For me, to make a living off of working out is a dream for me. I don't know, I really can't be in an office and stuff like that. I want to do something that I love, and training, that's what motivates me.
My life is calm. Once I get home from practice, I just want to spend time with my family.
Once I started wrestling, I really got into it, and I just knew that I wanted to do that - I wanted to wrestle all the way through college.
For every new guy, you need to change a few things in the way you train, the way you take every fight. For every guy I train for, I prepare differently and learn new things, and I just keep them. That's why it's good to be fighting new people, because you add new things to your arsenal and keep getting better and better all the time.
You just have to fight the perfect fight to win. You have to have a game plan and follow it. You have to develop every time you go out there and keep getting better.
All I can tell you is I'm going to be myself. I'm not the type of person that is going to develop into some character or come up with some phrase I will always say.
I'm going to be the best fighter I can be and focus on being me.
If you lose, what can you do to get better and learn from it?
I grew up watching my parents work in the fields. That's where I get my work ethic from, because I saw them work hard my whole life.
There is always a possibility that you could lose, because the outcome isn't written yet: you have to go out and write it. If you want it bad enough, if you do the training and prepare yourself to succeed, and do everything in your power to win, you'll have a better chance of succeeding.
I take my health and the longevity of my career very seriously.
I loved football as a kid.
I didn't have a hero playing in sports that looked like me.
MMA is so exciting. It doesn't matter if you know the rules or not. If you like a fight, it's automatically gonna draw you in.
It's my heritage overall, my people. Mexicans are known for being hard-working people, showing a lot of heart. I wanted to show people I am Mexican and I'm proud of it.
Fighting is what I love to do.
I will be the first to say when I know I can't fight due to injury, as my long-term health is my number one priority.
Let me be clear: MMA training is tough work, and every fighter has had to enter the Octagon with aches and pains as well as exhaustion. This is the game.
I know what people expect of me - to have the fighting style of going forward and having a lot of action.
My body size and everything was perfect for being a heavyweight wrestler rather than being a linebacker.
