Conor changed the game and he paved the way. He did those big numbers and I'm one of the guys who is going to carry that forward.

In 2013, I went through a really great depression.

I've learned how to be famous and a lot of people don't prepare for it and it's something that can change life for the better or for the worst.

I know there are kids who are looking up at me because of what I've done, and see my success and think, 'If that guy can do it, so can I,' then I love that and that's great.

I do what I do for a job. This is fighting. This is a bloody sport. It's not a nice sport.

If people want to take the chance to watch, to see what I bring and try to use it to better themselves, yeah, OK. But I'm not one of these guys who's going to try to be a role model and be an angel because I want to get a Nike sponsorship.

Your parents and people close to you, whenever you want to do something or you want to follow a dream, they'll try and stop you. It's not out of their hating, it's just protection. They want to try and preserve you. Like 'oh what If he fails?' From the culture we're from, they want to protect you.

I'm fortunate enough that my dad was well-off, my family was well-off, so we're able to go to private schools and stuff like that.

I had to work to where I'm at. I was not an athlete in school.

I have to plot my path to greatness.

Aang hits the Avatar-state and he has this unlimited power. He enters into a flow state, you know, he's in the zone. That's how it feels for me sometimes when I'm fighting.

I know who I am.

Kiwis, we love a good one out. We love a good fight. This is part of the culture. Straight up. We're a country of a warrior race, the Maori.

I'm not an actor. I'm a fighter.

I'm not stupid. After you just punch me, I'm not gonna be like, 'Alright, let me do that again.'

I've had malaria damn near eight times.

I'm not going to say I'm perfect. I never have.

I can't force a guy to fight.

I'm smart about the way I move. I'm smart about the way I conduct myself outside the Octagon, like who I associate myself with.

I'd rather be very well prepared before I move to heavyweight or light heavyweight. That's according to my own schedule - no one else's.

On the feet, on the ground, I have all the bases covered.

I want to fight the guys that are ranked above me, even though I don't care about rankings because they're just opinions anyway. Even if a guy is below me and wants to fight, I'll take the fight if it makes sense.

A lot of people say they don't care about the belt, but that's not true. For me, when I say it, I really mean that.

I feel like MMA athletes are the best athletes in the world.

The wrestling begins before you even engage in the clinch, I've said this already. This is one thing people don't know, wrestling begins on the feet with the stand up.

I wear gold all of the time. I collect gold like a magpie.

I am a very persuasive man.

I'm like the only Kiwi that can fly, I'm the one with the biggest wing.

I don't really take punishment from fights; the punishment is from the training, from my teammates.

I just want to fight and be remembered as the best, who fought everyone and beat them. Then the money, the numbers, the records, they all chase me.

I've talked about tall poppy syndrome when I see people. I used to be like, 'Why am I feeling this way? What is that person taking from me that makes me feel inadequate?' That same feeling you feel when you feel uncomfortable because people start talking about racism, lean into that feeling, don't just look away from it, because you can't pretend.

Look, I can't dim my shine just because some people feel uncomfortable.

I've never had staph in my life. Knock on wood, I never will.

The promoters in New Zealand weren't looking at me, they didn't see the potential. But when I was fighting in China they brought me over there as a journeyman so all their guys could whup up on me. Then they realised that's not gonna happen because I kept whupping up on their guys. Then they decided, 'Let's bring this guy into our team.'

I fought probably 23 or 24 times when I was over in China, in a year.

My first stadium show was in China, it was a 50,000-seat stadium. I think 40,000 showed up.

Being a big black man in China in the mainland, walking down the street, you have everyone looking at you, 'Basketball?' They don't really see a lot of us around, maybe on TV, so they're just looking.

You won't see me on TMZ shaving my hair and yelling at the camera guy.

There are a lot of sports that New Zealand does very well but MMA is a truly global sport and it's practiced in the farthest reaches of this earth.

To reach the heights of a truly global sport, in a sport as difficult as this, is a monumental achievement.

That's the beauty of this sport. We're trying to get to the same place, maybe, but we're on different paths.

Even in my first year in the UFC I fought five times in the year.

I want to defend my belt against all the middleweights that are the biggest threats supposedly before I jump up in weight.

I never, ever deviate from my plans.

I don't want to be fighting when I don't want to fight.

It's passion; if I'm not passionate about something I'm not going to do it.

I'm a dancer, I'm an entertainer.

I'm very coachable, I listen. I have these ears and they're big for a reason.

I can hit hard, trust me.

A guy like Conor McGregor, one thing I really appreciated when he first got in the game and one thing that really inspired me was his love for fighting.