If you want to be the champ, you've got to beat the champ.
— Mark Hunt
There is nothing wrong with fighting, but when you're fighting an uphill battle on an uneven playing field, that's what I don't like.
I've fought the best in the world.
You don't learn anything from quick knockouts. I learn more about myself from hard fights.
The whole reason I fight is for my family. Everything I do is for them.
I've been given a platform with the UFC, so I might as well share my story.
A few months before my dad died, his eyes had started to go, and his skin was turning green. When he finally went to hospital, he was diagnosed with late-stage pancreatic cancer. None of us kids knew why the old man ignored the doctors and refused their help, but none of us were surprised, either.
Part of my gift as a fighter is being a human punching bag.
Normally, a loss, it's hard to swallow, but you get over it sooner or later.
That first loss in the UFC was a tough one. I hadn't fought in a year, and you start again, different organisation, different scenario, and it all plays into it.
It's a dream of mine to be a mixed martial arts world champion.
I eat too much.
I've been fighting since I was a child, fighting to get out of my circumstances.
I'm always going to say I'm going to knock someone out.
My whole career's been an underdog's.
If you don't like to be hit, you're in the wrong sport.
Every fight could be my last.
Your mind is the most powerful weapon you have.
Fighting has been a part of my life for my entire existence.
When I'm fighting, I'm trying to find a reaction. I try to make the guy move; I try to make him do things that I want him to do. If he likes moving a certain way, I try to set something up so I catch him if he moves that way.
My hands aren't even that big.
People always say its an aggressive and bad sport and just like street fighting, but it's not the same thing. You go into work at the gym every day, and it takes away from being an aggressive person in public. You're training every day, and you're losing that aggression for the public.
Most of the neighbours didn't like our parents, and they particularly gave Dad a very wide berth. We kids didn't have that luxury.
My sister is strong.
I was a cheap criminal; I did many, many wrongs. I admit that. Of course, if I could tell each person I'm sorry, I would.
All I've ever said I need is an opportunity. Give me a chance, and I'll take it with both hands and run with it.
I'm knocking fools out. I'm beating guys because that's what I was born to do.
Whenever I start something, I try to finish it.
I couldn't believe that talk about Jon Jones fighting Lesnar - that would have zero legitimacy. In society, we punish people that do bad things. Why isn't it the same in fighting?
I used to make $300 a week, struggling to put food on the table, but I have become one of the highest-paid fighters in the world. I feel that's destiny.
I don't ask to fight anybody. All I ask is to fight the best fighters in the world.
I've done it my whole life: as a kid, when people made fun of you, I put positive stuff in there to keep me going.
I love fighting.
Every fight is different.
There was a lot of pride, being one of the elite fighters in the world, in the best promotion in the world. That's what I was proud of. To be called a UFC fighter, that was important.
It's not that I don't enjoy fighting. I don't enjoy the circumstances around fighting.
Knocking someone out cold means you just caught them, that's all.
I'm always going to be a New Zealand fighter. I'm a Kiwi, of course, and I've still got my New Zealand passport.
I was in jail a couple of times, and I was probably heading back there for a long time. But martial arts saved my life and some of the choices I made with it.
I always remember my dad's blue overalls and the blue overcoat he wore in winter, and I remember my mum's big old Afro. Sometimes, though, in my memories, smudges have replaced their faces.
I don't feel pain like most people.
A loss is just a loss. You get up again, dust yourself off, go at it again regardless of the circumstances. That's the way I look at it.
You back me into a corner, I'm not going to lay down and die. I've been down that road too many years in my life.
I've been the best fighter in the world at kickboxing - they can't take that away from me - but when I started in MMA, I realized how great this sport is. It's the ultimate combat sport, and that's why I want to be the world's best at it.
It's not my decision, what goes on with who gets a title shot. I mean, some people get their shots in two or three fights. They're pretty lucky. I wish I could be like them.
I'd be champ already if it wasn't for the cheaters.
Every loss I take, I've accepted, and I move on.
I won the world title in K-1 as a nobody.
In the end, I think everyone should be treated fairly.
Mentally, I could fight forever. I feel I'm the best fighter on the planet. My mind says I can fight forever, but physically, I won't be able to do it.
