The athlete is not treated like he deserves. We deserve better. I'm not speaking only about the UFC, but about the media as well. The fans treat us really well.
The athlete is not treated like he deserves. We deserve better. I'm not speaking only about the UFC, but about the media as well. The fans treat us really well.
We have to talk a little trash to sell fights, talk more, because we know we will profit more from that. It's important.
I was a fan of jujitsu, so that pretty much got me started in fighting. I won a lot of local competitions when I was young and eventually won a ticket to go compete in Rio de Janeiro. In Rio, I struggled a lot in the beginning, living in the gym and not having much to eat, but eventually I joined the Nova Uniao Team and really improved my skills.
Everyone should go up there and fight. Go up there and go through opponents and earn their opportunity to fight for the title, not talk their way into the title.
I love sports - I am a die-hard fan of soccer, and I am always at Maracana Stadium in Rio watching Flamengo play. I am also a big fan of basketball; I stay up at night to watch Lebron James play whenever I can.
Everybody knows if you have the rules, you need to follow the rules and do exactly what you need to do.
Everybody fights for money, of course, but I wanted to leave a legacy when I retired, get my name in the history. I don't think like that anymore. When I lost the belt, I saw how reality is. Champion means nothing.