I usually fight a lot. 2015, I fought three times. I fought three of the best guys in the entire world.
— Daniel Cormier
Legacy does matter to me, and I want to leave a good one in MMA.
I think I'm as good if not better than everyone else.
Guys play basketball and get hurt, and that's probably the easiest sport on the planet. We're actually fighting every day. We're wrestling; we're grappling.
I do believe, whenever this is all said and done, we won't talk about Mickey Gall, the guy that beat CM Punk; we'll just talk about Mickey Gall, the guy who is a top 10 fighter, a good welterweight or maybe a great welterweight.
Who I have fought and how I have fought, it says something about me.
The only thing that can ever make a Louisiana boy feel better is Popeye's.
Wrestling is a hard sport, but it's only a sport.
I know what I've done, and I know who I am.
I need to be competing. Coaching is good, but I like to be in the fire.
I'm so bad at baseball, I can't even hit now.
If you're the UFC champion, you're the best in the world at what you do, and I get the opportunity to do that.
I was a fan of Jon Jones. I thought he was great.
You don't get to the highest levels of the sport without having the basics in order.
I have to be smart. You cannot be going in there, trying to go forward and pressure guys, and be taking damage and getting hurt on the way to doing it.
My confidence comes from me, not from Jon Jones. I can't draw my confidence from another person.
My confidence comes from my fights and my training.
You don't see many Jon Jones's.
My resume, my career, and my legacy in this sport means more to me then collecting some checks.
It's unfair to think that we can do what we do with the intensity that we do it and expect injuries to not happen.
How can you train if you're constantly worried about getting injured?
I think Mickey Gall's going to be really good.
I grew up in Louisiana. We have red beans and rice, and there's a Popeye's on every corner.
I've dealt with a lot in my life.
I don't mind playing spoiler.
If I didn't have the wrestling name that I have, I wouldn't have gotten the financial contract that I got with Strikeforce or the long-term contract or the television contract. That's all because of wrestling.
I went and worked at a TV station in Stillwater. I was actually account manager for commercial accounts, selling ad space and everything.
I was into basketball, but then once I found contact sports, it was over. I never played basketball again in my life.
If I would have won that Olympic gold medal, I would have gotten a job somewhere coaching at a university, and I would be totally content with my life.
As a champion and one of the best fighters in the world, guys should always step up to the plate and want to fight Jon Jones.
Being able to go forward has been good, you know? I'm lucky to have that ability, to pressure guys and make them falter and wilt.
I went through a training camp; I worked extremely hard. I prepared for UFC 200. This was the big one. This one meant everything to me.
My confidence comes from knowing I do the right things in my life. I do the right things in the gym. I do the right things all together.
I'm not really worried about what Anthony Johnson does. I have to worry about what I do to prepare myself.
I want to be regarded as the best guy in the world, and I want to beat the best guy in the world.
People always get confused. They talk about coaches. The reality is, these coaches and managers that everybody thinks are in so much control, they work for us. They're our employees.
I went out there, and I fought Anderson Silva, and you know what? I got a big W, and that's massive for my career going forward.
When you look at my record at 10-0 as a professional and look at Jon Jones' record when he was 10-0, who was his toughest guy? Stephan Bonnar, and he did not finish him. I have fought higher-caliber opponents at this stage in my career than Jon did in his at 9-1; His tenth fight was Matt Hammil.
If there's an opportunity for me to compete at something, I'm there.
My little girl's in Heaven. She's my angel, and I can draw from that.
Ovince Saint Preux needs to know that not only me but every other guy at the American Kickboxing Academy are ready and open to open those doors in trying to help him accomplish his goals.
I had a really dark time after the Olympic Games... But then I said to myself, 'This is a sport that's blessed me with a home, with an education, with some money. I can't hate this sport. This sport took me out of Louisiana. This sport gave me a chance when so many people don't get a chance. And I love this sport.'
If you say John Smith is the greatest wrestler in Oklahoma history, now that's big.
I've always been a rough kid.
I'm not on a slander campaign to ruin Jon Jones publicly. That's not what I set out to do.
You have to be a champion in all facets of life.
I have definitely worked on that... being efficient and also being smarter with my pressure.
I'm not a guy that really likes to pile onto somebody. Doesn't really matter who it is.
I want to be the best.
