I don't need to be told what I am or what I should do or if I beat this guy it means I'm good or if I lose to that guy it means I'm bad. I'm at peace with myself, and I know what I do every day in my training will speak for itself, and success will be a byproduct.
Eddie Alvarez
I don't have a nickname. But, hey, they can call me what they want - The Silent Assassin, The Underground King. In Japan, they call me American Knuckle Star. Call me what you want.
The business aspect of this sport is a contradiction to what it's really about, and that's knowing something for what it is and not just what it looks like.
The truth is, a large majority of the market, I'd guess 80 percent, doesn't know anything more than what they are sold.
We got four-ounce gloves here. It's not hard to knock someone out.
I've experienced success, I've experienced failure, I've been a world champion, I've fought all over the world; I think I've experienced enough that I won't get in front of a million people and get gunshy.
I was never the most technical; I was never the best at one aspect at this sport, but what I was always good as was negating people's strengths and putting them in terrible situations where they're uncomfortable.
Gray Maynard? Kenny Florian? All these guys, they're UFC fighters, that's all. They're pushed by the UFC, but when they leave the UFC, they're forgotten. When's the last time you heard Josh Neer's name? You haven't. When's the last time you heard about Roger Hurerta? You haven't. They're no ones anymore.
Going in there just to win and put on a boring fight, I don't want to be related to anything like that.
Where most kids play stickball and hockey, I'd walk down the streets with two sets of boxing gloves and knock on my friend's door and see if he wanted to box. There were boxing gyms on every corner.
I've been fighting the best guys, so I would like a gimme fight.
I would love, love, love to watch Conor McGregor fight Floyd Mayweather.
As far as Nurmagomedov, I just don't get how you become the No. 1 contender without actually fighting guys who are ranked in the top 10. It kind of baffles me.
The goal never changes. It's about beating the guy in front of you.
It's MMA - anything can happen. You can throw a punch from one knee, a punch from anywhere.
I think bullying in general is for cowards.
The longer I'm in this sport, the more I realize that it's not about the wins and losses that makes you a good fighter. It's about putting the time in and fighting the best guys possible and going after them. The outcome will take care of itself.
I'll beat a bunch of good guys, and then I'll get a ton of fans come up to me and go, 'Do you think you can beat Conor McGregor?' And I'm like, 'Oh my God. You guys are disillusioned.' They think because this man's popular he's good.
There's a lot of guys in the UFC who are good at one thing, and they get matched up stylistically well.
I think when it comes to re-signing with an organisation, there's no real compromise if you're trying to move on.
Conor McGregor - this guy is so offensive minded and never on the defense that whenever you put him on the defense, he gets so flustered and so upset.
My biggest fear as a fighter is to be knocked out in front of millions of people. But after it actually happened, there's this calmness about you that says everything is OK.
In this sport, the good thing about the UFC and MMA in general is a lot of it's based on perception.
I've knocked a ton of guys out. I know the power I have and the advantages I have against the best in the world.
Typically, I would say that I'm not defined by one loss and I'm not defined by one win. But I'd be lying if I told you I didn't harp on the loss at Madison Square Garden.
The most comical thing for me, even when I watch movies, is the guy who's so crazy confident about himself, with the mink jacket - to me, that is so funny. I wish I could be like that. As a fighter, I wish I could do that, so I could make people laugh. But I can't; it's not my style.
I have a tremendous support from a lot of the Underground fans. They believe in me, they want to see me do well, and they're behind me. But there are a lot of people out there who don't believe it, and so I want to separate perception and reality. I want to be able to do that.
People say I'm good at standup. I don't even think I'm that great at standup. I just hit hard. I don't think I'm super technical or anything like that. I got a couple knockouts. I think I just hit hard more than anything.
I'm not here if Bill Hunter never forced my hand in wrestling. It was a pivotal point in my life.
The first time I fought Mike Chandler, I was thinking about money way too much. I was thinking about the end of my contract. My focus was way off. I didn't believe in the people that were guiding me.
I started this fight career with one objective. When I step inside a ring or an octagon, it is to beat the guy in front of me.
When I fought Nick Thompson, I wasn't experienced enough. That was the first person that put me in a real fight. Before Nick, nobody had put me in a fight where I had to struggle.
The fighters and the fights are what makes UFC great.
I never prepare according to how I feel for a fight. I always prepare to be a better me.
I never take a round off or a run off or a push-up off; that's just not in me.
There's not a single strike that good preparation can't negate.
It's hard when you win the title to not think, 'I'm here. Now what do I do?'
When I joined UFC, I said I want to be involved in fights where millions of fans are watching, biting their fingernails, thinking, 'What the heck is going to go on here?'
There's a part of martial arts where we need humility and respect.
I'm proud of both sides, and they are both really well known to be fighting heritages, so I tell everyone all the time - they say, 'What are you'? - I say I'm Irish. I'm Puerto Rican. I guess I was born to fight.
I'm a whole lot more than just Spanish or Irish or whatever, but definitely, it's given me help. It's given me a push, and I'm very proud of my Spanish heritage.
I've got the fighting Irish, and Puerto Ricans are some of the best fighters in the world. I'm proud of who I am, but it doesn't define me as a person.
I don't like going to 155; I do it because everyone else does.
If you're not successful at a certain weight, it rarely has anything to do with gaining or losing 10 pounds. It's something inside of you that you need to fix in order to win. It rarely has anything to do with cutting 10 pounds.
Although I'm shorter, all of my weight I carry in my back and my butt. That's where most of my weight is.
Fighting in general, but especially when I was younger, was tough to deal with because there are so many external things going on that want to control you that most people have no clue about.
If I can put the right guy with the right mouthpiece in front of the right opponents, we can build a champion, but he doesn't really have to beat the best guys; we just have to give him the right matchups.
You win a world title, you beat the best guys in the world, and a lot of these fans are kind of misconstrued about who are the best fighters in the world.
The fights for me are always about what you cannot see, the intangibles. It's about what's inside - what really is inside.
I boxed. I did track and field; I did basketball, football, any sport I was able to sign up for.
