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.

If you do something bad, it doesn't mean you're a bad person. It means you had bad judgment.

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 need to be myself and allow things to happen. If it's God's will, good things will happen.

Muhammad Ali was such an original - his antics, his character, his charisma, his strength, his individuality.

I have tons of pictures of myself as a kid with my medals, and they were never gold medals.

I believe I have the attitude of a champion and a winner, and I'm not apologetic for it.

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.

It was really tough being in jail. It doesn't get much lower. You're in a filthy room. The food is terrible, and you're surrounded by people who have done all types of crazy crimes. You have nothing that belongs to you, not even your own underwear. It's just terrible.

I got in the limelight at a young age. At age 19, people were already comparing me to Anderson Silva.

The biggest challenge is learning how to psych yourself up into believing in yourself as you walk into the Octagon.

I would love to fight Brock Lesnar. He's a massive dude.

My wrestling dream was to become a Division I national champion. That was my No. 1 dream - not Olympics, not money. Just winning that tournament.

I love Twitter in particular because it allows me to grow and see how people feel about the decisions I make. My followers, they're always pretty honest with me. I love the honesty I get. I also find motivation in it.

We're all going to make mistakes; they're inevitable. It's what you do after these mistakes that matters.

I've really tried everything in my power to get my life together.

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'm not scared of anything.

Glover Teixeira is a phenomenal opponent.

My friends and family all know me, and that's the important thing.

A lot of coaches in MMA focus on MMA wrestling. My coach, his high school team is ranked 10th in the nation. Izzy Martinez is very connected to the wrestling community.

A rough beginning doesn't have to mean there is a rough end.

I'm definitely very excited to see Cormier fight Brock Lesnar. I think Daniel Cormier wins the fight. He's just too fast. I feel like, when I fought him, he was quicker than me with certain combinations. I can only imagine he's going to be a lot quicker than Brock Lesnar.

College, for me, was more about wrestling than actually going to classes.

My opinion, football is the most dangerous sport there is. After that, I'll give it to probably boxing.

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 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.

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.

Fighting was something inside of me that I didn't realize was there.

Growing up, I was poor. In college, I was poor. I never had anything.

I don't enjoy hitting people; I enjoy outsmarting them.

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 genuinely wanted to be an inspiration to other people and inspire people and be a role model.

Conor McGregor has been a tremendous inspiration to me.

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.

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.

I wouldn't argue that Anderson Silva is the best pound-for-pound fighter in MMA.

I was never popular. I always kind of wanted to be accepted with the rich kids, with the cool kids, and I never had that.

Having that Christian base keeps me focused on what I have to do. It keeps me out of the clubs and in the gym.

Even though I have bad qualities in my personal life, as an athlete, I can turn it on.

Daniel Cormier has been a model champion. He will be a champion for the rest of his life.

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.

In a fight, you got to know that there's a strong chance you're going to get hurt. But at the same time, you know, most of the injuries you sustain in fighting are not career-ending injuries.

Being labeled as someone who would cheat hurts more than anything else I've ever been through in my career.

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.

Fitness really changed my life.

I absolutely hate when people mention Rashad Evans.

When it comes to fighting and other fighters, I try to be respectful.

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.

I'll fight anywhere, man.