I'm like a tree. My leaves might change color, but my roots are the same.
Rose Namajunas
All I can control is myself and just keep having a positive attitude.
You just keep a positive attitude no matter what comes in your way - challenges, roadblocks - don't let it faze you, and you can overcome anything.
All the scars on my body, all the bumps and bruises, all the muscles - that is a story of everything I have done. And it's not just my story. My ancestors who came before me gave me this vessel to sculpt and mold.
I have overcome some demons in my path.
I'm successful every day because I look in the mirror, and I'm happy with who I am.
Oh, man - I don't have just one favorite fighter, but I draw from many different aspects of each fighter. But I will say, just going back in the history of the UFC, just kind of trying to learn from each fighter, I've been looking at Brock Lesnar, all the things he did for the UFC back in the day, and his attitude and things like that.
I didn't need the belt to validate me.
It's hard to focus on a fight when your heart is broken and you're not happy in your relationship, especially if that's your coach. That's like fighting without one leg.
I learned that love is a much more sustainable energy to draw on than hate.
Me being the best in the world, it doesn't mean that much to me if I'm not a good person at the end of the day, if I'm not setting a good example for other people to be better to each other.
I'm just here to show up and fight and then get my money and go home.
We need the villain sometimes. It makes for an interesting story.
I want to encourage people to be nicer to each other, to be nicer to themselves.
There's a process to everything. If you fast track or make shortcuts in any way, and you get too much of one thing, you're just out of balance.
There are so many variables that go into a fight, you shouldn't waste your time worrying about the other fighters.
I'm glad I went through the 'TUF' experience.
It takes a lot of courage in that cage no matter who you are.
That Dutch style of kickboxing, that's great. That's hard. It's very intimidating to stand across from, but you know it's very rhythmic on the beat. It's just something: It looks scary, but it's nothing to be scared of.
When they asked us what we wanted to be when we grow up, in kindergarten, I always said I wanted to be a farmer.
Every fight is dangerous, no matter who you're fighting, no matter what the story behind it is.
I love to learn, and that's the really cool thing about martial arts - you're always learning new things.
It's all about me, no matter who I'm fighting.
There's pros and cons to everything, and I choose to look at the positives.
It's pretty cool to be called a champion.
I'm more dramatic than other people are, or I just show it more. I don't think there's anything wrong with that. I have a lot of passion.
Fighting causes you to face life head on, because you could end up seriously getting hurt, and you could hurt somebody else. It causes both people to face the reality that we are fragile beings, but it doesn't mean we can't enjoy ourselves in the process and punch each other in the face and have a good time.
I'm always trying to improve, and you can't ever expect anything from me. You can always just expect me to be dangerous.
I'm just a very impatient person. It's always something that I'm working on, and just staying interested in the fight game is the biggest challenge for me. As long as I'm interested and I have an incentive to stay interested, then I'm unbeatable.
A lot of times, my best friend was my dog.
I grew up with lots of anger, frustration, and violence in my heart.
The learning curve, and the things that you have to adapt to on a daily basis in the UFC, is pretty crazy. It's a huge burden for anybody to have: not just the fighting itself but learning how to deal with the other responsibilities.
Mixed martial arts - there's just been a lot of trash talking and things like that. People, I feel like, aren't really being true to themselves or being honest. I don't know, maybe that's what they feel they need to do to entertain things.
There's a lot around us that we can't control, but my body, my mind, and my soul are pretty much the only things that I can.
When you want to be a fighter, you have to give it everything you got. MMA just became who I am because of the amount of work I was putting into my training. It all starts in the gym. The hours turn into days, days into weeks, and weeks into months; it's like school - the more time you spend learning, the better you'll be prepared for a test.
I live in a very nice neighborhood. There's nothing that really goes on around here.
I love my 303 ladies. We go hard here, you know - we're fierce!
Being resourceful and creating is a big part of my Lithuanian culture. My grandfather is part of who I am, too. He was a professional wrestler. He had a very functional, very slick, long frame.
I feel like anything can be worked out; you just gotta talk through it as adults.
Martial arts is about honor and respect.
I'm sick of all the hate and anger and stuff like that going on.
What's the point of being the best in the world if you scratch and claw your way to the top, and you push everybody down instead of lifting everybody else up with you?
I've got Pat 'HD' Barry in my corner.
I've done taekwondo striking my entire life.
I think that's what makes me so great of a fighter. I'm crazy as hell. And fighting helps me with that.
All I can do is make sure I show up to fight, and then they have no choice but to pay me.
Any mistakes that I make is an investment in my future.
People think after the fight you get to sit around and relax and all that. But really, people come around and family and all that, so it's a whole 'nother responsibility you have to take care of.
Of course, fighting is one of the most emotional things that you can possibly do. You have to constantly deal with your emotions, especially myself. I have so many that that's where I get my energy from. But it's a matter of controlling them, and yeah, I just don't let nothing affect me.
Your mind is just like your body. It's a muscle you can train and get better at.
