If you look at my career, it's been nothing but consistency.
Derek Brunson
Uriah Hall is just a dynamic striker. He mixes it up well on his feet, that's where I expect him to be good at.
Everybody wants to come out here and test my cardio but I'm one of the hardest working guys in the division.
They want to lube their body up really good to make it hard to grab hold; Anderson did a great job defending my takedowns. It's because he was all greased up, so he was able to stop a lot of them.
I messed up my eyes. It's funny, I was training and we thought I had a mild concussion. But you know, I was out in Albuquerque and I would train from 9:30 to 11:00 and then I would rest all day long until 5:00 and I'd be playing on my phone, so I was playing on my phone and it scrambled my fore-vision.
I like to be aggressive, I like to finish fights.
Every fight, I train for the opponent very hard and smart.
When you have a fighter who's been punched a lot and been knocked out a lot of times, they're not going to be able to recover. They're going to look like they were knocked out.
If I hit anybody with that left hook, they're going down.
Nobody has seen my jiu-jitsu, but I have really good jiu-jitsu. I submit black belts.
I came into MMA and I had a strong core and a lot flexibility. I could put myself in a lot of different positions when it comes to scrambling.
You have to be sharp, you have to be ready. You have to have guys that can push you in terms of these high-level fights or otherwise you're going to get out to these fights and your opponent has been pushed and they are ready to compete. If you have not been pushed and you're not ready, you can't just turn that switch on that night.
I know what I'm capable of when I'm prepared and dialed in.
I know, every fighter knows, you've got to pile up wins in a row. You can't lose two in a row, three in a row and then you hear mentions of losing your job.
The UFC is where the best in the world fight at. You got some of the best fighters all across the world. It's the top organization.
I've always been a clean fighter, always lifting weights.
I'd say I just fell in love with trying to knock people out really quick instead of letting the fight develop.
There's no easy fights in the UFC.
The fans want to see more. They're there to see fights, they want to see more, they want to see people get put unconscious, whatever. But you can't get put in those spots.
Fighting Anderson Silva was a signature and career-defining moment that was stolen from me.
I match up against everybody well. I just have to stay consistent and keep going out there winning fights.
I'm a firm believer that I'll make fights happen, get the fights done.
MMA in my opinion is the hardest sport in the world, no doubt.
I don't know if anybody can sign a contract to fight me and feel confident that they can beat me.
Strikeforce let me take a fight on short notice outside the promotion and I got robbed on a split decision against Kendall Grove. I easily won that fight. So, I went from 9-0 to getting robbed and suffering my first loss.
In MMA, you can literally cheat over and over again, and it's OK. The media will back you.
Sports are sometimes unforgiving, and it is what it is. Take my fight with Jacare. I had the flu and I went to the doctor and I had to get nursed back. I didn't train for like 10 days and I fought four or five days later.
I'm a dangerous guy.
It's not an excuse, but I'd say I didn't perform well in the big fights because I wasn't prepared properly.
I miss my family so much, my kids are everything to me.
I don't think Anderson Silva is less of a fighter.
When you're talking mixed martial arts, to have a win over a guy who is by many considered the greatest of all time, is definitely going to take your career to the next level.
My striking is on a different level.
Jacare, he has power. We're two strong guys. He relies on being aggressive and coming forward. He looks to get the takedown. He's punching and he's shooting. I've never been taken down in a fight. Now, I'm not disregarding that I could be taken down, but I just know that I have a little bit more when it comes to giving up takedowns.
Lyoto is never going to lose his skills. He might lose his timing, speed, cardio, but he'll never lose his skills.
Everybody at middleweight has been working hard to be a champion.
I don't think too many guys are raising their hands trying to fight me.
Obviously, you've got to go out there and focus on each fight before moving onto the next one.
Pass-rushers with boxing or kickboxing go hand-in-hand. You've got to have fast, sharp hands and be straight down the middle, because linemen are coming off and you have to be able to pop their hands down.
I'm a wrestler, a very polished wrestler and some of my best attributes in wrestling are my scrambling ability and my clinch.
I'm going out there as I do in every fight to put guys away but I'm going to do it in a smart fashion.
Middleweight is the best division in the UFC, in MMA in my opinion.
I always watch Anderson Silva and I always watch his fighting style.
The quick knockouts are nice, but going through a war now and again is a good experience to know I've done it.
My fight against Chris Leben was a war, and I was fulfilled with that victory because that guy has a ton of experience fighting in the UFC.
There are a lot of guys getting popped for steroids and other PEDS, and I can honestly say I've never taken a PED in my life. I've never even thought about it.
My motto has always been hard work.
I'm down to fight anybody that's going to move me up and help my career and get me closer to that title shot.
I grew up watching Anderson. He was my favorite fighter.
Anderson knees people in the face from the clinch. That guy is a world class Muay Thai fighter.
