Of course every fighter, whether they admit it or not, they have aches and pains and they go into fights hurt.

I'm a complete fighter and I'm not scared, I'm very willing to use every part of the game to get the win by any means necessary.

I'm not really chasing rematches.

I want to fight the fights that fans want to see.

The cut made me hate the process of getting ready for a fight. I was focused on how to make weight instead of how to beat my opponent.

If a champ has to take a long layoff then I think that's the only time interim titles should be introduced to the division.

I want to fight for the real belt, not the interim title.

Now I'm with the American Top Team, I'm a better fighter, I'm a more patient fighter, I've improved in every aspect.

This sport is a crazy thing, and what happens, it's unpredictable.

I feel like everybody's who fighting, young fighters and still learning and growing, that should be their goal - to be the UFC world champion.

Winning solves everything.

My goal and path is always to get to the mountaintop and be a world champion, and leave a fighting legacy.

Fighting, you have to be selfish.

Grit, determination, the right amount of crazy, self belief - everything it takes to be a champion. I have that.

I knew I had the ability to become a world champion, I knew I did. I knew I just needed the opportunity.

It's not hard to look great against a guy who isn't moving a lot.

People I grew up with, my family, work in the oil fields. Everyone works a labor job - construction, concrete. All we know is work. It's a physical culture.

I come from south Louisiana where everyone has a blue-collar work ethic.

Every fight is like a different landscape of what you go through. But sometimes it's small injuries. Sometimes it's lessons you walk away with. Every fight is different but they all hurt, for sure.

I think a lot of fighters are cutting way too much weight.

Yeah I do think featherweight is done for me. It sucks because I worked hard and fought a lot of hard fights and did a lot of things right to move up the rankings and I have to abandon all that moving to 155 starting fresh.

Cutting to featherweight took months of intense weight cutting and training. Going to lightweight, I can fight more often.

I probably should have been fighting at 155 for a long time, but I was so close to the top at 145.

I'm proud of everything I accomplished in this sport.