouts, son. This is mixed martial arts. It's about finishing people. It's about putting in that time, putting in all five rounds.
I'm an Ultimate Fighter winner at 170. At 155, I'm always proving myself. I have nothing to prove to any of the fans, but to myself, it's my skillset.
Preparing for a short-notice fight is dangerous, it doesn't even matter who you are preparing for. Short-notice fights suck.
Wits always win, man, in the battle of brain versus brawn.
It would be nice to finish Khabib via liver shots, wouldn't it? I just want to see him wincing in pain on the ground where he belongs.
Go back and watch my old footage, man. Go back and watch my old fights. I knocked people out at 170 pounds.
You can love somebody without liking them.
I'm an entertaining fighter.
I'm gonna be always the main event.
I'm a champion and I fight like a champion with or without that belt.
You can't really be one-dimensional in this fight game. If you are, you're going to get knocked out or you're going to get finished. Either that, or you're just going to take a lot of damage and you're just not going to be able to last very long.
Now if you play video games all the time and you're a real gamer, you're not going to use the Game Genie, you're not going to use the codes.
A lot of people like to trash talk, but I don't. I like to use my movements inside the cage to do my talking.
I'm not someone to joke around with.
I finished Edson Barboza in a d'arce choke. What else do you want? He's very hard to take down. Spinning heel kicks, spinning kicks. I took some of his most powerful shots and I just kept coming forward. I'm the Boogeyman out there.
What looks better with that 'Ultimate Fighter' plaque that's on my wall? That belt. I'll tell you what, I won't stop until I get it.
This is the fight game. I'm not worried or scared about absolutely anybody who's not talking about me.
I always said the 155-pound belt's been in so many grubby hands, man.
We've never had somebody to secure the legacy for the 155-pound division.
My fuel for my fire is to be able to provide for my family.
I show up. I make weight. I'm a professional.
I don't want to be around people that bring me down.
We all have to pay our bills. We all have to pay our taxes. Straight up.
That's what I signed up for in the beginning. I was 170 pounds; 155 was forced on me.
Don't kick me when I'm down.
At the end of the day, does the UFC really like its fighters?
I thought Al Iaquinta did a great job at UFC 223, but Khabib is going to say he won the Super Bowl after he faced the third string? No way, dude. So many people hold him up on a high horse, but I see his flaws. I wasn't impressed with anything he did.
Starting at age 6, I was helping install the Formica table tops with that strong glue. My dad was the master. I was the apprentice. I'd be in there working until I'd be telling him, 'I feel woozy,' and he'd say, 'Go outside, son.' So I'd go organize his tools. He used the best ones made.
Finesse is catching the baseball on the edge of your glove when you're turning two, making the one-handed grabs and shoestring tackles by running across the field in football. And finesse is what I bring to fighting.
The sport I'm in allows me to use my creativity.
People want to call me weird, 'cringey.'
If you don't show up, you lose.
I want to keep winning.
The lightweight title will be mine, but I'm looking for multiples and I am looking for that best pound for pound spot.
I've never been much for the accolades and for the trophies and for the merits because at one time in my life I kind of got bored of all those.
I don't want that title to come to my hands and be like, 'nah, I don't feel like it was deserved or it wasn't earned or whatever' - not saying that any of my accolades weren't, but I want it to be special. I want it to be super special and just super dope, and even if it's not special to everybody else, at least it is to me.
I don't fight for anybody else besides myself and my family, so therefore I win.
All you guys out there that ever got bullied, I'm the guy that's going to help you guys.
Nobody wants to be trapped inside that cage me. They don't want to be cut by my elbows, they don't want to get hit by any of my kicks and they don't want their conditioning checked by me.
I don't want to be close with anyone who's wishy-washy.
I'm just throwing a name out there, but I think Nate Diaz and myself could actually put on a good show.