When I first got into the sport, or first got into athletics, I always felt that sense of responsibility that I was destined for something bigger, that I was going to do something major.
I recall the hard work that my family went through just to continue to live the lifestyle that we were living, which wasn't by any means a great lifestyle.
My parents didn't want me to do this. My dad, when I told him I wanted to wrestle, he told me no, if you're going to play any sports, play baseball.
Crazy things happen in this sport, and you have to be ready. And for me, luck is when preparation meets opportunity.
A lot of people forget that Americans are immigrants. People are forgetting that, to where people have this attitude, 'We're Americans, go back to your country. Go back. This is a free country.' I always heard that growing up. I always heard that.
Anybody in that welterweight division that think they want this, you know you don't, because I'm a problem. I'm a problem in this division.
I have an excellent team, a great manager, and we're going to put something together: we're going to start a foundation, and we're going to change lives.
When I fought in The Ultimate Fighter Finale, I had microfracture surgery, and that's usually eight month's recovery turnaround. I had to fight three months after that, and I fought three months after that. And I had to train through that with that.
Fighters no longer manage themselves: they have a whole team behind them. A fighter has a manager, an agent, a Hollywood agent - they got this and that. And on top of that, they've got their whole team of coaches.