If they're not the toughest fights I can get, then give me a complete washup, someone that'll be an easy payday. But I'd rather have the toughest fights I can get so I can get to the title the fastest way possible.
I just want fights like that. Fights that get me excited. Fights that are going to be exciting.
On my way to winning the title, it was great for me, but once I won the title, it was tough for me to get fights.
It took me 10 fights to get the damn interim title shot and then 11 to get an undisputed shot.
I've been in this position many times and I know it's these so-called easy fights that can be harder than the toughest ones.
These kinds of fights, these big fights that get everyone talking and interested, these are the fights I want.
Guys don't want to take hard fights, they avoid any challenges, they take the easiest fights and then they get rewarded with a UFC contract. That's not right, that should never happen that way.
Sometimes you get into fights if a teammate is getting taken advantage of, sometimes just from competing and you feel someone takes a cheap shot. It's just the intensity. It's an intense game, sometimes you just get too fired up and fights happen.
I asked for the toughest, best fights to my management, to my coaches.
Every fighter is my toughest challenge to date. After I get done with one fight, the next challenge is the toughest.
I was offered the Kovalev fight in 2018 but my manager and promoter agreed it wasn't the right time for me to be challenging for a world title then. I needed a few more tuneup fights, learning fights, and I'm fine with that.
You have to make sure you have the right people around you to get the right fights, and you're not guaranteed to get the best fights.
Some of my fights in PRIDE, I felt tired. I would train on the punching bag and feel great but then get tired in my fights.
The title shot, the way I look at it is I just have to go out there and do my job. If I keep winning fights, there's no way they can't give me that title shot.
Khan was one of the biggest fights of my career and also one of the toughest in my life. He's a very good boxer.
I'm a firm believer that I'll make fights happen, get the fights done.
What happened to the men's boxing is happening to the women's boxing, but not all the time. Every now and then, you get some really great fights. It's a money thing and how many people are going to buy that pay-per-view for the fights. The UFC is eventually going to go that way.