Athlete

There are so many variables that go into a fight, you shouldn't waste your time worrying about the other fighters.

I'm like a tree. My leaves might change color, but my roots are the same.

It's really nice to know that hard work does pay off.

I love to learn, and that's the really cool thing about martial arts - you're always learning new things.

I'm the all-around threat. I've got the look; I think I've got the whole package.

I think there's a lot of mental instability in this whole country.

I didn't need the belt to validate me.

When I'm totally in tune with myself, and I'm flowing, it don't matter who I'm fighting; that's just a problem for anybody.

I'm just here to show up and fight and then get my money and go home.

When I force things, it just doesn't go well.

My hands look like my dad's and my mom's put together. She's a piano player, he was an artist, and I use the creative qualities I got from them in my fighting. But I don't just destroy with my hands; I also create: I cook and make art and garden.

I think it's important to inspire other people to try and do things that people discourage you to do.

Fighting helped me learn that I can't let my emotions take over.

I definitely get down on myself. I needed to work on my self-talk. The same way you do footwork drills and cardio training, I had to do self-talk training.

I used to fight with hate. There's been a lot of aggression in my past growing up and stuff. That's because I was hurt myself.

I want to encourage people to be nicer to each other, to be nicer to themselves.

That's what I want to do when I finish fighting - build urban farms and learn how to become a farmer, because that's what I wanted to be when I was a little girl.

We're not just fighters, we're entertainers.

There's pros and cons to everything, and I choose to look at the positives.

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?