I see some fighters lose very badly, but still they get more praise or they're not overrated. They're just good fighters in a lot of people's eyes. But I feel like one loss with King Mo, it made me a very bad fighter somehow.
Trust me, I've seen a lot of fighters come in hot and they disappear faster than they came in after a loss or two. This is the UFC and the best fighters in the world are here. If you fight the great fighters you're bound to lose.
Some fighters know when to stop on their own and go on to something else, and then some fighters have nothing to go back to after they are finished. Some fighters still have the burning fire and feel that they just need to try one more time. Few can do it.
I think sometimes the fighters aren't very clear on things, and even myself, I'm a fighter, a lot of fighters make mistakes about working their image and how they market themselves.
I still know I'm a true champion, I'm a great fighter, some of the best fighters of all time have a loss, or more than a couple of losses.
You hear a lot from the other fighters that have fought in Denver, you see some of the fighters are just gassing out.
A lot of the fighters will say you'll know if a fighter's won or lost just by a fighter's eyes - whether they're scared of the other person.
A lot of fighters don't like to critique other fighters because this is a fighting sport. But just like when you have good days and bad days, we are OK to talk about it. It's not so bad for me and my twin brother to critique each other because we have been criticized by everyone else too.
I fought tall fighters, short fighters, strong fighters, slow fighters, sluggers and boxers. It was either learn or get knocked off.
Actually, when I fought in PRIDE, we had the best fighters in the world. Back then, the UFC had a very serious and big crisis; they were going through some tough times trying to get top fighters. All the best fighters were in PRIDE.
I had some very fit people. I worked with a lot of athletes helping them, especially combat athletes, MMA fighters,[Dennis] Bermudez, [Chris] Weidman, and guys on the lower levels - boxers and MMA fighters.
Bellator is open to a fighters union - fighters binding together to see what's in our best interest. That's something you can't even breathe about elsewhere. I think it's a good thing for myself and other fighters to have that.
A lot of the time you have good fighters with good records, some top-class fighters, and they do some kind of crazy stuff, and there's nothing that you can do to stop them from doing it. That's the hardest part of training others.
I like exciting fighters - Anthony Pettis, Jose Aldo. I like all the great fighters, Cain Velasquez, all the champions. They're so good at what they do. I just admire people who are good at what they do and people you can watch and learn from.
When people first started watching UFC, it seemed like a no-holds barred event... early on it looked like all the fighters were crazy. Actually, there are a lot of techniques, and the reality shows have let people see the fighters behind the scenes.
You'll always have people saying 'these guys look good' but there's a difference in what we're looking for. We want our fighters to look like fighters, sure, but the moves still have to look good.
I look up to fighters like Vitor Belfort, Anderson Silva, Chuck Liddell and Randy Couture. A lot of the fighters that fought into their older age and for me, as a warrior, I just love it.