I never even imagined having my own shoe.
Chris Weidman
Everybody has a sinful nature pulling them at every turn.
I didn't think I was much of a public speaker.
I'll never be outworked.
If you get into the habit of cutting corners, they start to add up.
I feel like smaller countries, other countries, they cheer, they support their people no matter what. We need to get a little bit more supportive of our people.
Getting hit is part of the job. You don't want the first time you're getting punched to be in the fight because there's a lot of shock and awe and you won't react well. I like to get hit in sparring. I don't want to get concussed, or I don't want to be getting knocked out, but I want some shock treatment to prepare me for the fight.
I was living out on Long Island in Baldwin, New York when Hurricane Sandy hit. With the storm surge, the whole first floor of our house was under about three feet of water. We lost a lot of valuable stuff - sentimental stuff like pictures and Christmas ornaments. Nobody expected flooding that bad.
My ultimate goal was always that I want to be known as one of the greatest of all time. The first step was obviously to be UFC champion.
When I started and first got to the MMA gym the guys would start and say, 'You're like the All-American kid.' It was because, I don't know, I go to church every Sunday, I got married young and I've always been an All-American in college having gone All-American all four years.
I remember watching Anderson Silva fight Dan Henderson at UFC 82. I had never really watched MMA, but I looked up to Dan Henderson. He was a wrestler, like me, but also a tough, powerful mixed martial artist.
I struggle just like everybody else struggles. It's always a struggle in life to overcome temptation. I just try and get through it. No one is perfect.
I took my first fight in the UFC on short notice. I took my first big fight against a top-five guy on ten days notice.
The thing about mixed martial arts is you have to know every single martial art in the world or you're at a disadvantage. So, there's so much to learn. I have to know wrestling. I have to know kick boxing. I have to know boxing. I have to know karate.
That's why everybody loves to tune in and watch these fights, because at any given moment, any given fight, any given fighters, anything can happen. A fighter could win nine out of 10 times, but there's always that one time.
I've beaten Anderson twice, then Lyoto Machida and now Belfort. I'll be proud to have taken down three all-time legends in a row.
When I was at 205, it was kind of weird eating whatever I want and not getting trimmed and not really being disciplined with my diet. It was kind of weird.
From the very beginning, every time I trained for a fight, I didn't train to beat the guy I was fighting. I trained to beat Anderson Silva.
We have a lot of great stars and so many different things, some of the other countries don't have that. So when they get somebody, they support them to the death. America, I kind of think we take it for granted sometimes.
I watch something in the gym, try to do it and may not get it. When I go home that night and my wife is talking to me and I'm not answering her, it is because I'm visualizing that thing I'm working on. I'll do that all day long. Before I go to bed I'm still thinking about it, and that happens until I can see myself doing it.
As I got older, I lived right next next to the Long Island Railroad, so in junior high and high school I'd just jump on the train with friends and head to the city. We'd run away from the conductors, hide from them in the bathroom. It was just what you did.
I'm going to win the belt at middleweight and I'm going to go up to 205 and win the belt there after I dominate the middleweight division for a little bit - that will happen.
I grew up in a rough neighborhood, so I fought a lot. Even when I was wrestling, if I lost a match, I always thought, That guy would never beat me in a fight.
My brother was probably one of the toughest kids from my neighborhood and he didn't make it easy on me. He made sure I was getting beat up as much as possible growing up. If he wasn't beating me up, he was making his friends beat me up.
There's bad apples in every type of job, whether it's sports or normal day-to-day jobs.
Coming off all my wins I had a lot of criticism.
I really like Cain Velasquez. I like his pace that he puts on; he is mentally and physically breaking everybody he goes with. He's just tenacious and relentless. I like Anderson Silva, too. I like his style. He's very relaxed.
I've never had anything. I just wanted to one day live comfortable. Like, be able to go out to lunch with my friends without being like, crap, I don't know if I can afford this bill right now. I shouldn't be doing this. That's all I really wanted.
A lot of these players, if you listen to the Islanders or the Rangers, they get interviewed in the locker room right after the game, it's very structured answers. They're very protected.
I grew up in a decently tough neighborhood.
You want to help people and make the world a better place in whatever way you can. I've tried to share the things I've learned, and for me it really is all about being a role model.
I've been through so much damn adversity, I've had so much critiqued on me. From being the undefeated world champion to never really getting the love or the respect I feel I deserved when I was on top and then finally getting knocked down and then everybody jumping on top, trying to kick me while I was down.
To become a world champion, to defeat Anderson Silva, to accomplish my goal in one night, it was a super surreal feeling.
There's only so much you can control when you're fighting, so the things you can control - like your fight song - are pretty important. So you want to pick that wisely.
For me to be able fight in my home state of New York would be a dream come true.
I grew up taking the Long Island Railroad from Baldwin, New York into Penn Station and walking upstairs to Madison Square Garden. Those are some of my favorite memories.
When you're so physically and emotionally invested in something - like you have to be in MMA - there's nothing like having your friends and family there to support you on fight night.
I've been blessed enough to live some of my dreams.
You don't wanna peak too early in training camp, but you don't wanna be out of shape or not to the point where you're able to peak. It's a science to be able to find the happy medium where your body and mind are at their best.
When I've trained as hard as I possibly can through training camp and I come to the end, where my body is worn out and I'm tired, I know I'm ready to peak.
The first thing I do when I book a fight is I go to the Internet and I print out a picture of the guy and put it on my refrigerator.
For me, preparation is all about the physical, the mental and most importantly, the spiritual. If I'm not spiritually in the right place, I'm a mess.
When I'm getting ready for a fight - when I'm in that locker room or I'm making that walk and I finally get to the Octagon - it's all spiritual.
When I'm spiritually in the right place, there's no stopping me.
You're always trying to feel confident and to feel good about yourself, but what it comes down to is really giving up to someone else. Having faith.
Training is my life. It's all I've known since I was in second grade, when I started wrestling.
I wanna get myself in such good shape that no matter how much I push myself in a fight, I know that the other guy is gonna be a little bit more tired.
My training varies so much. There's no such thing as a typical day.
Boxing, Jiu Jitsu, some good old-fashioned wrestling and plenty of cardio. You name it, it's part of my routine.
Keeping my focus on what's important - inside the Octagon and out - is never lost on me.
