I'm a smaller guy, so I train at a high pace.
— Demetrious Johnson
I hope people can remember me as the greatest. Who knows?
At the end of the day, I know what my skill set and abilities are, and it's just going to take people a little while to recognize it. Whether that comes around or not, I'm not going to sit here in the corner and pout about it.
You have to take the belt, and I dont give my opponents a chance to take my belt. I go out there and take away their opportunity to take my belt away from me.
I do have my cheat meals. I have Oreos inside the house right now, and I have beer and fried chicken and waffles. All that good stuff. But once it comes down to when I really want to get in shape and get lean, I'll eat clean and go with whole foods.
We've always been into juicing. It's one of the things that my wife likes to do. She's a vegetarian, so she loves to juice. And I'm a big health freak - well, when I feel like being it.
My mind can't always be on fighting.
For every champion, after you win the belt, you want to defend it as many times as possible.
MMA has the rudest, most negative, dumbest, ignorant fans in the world - but it also has the most passionate fans in the world.
If somebody goes, 'You should go to 135,' my heart's just not into it.
I love fighting for the UFC. It's an amazing company. I've done a lot of great things, and they've done a lot of great things for my career.
Before there was a Ronda Rousey, there was a Gina Carano and Cris Cyborg. They finally fought, and we found out who was the baddest woman on the planet, and that was Cris Cyborg. When she hits people, I'm like, 'Whoo!'
The first time I fought Ian McCall, I cut carbs completely out of my diet all through training camp. I was afraid I wasn't going to make weight, that I'd get on the scale, and it would be all, 'He weighs 128,' and the people would throw cabbage at me. I basically cut all carbs on the diet, just eat chicken and greens all the time.
Coaching 'The Ultimate Fighter' in my weight class, I couldn't do it. I'd basically be coaching people to beat me. I'm going to give you my riddle?
A lot of people might sit back and watch Dominick Cruz doing his footwork, and say, 'Oh, Dominick Cruz just dancing around, and he runs away.' It's a totally different atmosphere until you get in there, and you actually experience it.
I don't care about being the champ champ. I want to be the only consecutive 12-time defending champion in any mixed martial arts promotion.
If I went up there and beat T.J. Dillashaw at 135 pounds, I have no interest whatsoever in staying at 135. People are like, 'Why not?' and I'm like, 'I have no interest in fighting guys who walk around at 160 pounds.'
I work way too hard in the gym to woo the judges and just skate by.
Me, I'm a working-class man, and I go to my job, put in the work, and walk away clean and unscathed, and I like it that way.
If you look at the end of a roll of toilet paper, like the brown paper tube, I basically worked in a factory that made humongous ones like that - for concrete or anything you wanted to put in there. I was the guy who chopped those up into smaller pieces, put them in a box, throw it in a pallet, wrap it up, jump in a forklift and put it on a truck.
A lot of people misunderstand what it means to have good cardio. Good cardio is when you are able to push the fight, and I've shown that in all of my fights.
I can eat whatever I want, and I don't get over 145 pounds. A lot of the guys who fight at 125 pounds, they get pretty big, and when it gets closer to the fight, they're walking around at 135 pounds. For me, I try to stay the same weight I typically walk around at.
I wake up around 8:30, 8:45. I eat my breakfast, hit the road by 10 A.M., and get to the gym by 11.
I believe me being married, having a life outside of fighting, gives me a mental break.
I know why the UFC runs the business the way they do. I know why Conor McGregor makes a base pay of $3 million. But I think I justify my pay with my skill set, and I've always been willing to promote my brand.
I think 15 to 18 title defenses is something that would be in the record books forever.
That's kind of how I see my workmanship: it's how many hours I put in that makes me better.
When I'm done my mixed martial arts career, the only people who are gonna remember me and respect what I did and how I lived my life are my two children. That's my legacy, ladies and gentlemen.
My wife is very supportive.
All I can do is make sure Demetrious Johnson does the best he can on fight night and goes out and wins his fights.
There's money to be made, and I want mine.
I'm a black-and-white type of dude. If you say something, I believe you're gonna do it.
If you're going to make as much money as you are, when you're fighting someone else, that's the one thing I always tell people is I would never turn down the truly rightful No. 1 contender in my division, because the UFC can actually strip you. They can say, 'You're not going to fight the No. 1 contender. We can strip you.'
In the beginning of your mixed martial arts career, you're not making good money.
I don't allow people's outlook on me dictate what I do in my life and how I live my life.
I don't have small goals; I just have goals, and it's, one, stay healthy; and two, have a very successful career.
I wasn't a person who hated working. When I was working and training, I loved it. I loved that I had to work that hard. I think it transformed into the gym and then transformed into the octagon. It was a good thing.
I don't want to say I was ever scared to voice my opinion. I was just trying to make a good example, I guess you could say. And even when I'm more outspoken, I believe that I am still making a good example for younger athletes and also future athletes.
For me, I don't need to juice to make weight for my fights. I just do it for the health benefits - to keep my body healthy and to get my greens in me.
Some days I have off like Thursday and Sunday but typically Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday are dedicated to training if I'm in fight camp.
I'm never going to turn down a fight.
I guess I'm bothered by how fans react to certain things and how they're interested in certain things over true talent. I've always appreciated talent over everything else.
They'll always find somebody for me to fight. Whether I win or lose, they'll find somebody to fight, and I'll compete. I'll make money, and I'll pay my bills.
One of the things I always tell people is that when it comes to fighting and fight week, then I'm there for one purpose, and that's to fight and get the hell out of dodge.
In my mind, there's more to life than just fighting. That's just how I am.
You can tell MMA is a carb sport because it's fast; it's explosive. It's not a fat storage sport.
I take care of Demetrious Johnson, and the UFC takes care of themselves. That's nothing against the UFC; they're a well-oiled machine. They do an amazing job at advertising and making stars.
I've knocked people out from the clinch. I've submitted people from armbars, Kimura, last-second armbars. I've knocked people out with one-hand punch.
The first time I saw a commercial for my fight was UFC 210.
At the end of the day, UFC is a business.
