My dad was a plumber. That's hard work. He never missed a day of work. I will never disrespect him by not showing up for an athletic competition that has a maximum duration of 25 minutes. There should be forfeiture if you have to pull out of a fight. If you don't show up, it should be a loss on your record.
— Chael Sonnen
I love the U.S.A.
When I was young, they used to call me 'foreman,' not because I was in charge, but because I did the work of four men.
Sports are something that, for the most part, are for kids, and if you're able to extend your career, you're very lucky.
I'm a huge supporter of Trump.
I'm better than Jon Jones. I'm better than Sean Combs. I am even better than John Holmes.
All sin and all crime comes from the same thing: 'I decided. I decided this was okay.'
As fighters, the stark reality is, there's times in that cage when we want out. There's times when we've had enough and we want out, and we're able to recognize defeat.
Cain Velasquez, for my money, is the most intimidating force ever in heavyweight combat.
Jon Jones' skill set is unique. Jon Jones goes out there and does video game moves that the announcers can't even call because they've never seen them before.
I've got two 10-8 rounds against Anderson Silva. That's just the truth. I have no equal at middleweight.
I think I can beat any man.
When Georges St-Pierre retired and Jon Jones was absent, I had Jose Aldo, the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world. That's how highly I think of him.
I will not pretend to be something that I'm not. I certainly won't do it to win the audience over.
I will never hope to walk into a room and be cheered.
I would never discredit the sport or my opponent by reading my injury list before or after the fight. I've always thought it's a very underhanded thing to do, and it's a very cowardly thing to do, to come out and say, 'I'm hurt,' particularly if you win a fight.
I train every day but Christmas. I'm not the guy who gets a contract signed and then trains for a fight. I'm at practice every single day, whether I've got a match or not.
I love going to the ring hurt or sick or tired and trying to figure out how to win anyway.
Brian Stann is a great guy. I voted him in for the President of the United States in 2008, and I will write him in again in 2012.
My ideal fight would be against the smallest guy with the most atrocious record in the largest venue for the most insane paycheck. I love easy fights.
I'm candy-coated poison, and you should not believe anything else.
Guys always get jealous or envious of an opportunity, but they never wanna walk out to the mound and point to the crowd and tell them where they're going to hit the ball. I will. I'll call my shots.
I was in Las Vegas when the Nogueira brothers first touched down in America. There was a bus - this is a true story. There was a bus that pulled up to a red light, and Little Nog tried to feed it a carrot while Big Nog was petting it. He thought it was a horse. This really happened.
I didn't get to go to school functions growing up. I didn't get to go to dances. I was never invited to a party ever. Until I got to college and threw a party, I had never even been to one.
It doesn't matter if I'm a rival of Anderson Silva's or not; I'm also very objective. And I'm not going to take something from a guy that he earned. Anderson Silva earned the right to be called the greatest of all time. And those are just the facts.
There's a camaraderie that comes with this sport, but fighting Anderson Silva is a lot like eating Chinese food: twenty minutes after I do it, I'm going to want to do it again.
I never receive backlash for my comments. I receive praise.
Nobody wants to fight Brian Stann. I'm not the only guy, and that's not a big secret.
I'm not going to sidestep anybody, I'm not going to back down from anybody at any weight, and most importantly, I'm not going to pick on a guy who is weaker.
Jose Aldo, this guy's a chicken. I can't even tell you how good Jose Aldo is, but he doesn't think it.
I'm OK with being booed.
Jealousy is a hell of a thing. There's a reason it's one of the deadly sins.
I don't think I've ever had a better experience in the sport than coaching 'The Ultimate Fighter.' I got to do it twice, but I got to really build relationships there that will last forever.
Every fight day, I just stay in my room the entire day, and I just stay in bed. I sleep as late as I can, which usually isn't very late; I'm kind of an early riser. But I try to just stay there in bed. I don't usually eat the day of the fight. I don't eat until after the fight.
When I'm a fan, I show up to boo. I don't show up to cheer; I show up to heckle.
Triangle chokes are the refuge for cowards. I would never stoop to that level of locking my legs around a man and squeezing.
Because of both hipster culture and Facebook culture, the human race is starting to resemble a school of hairy piranhas.
I listen to these pundits all the time breaking down Trump - 'He's brash, and he's bold, and he's successful' - and none of those are what it is. There's one word to sum it up, and it's courage. He has courage.
I don't walk around looking into cameras and telling people I'm the best fighter in the world just to hear myself talk. I say it for the same reason they put warnings on packages of cigarettes, and fighting Chael Sonnen may be hazardous to one's health.
We start to decline as humans and, particularly, as athletes right around 25 years old. If you're real lucky, you might push that to 27 or 28.
Nobody breaks in a fight and comes back in the same fight. Once you break, you're done for the night. You've gotta go back. You've gotta shower up. You've gotta fly home. You've got to reassess, take three or four months, and try it again. But that Anderson Silva breaks in that fight, and still finds a way to win, is remarkable.
I go to a wrestling match, and I love it. But at a wrestling match, on every level - that includes Division I - you go into an empty and cold gym, you roll out a mat, and you set 10 chairs up on each side. That's a dual meet, and it's very hard to act like it's a big event.
Ronda's a very basic and straightforward fighter. However, she's a masterful competitor.
I don't really know what 'respect' means. That sounds like something a kid in the street says after he's getting ready to take your coat and your shoes.
I don't want to be an also-ran.
I wouldn't poke fun at someone if they were weak. I wouldn't bully somebody.
Every time you have a huge fight in wrestling, in boxing, in MMA, both guys are sure they're going to win. They really believe it.
I have never asked the crowd for their approval, and I will never start.
I was never a bully; I would take on everybody at any time. Whether that was the No. 1 guy in the world or whether that was the No. 100 guy in the world, it didn't make any bit of difference. If somebody wanted to fight, I would show up and fight.
I've suffered rib injuries, but I've never had a broken one. I've dislocated it and popped it, and even that, a big step down from broken, it hurts so bad. But you can't really move. You can't even fully breathe and take a deep breath of air.
