Every Mexican fighter has the heart; they work hard with their training, and they never give up. That's the mentality I always had and always saw growing up.
— Cain Velasquez
You don't want the fight to stop on a cut or something like that. You want to finish the fight. You always have the idea that you have the chance to stay in a fight, because one blow can end it all.
Personally, most of my injuries were ones that I sustained during fights in the UFC, not in practice.
I know what people expect of me - to have the fighting style of going forward and having a lot of action.
Fighting is what I love to do.
I didn't have a hero playing in sports that looked like me.
There is always a possibility that you could lose, because the outcome isn't written yet: you have to go out and write it. If you want it bad enough, if you do the training and prepare yourself to succeed, and do everything in your power to win, you'll have a better chance of succeeding.
If you lose, what can you do to get better and learn from it?
I'm going to be the best fighter I can be and focus on being me.
I never go into a fight thinking, 'I have to finish this guy' - that's not a part of my game plan. I go out there and fight the way I fight.
My life is calm. Once I get home from practice, I just want to spend time with my family.
Growing, up I didn't really have anyone to look up to. There weren't a lot of Mexicans on T.V. except for those in boxing.
I don't think about being undefeated; I don't think about what people say in the media about me, whether it's good or bad. I just don't think of it.
For me, 240 is my target weight.
Wrestling has made me very mentally strong, conditioned me really well for MMA, and given me phenomenal balance.
There's nobody better than me, especially Junior Dos Santos.
Dos Santos just has really good movement. He's really quick with his hands. He throws good combinations, and he has a lot of power. Combining all of that, it makes it really tough for somebody to fight with him.
Boxers box to get ready to fight; wrestlers wrestle. We have so much we have to do to get ready, but fighting is one of them.
Let me be clear: MMA training is tough work, and every fighter has had to enter the Octagon with aches and pains as well as exhaustion. This is the game.
It's my heritage overall, my people. Mexicans are known for being hard-working people, showing a lot of heart. I wanted to show people I am Mexican and I'm proud of it.
I loved football as a kid.
You can't dwell on the past and be down on yourself because you lost. You have to take the positive away from it and see how you can improve yourself moving forward.
Don't bad-mouth me and then try to be my friend.
All I can tell you is I'm going to be myself. I'm not the type of person that is going to develop into some character or come up with some phrase I will always say.
For every new guy, you need to change a few things in the way you train, the way you take every fight. For every guy I train for, I prepare differently and learn new things, and I just keep them. That's why it's good to be fighting new people, because you add new things to your arsenal and keep getting better and better all the time.
For me, to make a living off of working out is a dream for me. I don't know, I really can't be in an office and stuff like that. I want to do something that I love, and training, that's what motivates me.
Do I think my wrestling is the best? No, I think it's up there around the top.
I've always loved competing; I've always loved working out - and wrestling, of course.
Heath Herring is tough as nails, and he fights hard.
I want everybody on Fox to see my fighting style, to really become a fan of the sport.
For me, it's all about training and fighting. I would rather do without the attention, but I know it comes with the territory.
My body size and everything was perfect for being a heavyweight wrestler rather than being a linebacker.
I will be the first to say when I know I can't fight due to injury, as my long-term health is my number one priority.
MMA is so exciting. It doesn't matter if you know the rules or not. If you like a fight, it's automatically gonna draw you in.
I take my health and the longevity of my career very seriously.
I grew up watching my parents work in the fields. That's where I get my work ethic from, because I saw them work hard my whole life.
I have the Mexican blood. I'm proud to be Mexican.
You just have to fight the perfect fight to win. You have to have a game plan and follow it. You have to develop every time you go out there and keep getting better.
Once I started wrestling, I really got into it, and I just knew that I wanted to do that - I wanted to wrestle all the way through college.
I'm not really too big of a sports fan. Everything I watch is MMA, you know, great fights. But other sports, not really too much.
Know what your strengths are, but also keep in mind what your weaknesses are; always work on your weaknesses.
While wrestling in college as a junior, it came to a point where wrestling just wasn't enough for me anymore. I love wrestling, but I felt like I was missing something, and so the striking part about MMA, the boxing and kickboxing, was what got me really interested in MMA.
Obviously, throwing leg kicks in the first round is not smart, but it's something that I can really utilize in the later rounds to both score points and look to finish the fight.
