There are definitely designers that I love, people I love to work with. And who they are as people matters. Are they good people? Do they treat their staff well? Do they treat my staff well? Are they young? Can I give them a boost? But when all of that is equal... is it cute?
I feel like a fight is a season. When you're in the UFC, one fight is the equivalent of a whole football season, so when you lose a fight, the fans only remember you from your last fight, so it's very important to perform well, and to keep winning.
You look at the staff, the whole staff, from the security to the nutritionists, everybody. Everybody's happy. They want to be there. They look like they want to be in the UFC.
I'm just tired of the unethical people, the scumbags, all that. Maybe that's how all businesses are run, but in MMA, I've been in the UFC, Legacy, and Bellator. The UFC was the best, and even they didn't treat you that well.
I think Jose Aldo is a great fighter, has a great history, no one can deny that, but many people think I should go to bantamweight because I'm too small, and instead I went to 155 to fight someone who came as a top contender in the UFC. I was beating Ben Henderson before getting injured. Aldo won't fight at 155 because he doesn't want to.
Some staff doesn't work well under pressure. So I make sure that my staff is very comfortable. I've got a bad reputation for being quite callous when it comes to culling staff. They are selected personally by me. I socialize with all my staff and they know me well and I consider them friends and we travel overseas together.
In the UFC, you are only as good as your last fight. It's really a fight-by-fight type of career in the UFC.
I don't want to fight in UFC just because I was a champion in UFC. I'm gonna have to earn it. It's gonna have to be how I fight.
After the Ronda fight, I wasn't sure what the UFC held for me. I think coming out of that fight, I didn't know if losing that fight meant that I could get cut because I knew the rumors at the time was how easily fighters could get cut from the UFC.
I no fight for the money because I work hard for UFC for long time. I have money for my family. But I fight because I love it.
I feel like - and I think the UFC feels it as well - that I put on good shows every time I fight. The fans have responded well to when I fight - they seem to enjoy it - and that's what I strive to do.
To stay in the UFC while fighting top opponents... tell me one easy fight I had in the UFC. I have a history in the UFC.
Bellator offered me a job. UFC never offered me an opportunity to fight. There's no question that UFC is the top. It's a machine. A lot of people, including myself, have helped build the UFC to where it is today.
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.
Even though the UFC is millionaire, trillionaire, we have to live our reality. Unfortunately, the UFC makes all that, we don't. But I'm happy with my job, happy with my salary.
I signed a contract to fight at UFC 187, so I'm going to fight at UFC 187, whoever it is against. It's the same thing.