When you want the belt, you have to work for it.
— Rafael dos Anjos
Press conferences aren't the best thing to do, but it's part of the job.
Ever since I was 10 years old doing jiu-jitsu, I've done well against the tall guys.
I've learned that the key is to fight with no pressure.
I'm a calm-headed fighter. I do my job.
I'm always the underdog, and I go in there and win the fights.
I'm always looking for perfection. Even after training and my coaches say I did good, I always think I could have done more.
I think it's a loser's mentality to get happy with somebody losing.
I want people to remember me as a guy who works hard.
I came from the bottom. Now I'm the main event and UFC champion.
Every night that I put my head on the pillow, I go to sleep knowing that I can do more. I'm working toward perfection. I'm trying to be the best ever.
I'm an aggressive fighter, but I'm smart. I'm not going to play stupid.
The future is out of my hands; it is in God's.
You can promote fights - of course, you have to - you can say 'I'll beat you' or whatever, but you cannot put family, religion, anything like that in the mix. You need to separate things. That is a line a lot of fighters cross.
I'm a big fan of Georges St-Pierre.
I think between 2014 and 2015, I made weight five times in 11 months. During that time, I felt my body change. It was able to hold on to more weight. And anybody who makes weight knows that it gets harder and harder to make weight once you've done it that many times.
I beat Diaz, Pettis, Ben Henderson, Cerrone, and I earned it, man. I earned my title.
A lot of fighters come from Brazil. We've been doing this for long, long years.
Cerrone, he's a very good Muay Thai guy, very long.
I just have to go out and fight my fight and fight to win.
Everybody needs money, but I'm a fighter. For what I make, I'm happy with what I make. The money is not everything; it's about honor.
Power is natural, but it can be improved with a lot of work. It's been something I've focused on for a couple of years because I saw it as a place where I could make improvements.
God makes everything in perfect time, and he doesn't give you anything you can't handle.
I'm the kind of guy who always pushes really hard.
I always trained hard in my life to win the title, and I will train twice as hard to stay at the top.
It wasn't easy to get here, and it will not be easy to take my title away from me.
I'm the best in the world; thank you, Jesus, for that.
I breathe martial arts every day of my life.
I'm looking to make history.
I wouldn't be where I am without Evolve.
You have to respect your opponent.
I am surrounded by great people.
I'm the former lightweight champion. I want to fight one of the top guys. I don't want to fight a guy who isn't ranked.
If you're out for two years, and you beat one guy with a full-time job, without disrespect, but we're talking about fighting for a world title. You can't just beat a guy that went there to cover some guy that got injured, and then this guy, after two and a half years, gets a title shot.
I still have a lot to do, a lot to improve.
Man, Ben Henderson, Donald Cerrone... these guys are a different level, man.
When you put the pressure on yourself, it's not good. If you fight afraid to lose, you wind up not fighting that good.
Everybody likes money. I like money. I need money to survive. But I don't love money. Money is not my god.
My goal is to always be improving my skills.
I want to keep active, so when they called me to fight Nate Diaz, I agreed because I wanted to stay active. I got a little surprised because he was out so long, but he's a tough opponent.
Every fight and every loss taught me something.
It doesn't matter who they put in front of me, I just want people to remember me.
I want to do that. That's my goal. I want to become a legend.
I think every fight is different based on who is fighting.
I don't do fight camps anymore because I live in camp.
I'm confident, motivated.
I'm under contract. Whatever the UFC asks, I have to do because they are my bosses and they treat me very well. I can't complain about that, and it's this, man: When you have a boss, you need to follow orders.
A lot of people tell me I have to trash-talk more, but I got here with my fists, fighting, not with my mouth.
Cerrone is a great opponent. The guy won eight fights straight.
Nate Diaz is a tough opponent. I've fought him.
