Fighting in general, but especially when I was younger, was tough to deal with because there are so many external things going on that want to control you that most people have no clue about.

I don't need to be told what I am or what I should do or if I beat this guy it means I'm good or if I lose to that guy it means I'm bad. I'm at peace with myself, and I know what I do every day in my training will speak for itself, and success will be a byproduct.

I've been fighting the best guys, so I would like a gimme fight.

In this sport, the good thing about the UFC and MMA in general is a lot of it's based on perception.

If I can put the right guy with the right mouthpiece in front of the right opponents, we can build a champion, but he doesn't really have to beat the best guys; we just have to give him the right matchups.

You win a world title, you beat the best guys in the world, and a lot of these fans are kind of misconstrued about who are the best fighters in the world.

The fights for me are always about what you cannot see, the intangibles. It's about what's inside - what really is inside.

I boxed. I did track and field; I did basketball, football, any sport I was able to sign up for.

I won my first 10 fights by knockout. The money was getting larger at the same time.

The right thing to do is just ask what you can give, and then let things manifest in the time they're supposed to.

Out of nowhere, they made an interim belt and had Lee fight Ferguson. This is very odd for me; what went on there? You know. I don't know what went on there.

I had to fight Donald Cerrone, Anthony Pettis, Gil Melendez, Rafael Dos Anjos. I had to fight these guys in order to prove myself in order to get a title shot.

I know what I can do at 155.

I've knocked a ton of guys out. I know the power I have and the advantages I have against the best in the world.

I rarely think that when a guy loses a fight, it's a weight issue. You can either fight, or you can't.

I don't want to go that route where I'm going into fights dehydrated. I used to fight at 170 pounds. I was 10-0 at 170 with eight knockouts. I'm not going to listen to somebody from the outside tell me what weight I should be fighting at.

I'm a little unconventional; I do things a little differently.

I think bullying in general is for cowards.

Where most kids play stickball and hockey, I'd walk down the streets with two sets of boxing gloves and knock on my friend's door and see if he wanted to box. There were boxing gyms on every corner.

Having your worst nightmares kind of come true is truly liberating.

I enjoy fights the most once them nerves go away and you settle into the fight. That's when you can have your fun and be creative and just kind of be yourself.

I'm my own biggest critic, so no matter what was being said in the media or being said by fans, I feel the worst when I disappoint myself.

I want to fight Gilbert Melendez.

The idea is to go out there and win in a dominant fashion. That changes people's minds, the way they're thinking about me, and lets people know I'm here to contend for a title.

It's a fist fight - the idea is to go out there and impose my will.

Fighting, for me, is not a career - it's an opportunity. I'm going to take full advantage of it and do it as long as I can. As long as my body lets me and I'm healthy enough to do it naturally, I'll do it.

With MTV2, every fighter is exposed to millions of people, and they won't have to take a monster pay cut to do so.

I want the best guys the promotion has to offer, put them in front of me, and I'll beat them.

I want to fight only dangerous guys. Whenever I've done that in my career, I've stepped up and risen to the challenge.

These kinds of fights, these big fights that get everyone talking and interested, these are the fights I want.

I want to prove the naysayers wrong. They're everywhere. And to be honest with you, they're all I see, and they're what motivates me.

I have a tremendous support from a lot of the Underground fans. They believe in me, they want to see me do well, and they're behind me. But there are a lot of people out there who don't believe it, and so I want to separate perception and reality. I want to be able to do that.

When I say 'fighter,' I am thinking about how you deal with adversity, how you deal with being in bad situations.

The truth is, a large majority of the market, I'd guess 80 percent, doesn't know anything more than what they are sold.

I think sports is a quest to find out what really is - not what perceptions are.

The business aspect of this sport is a contradiction to what it's really about, and that's knowing something for what it is and not just what it looks like.

I will fight whoever the UFC wants me to fight.

I will do whatever the UFC tells me to do, but there's not a doubt in my mind that I can be champion.

I want an opportunity to fight the best in the world and make millions of dollars doing it.

I think when it comes to re-signing with an organisation, there's no real compromise if you're trying to move on.

I like to be with my back against the wall in dangerous situations.

I really didn't want to enter the UFC in a fight that nobody really cared about or where people thought I was just going to whoop some guy.

My biggest fear as a fighter is to be knocked out in front of millions of people. But after it actually happened, there's this calmness about you that says everything is OK.

If your worst fear can come true, and everything can still be OK, then there's really not much to fear at all.

I would love, love, love to watch Conor McGregor fight Floyd Mayweather.

Typically, I would say that I'm not defined by one loss and I'm not defined by one win. But I'd be lying if I told you I didn't harp on the loss at Madison Square Garden.

I started this fight career with one objective. When I step inside a ring or an octagon, it is to beat the guy in front of me.

Regardless of the magnitude, the crowd, or the pay-per-view sales, the goal is to beat the guy in front of me.

I'm not here if Bill Hunter never forced my hand in wrestling. It was a pivotal point in my life.

From wrestling, I learned that I was capable of much more than I thought I was.