I've learned that the key is to fight with no pressure.
I don't want to fight anybody that just wants to hold you and try and eat the time.
A lot of people tell me I have to trash-talk more, but I got here with my fists, fighting, not with my mouth.
Everybody talks. Anthony Pettis talked before the fight. Donald Cerrone talked before the fight. See what happened?
I need talk more, call people out. It's not who I am, but I feel I need to do this more to bring more attention for me.
I don't want to just be a champion, and I'm done with that. I wanna be a lightweight legend.
I want to keep active, so when they called me to fight Nate Diaz, I agreed because I wanted to stay active. I got a little surprised because he was out so long, but he's a tough opponent.
I get paid the same money if I'm fighting on pay-per-view or on Fight Pass, and Fight Pass is just getting started. It's the future. The Internet, many people watch it.
I want people to remember me as a guy who works hard.
Eddie Alvarez, man, he's a tough guy.
Everybody needs money, but I'm a fighter. For what I make, I'm happy with what I make. The money is not everything; it's about honor.
I want to do that. That's my goal. I want to become a legend.
It was priceless. Being the UFC champion and having my kids in the Octagon, my wife, them holding the belt. That was like a movie.
I'm a big fan of Georges St-Pierre.
Ever since I was 10 years old doing jiu-jitsu, I've done well against the tall guys.
I'm under contract. Whatever the UFC asks, I have to do because they are my bosses and they treat me very well. I can't complain about that, and it's this, man: When you have a boss, you need to follow orders.
Just to be fighting for the belt, I was already happy. No pressure at all.
It wasn't easy to get here, and it will not be easy to take my title away from me.
I'm the former lightweight champion. I want to fight one of the top guys. I don't want to fight a guy who isn't ranked.
I think every fight is different based on who is fighting.
Press conferences aren't the best thing to do, but it's part of the job.
Bro, how are you going to tap on the neck, on the choke? Go to sleep, man. Be a man.
Cerrone is a great opponent. The guy won eight fights straight.
I still have a lot to do, a lot to improve.
I think Robbie Lawler is a good name and a fight that interests me.
God makes everything in perfect time, and he doesn't give you anything you can't handle.
I didn't get any crazy sponsors. I don't have any extra sponsors since I got the belt.
A lot of fighters come from Brazil. We've been doing this for long, long years.
I always trained hard in my life to win the title, and I will train twice as hard to stay at the top.
When you put the pressure on yourself, it's not good. If you fight afraid to lose, you wind up not fighting that good.
I think to get a title shot, you need to have some expressive winnings.
Every night that I put my head on the pillow, I go to sleep knowing that I can do more. I'm working toward perfection. I'm trying to be the best ever.
I'm not a trash talker. I respect my opponents.
I'm a calm-headed fighter. I do my job.
You can promote fights - of course, you have to - you can say 'I'll beat you' or whatever, but you cannot put family, religion, anything like that in the mix. You need to separate things. That is a line a lot of fighters cross.
I wouldn't be where I am without Evolve.
When you want the belt, you have to work for it.
I think it's a loser's mentality to get happy with somebody losing.
The way I train, the way I spar, I'm out of my comfort zone every single day, and you can see the result in my fights.
I fight because I like challenges.
I train to fight five rounds, but if we can end the fight in the first round, it's even better.
I don't do fight camps anymore because I live in camp.
I think between 2014 and 2015, I made weight five times in 11 months. During that time, I felt my body change. It was able to hold on to more weight. And anybody who makes weight knows that it gets harder and harder to make weight once you've done it that many times.
People say McGregor is tall and all that. He's as tall as I am, or maybe even shorter. He might have a longer reach, but I've fought Nate Diaz and Cerrone, who had reach advantage, and fought Anthony Pettis and Ben Henderson.
Ben Henderson, he had never been knocked out before fighting me.
What made me move up to welterweight was all the effort I was doing, to look at my health and have a good life. I wanted to stop sacrificing so much.
I miss submitting people; I have a lot of confidence in my jiu-jitsu.
I think things will come once I get the respect that I deserve. Keeping my belt for a long time... Things will happen like normal. I can't force those things.
In the future, I want to have super-fights.
