You don't get to the highest levels of the sport without having the basics in order.
Daniel Cormier
It's very difficult to make a 100% turnaround. It's tough when you actually do exhibit patterns of bad behavior. You need to have a very strong support system of people who are willing to keep you in your place if you're going to overcome these things.
You don't quit after you get beat. You pick yourself up, and you start rebuilding to accomplish your goals.
I've done nothing wrong. Some people just don't like me. Maybe I'm somebody that's easy to dislike, but I don't get it. Whatever. I'll do what I do.
You can love me, you can hate me, but just don't be indifferent. Care about it enough to watch.
Ovince Saint Preux needs to know that not only me but every other guy at the American Kickboxing Academy are ready and open to open those doors in trying to help him accomplish his goals.
I'm honored to be one of the guys that is seen as a leader of this great team - a team that has stood the test of time. AKA is one of the only teams that has been around since the beginning of the MMA explosion, and it's a huge honor for me to be named captain.
I believe that I will represent this sport in the best light possible. I won't mess it up. I won't get myself in any trouble.
A lot of times, losing a fight is tough. In your darkest hours, I guess your true colors show.
I'm not on a slander campaign to ruin Jon Jones publicly. That's not what I set out to do.
I will tell you with 100 percent confidence, Jon Jones is not deep in my head. The fact he actually thinks that, it makes me smile every day.
Reach, and all that other stuff, doesn't play as big a part in MMA as it does in boxing. Guys don't really fight with their length all that much, because they have to worry about the takedown or kicks. They have to worry about so many other things that they can't just fight real tall.
I'm gonna live my life the correct way, and I'm gonna be a champion the kids look up to and hopefully aspire to be like.
It's all matchups, and I knew that I matched up well against 'Rumble' Johnson.
My confidence comes from me, not from Jon Jones. I can't draw my confidence from another person.
You have to be a champion in all facets of life.
I was into basketball, but then once I found contact sports, it was over. I never played basketball again in my life.
Jon Jones, grow up, bud. We're going to fight regardless of how you feel. And when we do, and I'm cutting the line, and you might as well pull the guard because I'm taking you down.
When I said I could beat Alexander Gustafsson in a standup fight, people laughed at me. They thought, 'No way.' But I believe in what I'm seeing every day.
I'm not stuck in Strikeforce. I'm happy to be with them. It's where I started, and they've been great to me.
Being able to go forward has been good, you know? I'm lucky to have that ability, to pressure guys and make them falter and wilt.
I love Mike Tyson. I was a fan, as everybody else was. The moment somebody stood up to him, he didn't do so well. And that's the same thing with Anthony Johnson. The guy's a bully. He wants to intimidate you; he wants to dominate you. He wants to knock you out. But what happens when you don't knock somebody out? What happens?
If you say John Smith is the greatest wrestler in Oklahoma history, now that's big.
I'm confident in my team. I'm confident in my coaches. I'm confident in my ability. I worked really hard to become a better mixed martial artist.
My resume, my career, and my legacy in this sport means more to me then collecting some checks.
I do believe, whenever this is all said and done, we won't talk about Mickey Gall, the guy that beat CM Punk; we'll just talk about Mickey Gall, the guy who is a top 10 fighter, a good welterweight or maybe a great welterweight.
Cain's an animal, man. Cain's a competitor. I want to spar with Cain because I know if I'm able to hang with him here in the gym, once I get out there in the cage and fight, I mean, I've already gone toe-to-toe with Cain Velasquez, you know?
The only thing that can ever make a Louisiana boy feel better is Popeye's.
It is my job to sell these fighters. I'm now a business partner of the UFC. What I do directly affects my paycheck. I try my best. I just don't want people to be indifferent.
I don't mind Ryan Bader thinking he deserves a title shot.
I grew up in Louisiana. We have red beans and rice, and there's a Popeye's on every corner.
If you're the UFC champion, you're the best in the world at what you do, and I get the opportunity to do that.
I went through a training camp; I worked extremely hard. I prepared for UFC 200. This was the big one. This one meant everything to me.
I have to be smart. You cannot be going in there, trying to go forward and pressure guys, and be taking damage and getting hurt on the way to doing it.
My low center of gravity allows me to defend takedowns a lot better than most people. It's very hard to get to my legs. It's going to be really hard to take me down. There are a lot of positives to being my size.
When you start fighting, when your dream is to be the champion of the world, when you accomplish that, you don't feel lost. It doesn't hinder you. It only helps.
My confidence comes from knowing I do the right things in my life. I do the right things in the gym. I do the right things all together.
My training has always been really tough. I've always worked hard. I've always been very committed to my training and focused on my workout.
My confidence comes from my fights and my training.
I want to be the best.
I'm not a guy that really likes to pile onto somebody. Doesn't really matter who it is.
I have definitely worked on that... being efficient and also being smarter with my pressure.
As a champion and one of the best fighters in the world, guys should always step up to the plate and want to fight Jon Jones.
I was a fan of Jon Jones. I thought he was great.
If I would have won that Olympic gold medal, I would have gotten a job somewhere coaching at a university, and I would be totally content with my life.
I've always been a rough kid.
I'm so bad at baseball, I can't even hit now.
I went and worked at a TV station in Stillwater. I was actually account manager for commercial accounts, selling ad space and everything.
I need to be competing. Coaching is good, but I like to be in the fire.
I had a really dark time after the Olympic Games... But then I said to myself, 'This is a sport that's blessed me with a home, with an education, with some money. I can't hate this sport. This sport took me out of Louisiana. This sport gave me a chance when so many people don't get a chance. And I love this sport.'
