If you want to be the champ, you've got to beat the champ.
Mark Hunt
I was in jail a couple of times, and I was probably heading back there for a long time. But martial arts saved my life and some of the choices I made with it.
Home was never a safe place for me. I felt safer on the streets.
Cheating is nothing to be proud of.
I don't want to be remembered as just some tough guy who could take punches.
A few months before my dad died, his eyes had started to go, and his skin was turning green. When he finally went to hospital, he was diagnosed with late-stage pancreatic cancer. None of us kids knew why the old man ignored the doctors and refused their help, but none of us were surprised, either.
Your mind is the most powerful weapon you have.
I'm always going to say I'm going to knock someone out.
I couldn't believe that talk about Jon Jones fighting Lesnar - that would have zero legitimacy. In society, we punish people that do bad things. Why isn't it the same in fighting?
I don't feel pain like most people.
I always remember my dad's blue overalls and the blue overcoat he wore in winter, and I remember my mum's big old Afro. Sometimes, though, in my memories, smudges have replaced their faces.
I've had a pretty chequered past, you know, as a kid, as a troubled kid.
At the end of the day, that's just boxing - it's a different sport altogether. But when I finish fighting for the UFC, there are so many different options I have. Boxing is another option I could take.
I don't turn down fights unless I'm injured. Never have. So it's a part of my makeup.
Normally, a loss, it's hard to swallow, but you get over it sooner or later.
There was a lot of pride, being one of the elite fighters in the world, in the best promotion in the world. That's what I was proud of. To be called a UFC fighter, that was important.
All the guys at this top level, they're pretty much dangerous all over the place. If you're not good all over the place, you'll be in a little bit of trouble. It's hard to swim at the top end if you're only good at one thing.
I was a cheap criminal; I did many, many wrongs. I admit that. Of course, if I could tell each person I'm sorry, I would.
I don't ask to fight anybody. All I ask is to fight the best fighters in the world.
Coming from a standing background in striking, I couldn't catch up to the guys with 20-plus years of training on the ground. I had to learn submissions. I found out it wasn't an easy road. I had six losses in a row, but I still felt I was the best fighter in the world.
Most of the neighbours didn't like our parents, and they particularly gave Dad a very wide berth. We kids didn't have that luxury.
Mentally, I could fight forever. I feel I'm the best fighter on the planet. My mind says I can fight forever, but physically, I won't be able to do it.
I've been training jiu-jitsu for a while. It just didn't really click in my brain. Maybe sometimes I get a bit lazy. By the time I realize I'm in trouble, I'm already caught. You can't really think about it. You've got to just react as it happens.
All I've ever said I need is an opportunity. Give me a chance, and I'll take it with both hands and run with it.
Anyone who knows me knows how sharp my mind is. I speak at a thousand miles an hour. I'll hold a discussion or a debate with anyone.
I'm knocking fools out. I'm beating guys because that's what I was born to do.
It's always discouraging to lose. You look at it and think, 'Man, what's going on?' It's always discouraging. But I'm a fighter. I don't like to quit.
Yes, I was a bully. But the scrapping on the streets was my way of dealing with the anger I felt towards my parents.
I have, like, 12 screws in my hand.
In the end, I think everyone should be treated fairly.
A loss is just a loss. You get up again, dust yourself off, go at it again regardless of the circumstances. That's the way I look at it.
If I get the boot out of the UFC, I'll still continue to fight.
Knocking someone out cold means you just caught them, that's all.
Whenever I start something, I try to finish it.
If you don't like to be hit, you're in the wrong sport.
I'd like to fight and get close to that title shot - that's all I'm interested in. My whole purpose is to fight for the world title.
My whole career's been an underdog's.
I've built a career in one of the toughest, most ruthless industries in the world. You can't do that unless you're completely with it.
Every fight could be my last.
What my thing is, I tell most of the time the truth, and sometimes it's good for me, sometimes it's bad. But, it's true.
Sometimes I don't sleep well.
At the end of the day, none of us are really promised tomorrow anyway.
I was K-1 world champion.
I never turned down any fight. I'm always up for the opportunity.
I'm always going to be a New Zealand fighter. I'm a Kiwi, of course, and I've still got my New Zealand passport.
You can hear me starting to stutter and slur my words.
I've done it my whole life: as a kid, when people made fun of you, I put positive stuff in there to keep me going.
I love fighting.
I've still got my senses about me, and I know what's right and wrong, which is the main thing.
I won the world title in K-1 as a nobody.
