Coaching 'The Ultimate Fighter' in my weight class, I couldn't do it. I'd basically be coaching people to beat me. I'm going to give you my riddle?

I take care of Demetrious Johnson, and the UFC takes care of themselves. That's nothing against the UFC; they're a well-oiled machine. They do an amazing job at advertising and making stars.

All I can do is make sure Demetrious Johnson does the best he can on fight night and goes out and wins his fights.

The first time I fought Ian McCall, I cut carbs completely out of my diet all through training camp. I was afraid I wasn't going to make weight, that I'd get on the scale, and it would be all, 'He weighs 128,' and the people would throw cabbage at me. I basically cut all carbs on the diet, just eat chicken and greens all the time.

You can tell MMA is a carb sport because it's fast; it's explosive. It's not a fat storage sport.

My wife is very supportive.

Before there was a Ronda Rousey, there was a Gina Carano and Cris Cyborg. They finally fought, and we found out who was the baddest woman on the planet, and that was Cris Cyborg. When she hits people, I'm like, 'Whoo!'

In my mind, there's more to life than just fighting. That's just how I am.

When I'm done my mixed martial arts career, the only people who are gonna remember me and respect what I did and how I lived my life are my two children. That's my legacy, ladies and gentlemen.

I love fighting for the UFC. It's an amazing company. I've done a lot of great things, and they've done a lot of great things for my career.

One of the things I always tell people is that when it comes to fighting and fight week, then I'm there for one purpose, and that's to fight and get the hell out of dodge.

That's kind of how I see my workmanship: it's how many hours I put in that makes me better.

If somebody goes, 'You should go to 135,' my heart's just not into it.

They'll always find somebody for me to fight. Whether I win or lose, they'll find somebody to fight, and I'll compete. I'll make money, and I'll pay my bills.

I think 15 to 18 title defenses is something that would be in the record books forever.

I guess I'm bothered by how fans react to certain things and how they're interested in certain things over true talent. I've always appreciated talent over everything else.

I know why the UFC runs the business the way they do. I know why Conor McGregor makes a base pay of $3 million. But I think I justify my pay with my skill set, and I've always been willing to promote my brand.

For every champion, after you win the belt, you want to defend it as many times as possible.

I'm never going to turn down a fight.

I believe me being married, having a life outside of fighting, gives me a mental break.

My mind can't always be on fighting.

Some days I have off like Thursday and Sunday but typically Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday are dedicated to training if I'm in fight camp.

I wake up around 8:30, 8:45. I eat my breakfast, hit the road by 10 A.M., and get to the gym by 11.

We've always been into juicing. It's one of the things that my wife likes to do. She's a vegetarian, so she loves to juice. And I'm a big health freak - well, when I feel like being it.

For me, I don't need to juice to make weight for my fights. I just do it for the health benefits - to keep my body healthy and to get my greens in me.

I do have my cheat meals. I have Oreos inside the house right now, and I have beer and fried chicken and waffles. All that good stuff. But once it comes down to when I really want to get in shape and get lean, I'll eat clean and go with whole foods.

I don't want to say I was ever scared to voice my opinion. I was just trying to make a good example, I guess you could say. And even when I'm more outspoken, I believe that I am still making a good example for younger athletes and also future athletes.

A lot of people misunderstand what it means to have good cardio. Good cardio is when you are able to push the fight, and I've shown that in all of my fights.

You have to take the belt, and I dont give my opponents a chance to take my belt. I go out there and take away their opportunity to take my belt away from me.

I wasn't a person who hated working. When I was working and training, I loved it. I loved that I had to work that hard. I think it transformed into the gym and then transformed into the octagon. It was a good thing.

If you look at the end of a roll of toilet paper, like the brown paper tube, I basically worked in a factory that made humongous ones like that - for concrete or anything you wanted to put in there. I was the guy who chopped those up into smaller pieces, put them in a box, throw it in a pallet, wrap it up, jump in a forklift and put it on a truck.

At the end of the day, I know what my skill set and abilities are, and it's just going to take people a little while to recognize it. Whether that comes around or not, I'm not going to sit here in the corner and pout about it.

I don't have small goals; I just have goals, and it's, one, stay healthy; and two, have a very successful career.

Me, I'm a working-class man, and I go to my job, put in the work, and walk away clean and unscathed, and I like it that way.

I hope people can remember me as the greatest. Who knows?

I don't allow people's outlook on me dictate what I do in my life and how I live my life.

I work way too hard in the gym to woo the judges and just skate by.

I'm a smaller guy, so I train at a high pace.

If you don't deal with your shadows, you are condemned to repeat the same mistake over and over, as a human being or as a society.

Cinema is an art form that is designed to go across borders. And as a filmmaker, the only way I can direct a movie is when I feel close to my culture.

My movies are very often violent and dark, but there's a spectrum of light, and that light is coming from the women.

'2001: A Space Odyssey' is a movie that really impressed me as a teenager. And also 'Blade Runner.' And 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind' is also one of my favorites. I'm always looking for sci-fi material, and it's difficult to find original and strong material that's not just about weaponry.

Sometimes you have compulsions that you can't control coming from the subconscious... they are the dictator inside ourselves.

I think I'm attracted to subjects that I'm afraid of. It's a way to approach things I am afraid of, things that bring fear in my heart, and try to understand them, try to deal with them. It's like demons. I try to approach it and understand it... I'm just visiting fears.

I think a good director is a good listener.

Cannes is the oldest film festival in the world, and I've long dreamed of having one of my films there in competition. It's a dream that lay dormant for a long time; I stopped believing in it.

In contradiction and paradox, you can find truth.

A longstanding dream of mine is to adapt 'Dune,' but it's a long process to get the rights, and I don't think I will succeed.

The problem in cinema is that you can never predict what will happen.

As a director, you're a bit of a dictator. But I feel that you're a better director if you're open to other people's ideas. It means that it's tougher: you have to be in a choosing process; you have to put the ego aside. As long as everybody's aiming in the same direction... I'm open to my main partners in the film crew.