Athlete

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.

I think I could have asked for a title shot after I beat Ian McCall.

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.

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.

If I went out there and felt the best I ever felt and fought the best I've ever fought and lost, I would have to reconsider things and think differently. I would have a different outlook on my career.

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've always believed I was going to win a world title.

My wife... so grateful for that. Nothing can be bad - going home and having someone making you feel like the best every day.

Cejudo would be awesome. It would be an honor to go out and fight an Olympian.

That's what Dominick Cruz does. He wins decisions and he has that down to a science. He's great at it.

Persevering is a fight. That's what a fight is. You face something, you persevere through it, you meet it head on.

It would mean a lot, but it's weird, because what's the title? It's an extra line on your Wikipedia page and a medal that says you won on that particular night. It obviously symbolizes more than that, but those are the things people think about.

We have physical therapy there now so any fighter with an injury in the UFC can come to Vegas and get treatment every day.

I hate when people come out after a fight and they talk about injuries.

I'm never not motivated to train.

Everything happens just like it's supposed to happen; you've just got to roll with it and keep moving forward.

People do that all the time - they switch teams, switch coaches, switch camps.

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.

You never want to get injured, of course. That's just not what you do, but in the scheme of things 12 years of professional fighting and having to sit out nine, ten months for an injury is not that bad.

I think I can beat anyone in the world. That's what I train for. It's just a test of skills for me.