How many fighters are going to be able to leave the legacy that I did? Nineteen years old, I came and I conquered.
— Vitor Belfort
I have tried hard to be a good person. It's something I live for.
Everybody knows that people cheat, but I don't.
I live my life for Jesus.
Fighters can fight into their 50s. Why not?
My idea is to have two bases. I keep my family in Rio, and when I have a fight scheduled, I will come to Vegas to train here at Xtreme Couture, which I consider the best place for a MMA fighter to be.
I trained karate in 2001 to fight Heath Herring.
I've had some ups and downs in my personal life, but I have overcame them.
Training is very tiring.
My hope is in God.
I don't even think in the future, pay-per-view is going to exist. You see Netflix and Amazon and what they're doing, and that's a model I think is going to grow and grow.
Life is politics.
Everybody has haters and lovers. That's what life is all about.
I was the youngest champion of the UFC.
I have been fighting and winning all the fights in my division. I think I deserve a title shot.
Sometimes you fall down, but you have to pick yourself back up.
With Carlson Gracie, who saw something in me, I started learning and loved mixing together the martial arts.
I want to create a better environment for the kids who look up to me. I want them to know I'm not a perfect man, but I am a man who is willing to pay the price to do what is right. That's who I am.
My mindset as an athlete and as a man is to accept what God is asking me to do and to live my life expressing God's word.
Everything you do involves sacrifice. My work is to honor my principles, my opponent, and what I believe in. I stand for it, I fight, and I try to get better every day as a human being.
I don't look to God for my wins. I look for God in my daily life.
Any fight that I have can be the last, or it can be the beginning.
I made some adaptations, as I combined karate with my boxing game. I'm adding a couple of nice things from Shotokan to my game.
That's the beauty of the fight: Anything can happen.
The truth is the Vintage Vitor never left.
Like in combat when you're in chaos, a Navy SEAL in chaos, you cannot be afraid of dying for a cause.
If you regret a mistake, don't just make that mistake again. Look at it and learn from it and grow from it.
I don't think Apple would be making the computers, the iPhone, being the top electronics company it is, if Steve Jobs didn't have some regrets over mistakes he made and learned to overcome them.
Having three kids at home is sometimes like dealing with Democrats and Republicans when you're choosing a restaurant.
I think when you're happy with yourself, that's what matters.
You've got to respect your body and know the time to transition to what's next. A lot of athletes cannot transition. They don't have nothing to do after.
What I want is the belt. It doesn't matter who has it.
I'd fight any beast in the jungle, you know?
I started very young... I learned my martial arts first in the street. There were always fights. That's the culture in Brazil.
I do believe my legacy outside of the Octagon is just as good as it is inside of it.
I'm able to fight anywhere.
My heart is so peaceful.
I have lots of business outside of the Octagon, and I'm looking to have fun.
I just want to take one fight at a time.
You never show what you are going to do; you always do what the opponent doesn't expect.
I work for the UFC, and whoever they say I fight, I will.
Training is what sacrifices. I see that in my body.
Some things really don't matter.
I have had regrets along the way, but when I leave this sport, I'll do so with my head held high. I know I gave it my heart and soul, and I tried to learn and be better every day.
I was always a man of the moment. I think it helped me go through things I went through in life.
It's not about motivation. It's about what's driven inside of you.
The way I want to be remembered is not the way I will be, and I'm cool with that.
I have a life of sacrifice. I don't have a normal social life.
I'd like to thank Jesus. He's the one who changed my life.
By the time I was 17 years old, I already had my black belt.
