I've gone through a lot to get here. I'm doing my job. And that No. 1 ranking next to my name says I'm doing my job better than a good percentage of everyone else.
Joseph Benavidez
Everything happens just like it's supposed to happen; you've just got to roll with it and keep moving forward.
For me... I feel like gratitude has really helped me to keep perspective on everything. The gratitude of doing what I get to do. The gratitude for my everyday life. The gratitude for simple things.
You just gotta stay positive and take every day as a chance to improve and every practice. And every week you're not having a fight, there's a chance to improve.
We have physical therapy there now so any fighter with an injury in the UFC can come to Vegas and get treatment every day.
Persevering is a fight. That's what a fight is. You face something, you persevere through it, you meet it head on.
This is a lonely sport, the more family, the more laughs, and the more fun you can have, the better. At the end of the day, though, it's one man's journey to try and be the best in the world.
Once you stop having fun doing it, you start to lose a lot of focus and a lot of motivation. Where, when you love what you do you and feel lucky every day and excited, it helps every little aspect of fighting.
Fighting was the only way I felt self-worth, with people thinking I was the best.
Anytime I can take a fight, I feel good doing it.
I knew I had to just keep believing, never lose sight of my purpose. As a fighter, you need to be delusional in a way. It keeps you going.
I like to say I eat black belts for breakfast. They're just great match-ups for me.
I'm never not motivated to train.
That's how you continue your passion and find inspiration; getting new ideas, getting new looks and new visions. Those are ways to evolve and stay passionate.
Of course, in Joe Jitsu it is about a lot more than fighting. It depends on their style, their confidence, the way that their hair falls in the morning, the way that their clothes look. It's more state of mind.
The title's the goal, not to beat Henry Cejudo. Because I already accomplished that goal.
People do that all the time - they switch teams, switch coaches, switch camps.
I remember this one time I had a dream about me writing a screenplay, and when I woke up, you know those dreams that feel so real, but I woke up and I was like, 'Oh my god I have this amazing screenplay I need to write down as soon as I wake up' and then I woke up and I was like what the heck was I dreaming of?
I'm not a guy who typically has an after-party. I like to have pizza in my hotel room with the people that went out to support me.
When I got into the sport and wrote down my goals, it was never to be a UFC main event or to be a on a UFC main card. It was to be the UFC champion.
This sport is crazy, it moves along and we all have a short memory. No one realizes when fighters are out. They just remember their last fight and how they look now.
When you're fighting the best, best guys in the world, there's no glaring weaknesses. There's X-factors and there's small openings that you have to prepare for better and that's really it.
I'm actually a pretty quiet guy when it comes to fighting. I'm pretty serious. When I go out to fight people I'm not a big talker.
I never compromised my integrity by playing a character. I didn't tweet anybody something crazy. I was just myself, kept winning and stayed ready. I didn't sell my soul.
I can explode from both stances as a fighter. I can get up into my southpaw, give one good jab, sprawl, then get up into my orthodox, sprawl, go into southpaw and jab.
That's what Dominick Cruz does. He wins decisions and he has that down to a science. He's great at it.
I believe in my skill 100 percent, that I can go out there and beat Demetrious Johnson and give him the best fight there is.
When you appreciate something and you're grateful for it - like going in to work everyday or just your partner or your job - you just do it that much better because you're lucky that you're doing it.
All we have is our talent. That's what's great about the division, you can see things that 125-pound guys can do that some other guys can't. All we have is our skill.
My goal is to be UFC champion, and my eyes are on that prize.
My three most impressive fights have been against black belts in jiu-jitsu.
I love crying. I pick movies to go see with the intention of crying.
Life is crazy. It goes in directions that you could never guess.
When the UFC announced that 125 tournament, I remember thinking, 'Finally, this is my spot.'
Taking punches to the face at six in the morning, it's funny to hear that but, like, I'm grateful that I'm capable to do that.
My wife... so grateful for that. Nothing can be bad - going home and having someone making you feel like the best every day.
I think there's no one out there more deserving of a title shot than me.
Dominick Cruz is a great opponent, he has an amazing style.
When I say I wasn't a 'meant to be' guy, I've almost been jaded in the sport, where I don't believe in anything.
It makes you not believe in anything, when you do every single thing you can do right, and then there's still some way to mess it up.
You're always going to want to beat a person that beat you, just to prove you're better.
I want to fight as much as I can.
One person I lost to at 135 was the champion at the time, Dominick Cruz.
Our first job is to go out there and fight - not to do backflips or have a mustache.
I'm just looking for matches that make sense.
I think I could have asked for a title shot after I beat Ian McCall.
I have watched 'Wolf of Wall Street' like eight times.
I'm so passionate and love the craft of movies and watch them over and over.
And that's what I want to do, fight the best guys, the toughest guys to prove I am the best.
The people need to know about guys like John Moraga.
