It wasn't easy to get here, and it will not be easy to take my title away from me.
Rafael dos Anjos
I still have a lot to do, a lot to improve.
Cerrone, he's a very good Muay Thai guy, very long.
Man, Ben Henderson, Donald Cerrone... these guys are a different level, man.
If I don't fight McGregor, I still have a good life.
I don't want to fight anybody that just wants to hold you and try and eat the time.
If you look at my record, I have a clean record.
I like to fight, and I think the fans want to see a good fight, too.
I'm the kind of guy who always pushes really hard.
What made me move up to welterweight was all the effort I was doing, to look at my health and have a good life. I wanted to stop sacrificing so much.
I think it's a loser's mentality to get happy with somebody losing.
If I take two years off, I would want to fight as much as possible.
I don't do fight camps anymore because I live in camp.
Everybody needs money, but I'm a fighter. For what I make, I'm happy with what I make. The money is not everything; it's about honor.
I think to get a title shot, you need to have some expressive winnings.
My goal is to always be improving my skills.
I miss submitting people; I have a lot of confidence in my jiu-jitsu.
A lot of fighters come from Brazil. We've been doing this for long, long years.
I just have to go out and fight my fight and fight to win.
It doesn't matter who they put in front of me, I just want people to remember me.
I don't want to just be a champion, and I'm done with that. I wanna be a lightweight legend.
A lot of people tell me I have to trash-talk more, but I got here with my fists, fighting, not with my mouth.
Power is natural, but it can be improved with a lot of work. It's been something I've focused on for a couple of years because I saw it as a place where I could make improvements.
I do things right. No shortcuts.
I'm always looking for perfection. Even after training and my coaches say I did good, I always think I could have done more.
Press conferences aren't the best thing to do, but it's part of the job.
People say McGregor is tall and all that. He's as tall as I am, or maybe even shorter. He might have a longer reach, but I've fought Nate Diaz and Cerrone, who had reach advantage, and fought Anthony Pettis and Ben Henderson.
You have to respect your opponent.
I'm going to show the difference between the champ and second place.
Everybody likes money. I like money. I need money to survive. But I don't love money. Money is not my god.
Ben Henderson, he had never been knocked out before fighting me.
When you want the belt, you have to work for it.
People don't believe in me very much, but I have my teammates and my family that believe in me so much; they see how hard I work.
Eddie Alvarez, man, he's a tough guy.
I'm under contract. Whatever the UFC asks, I have to do because they are my bosses and they treat me very well. I can't complain about that, and it's this, man: When you have a boss, you need to follow orders.
I beat Diaz, Pettis, Ben Henderson, Cerrone, and I earned it, man. I earned my title.
If you're out for two years, and you beat one guy with a full-time job, without disrespect, but we're talking about fighting for a world title. You can't just beat a guy that went there to cover some guy that got injured, and then this guy, after two and a half years, gets a title shot.
Nate Diaz is a tough opponent. I've fought him.
I'm the former lightweight champion. I want to fight one of the top guys. I don't want to fight a guy who isn't ranked.
I think between 2014 and 2015, I made weight five times in 11 months. During that time, I felt my body change. It was able to hold on to more weight. And anybody who makes weight knows that it gets harder and harder to make weight once you've done it that many times.
Cerrone is a great opponent. The guy won eight fights straight.
I am surrounded by great people.
I'm a big fan of Georges St-Pierre.
You can promote fights - of course, you have to - you can say 'I'll beat you' or whatever, but you cannot put family, religion, anything like that in the mix. You need to separate things. That is a line a lot of fighters cross.
I wouldn't be where I am without Evolve.
The future is out of my hands; it is in God's.
I'm confident, motivated.
I'm looking to make history.
I'm an aggressive fighter, but I'm smart. I'm not going to play stupid.
I breathe martial arts every day of my life.
