I lived with my mom my whole life; her work ethic was ridiculous, and it hasn't changed.
— Stipe Miocic
I'm hungrier than all of them. They didn't put in the effort that I did to get the title. So I don't care what it takes - I'm not giving up that title. I worked too hard to get it, and I'm not going to lose it.
I love Cleveland; I'll always want to fight there. But there's a lot going on in New York. I'd like to go somewhere I'm not known as well.
I had to work hard to keep up with my mom. That's where I learned it from. She's a freak.
DC is good all round. He pushes the pace, makes you think what you're doing, makes you uncomfortable.
What makes me so confident is my coaches, my team: they are the best in the world, and if it wasn't for them, I wouldn't be here.
Music-wise, I like anything with a beat to it. With walkout songs, I pick something to keep me going and to rile me up.
I wouldn't want my corner throwing in the towel no matter what. I wouldn't want my corner to do that.
Werdum's the champ for a reason. He's good at jiu jitsu; like he says, he's gotten better on his feet.
When you train as hard as we do, bad things happen sometimes. It's just part of the sport.
Cleveland, we've got a champion, baby!
It's amazing to come here. I'm so happy that UFC is finally here. We've been starving for it in Cleveland.
I love fighting. I love what I do.
I think any fight you get into, you've got to shine and show that you deserve to be up there.
I like being the underdog. I like turning around and shutting people up when they tell me I can't.
I've got the best coaches in the world. I've got confidence in them, and they've got confidence in me.
Saving people, helping people, is just something I always wanted to do.
During a night shift, I'll work out twice during the day. If I have to work during the day, I usually have guys at the station who will work out with me. Then at night, I'll go train.
I want you to tell me how bad I suck and how I'm going to get knocked out and how I've been lucky my whole career. That's fine. All day.
I'm not going to throw haymakers the whole fight; I'll gas out.
I like winning, so every time I win, it's a better feeling every time.
Anthony 'Rumble' Johnson hits hard. You gotta watch out for him. He's got hammers as fists.
The Hendricks/Lawler fights, those were just epic. Both were non-stop. I couldn't stop watching, and it was hard to look away. I watch those as a fan, and to see two guys fighting like that for 25 minutes is crazy.
I've wrestled my whole life, and when I got done with college, I went back to school to become a firefighter. I liked MMA, but I didn't really know if I wanted to get punched in the face!
You're always nervous before a fight.
I just work hard at everything I do. If there's something I need to learn, I stick to it, I learn it and put everything I have toward it.
People don't want to give me credit, which is fine.
I practice going backward all the time.
I'm from Cleveland. I love this place. I'm never going to leave.
The sport wouldn't be what it is without the fans, and at UFC 189, watching the Irish fans screaming 'Ole Ole Ole' was pretty amazing.
One guy might be ranked higher, but it doesn't mean anything. Where these fights go, lots of things can happen.
I'm always the underdog, but I don't mind that.
When I become champion, you know, I'll never stop being a firefighter.
Of course, fighting's first. That's what I do; that's what pays my bills, you know.
MMA was like wrestling; I love competition.
I understand it's promotion, but no one ever gave me a chance. No one ever thought I'd be the champ, and look where I'm at now.
It's the heavyweight division, man: there's a bunch of big guys, so anything can happen when they hit you. But I have plans, and feel I get better every fight.
Honestly, I don't talk; I just like to fight. I'm not a good talker.
I love what I do, both aspects - fighting and being a firefighter and paramedic.
I love watching 'Orange Is the New Black,' and I play video games, like 'Call of Duty.'
Cleveland's a great city. I love the city. The people here are awesome. They're loyal and hard-working, and they're loyal to our sports scene, and things are changing here.
It's up to the UFC. Whoever they put in front of me, I'll fight.
Every fight's like that. You try to break the guy's will.
I'm just a normal dude.
I'm the world champ! I'm the world champ!
People have always worn Cleveland shirts and supported Cleveland no matter how bad the teams were or how close we were. It didn't matter. That's really all about the city. We're just hardworking people that love the city and don't care how the teams do.
It's nice to see different places and different parts of the world. It's pretty cool, though I hate flying!
Listen, anyone in the heavyweight division in the top ten, there is no easy fight. I don't care what you say.
I'm not scared to go to the ground. I've been wrestling my whole life. I've done a lot of jiu jitsu, but I like standing up, and every fight starts there.
I do my days at the station and then get my training in.
