We have to talk a little trash to sell fights, talk more, because we know we will profit more from that. It's important.
We always try give the best of us in training to go in the cage and have a good performance, thus giving millions for the company. We also want to have part of these millions.
My father was a bricklayer, and my mother was a housewife. It was complicated, obviously, because of our humble origin, but thank God we were all focused.
Talking makes the fight bigger... When the fight is over, everyone goes in opposite sides with money in the pocket. You have to talk trash because that brings money.
I was a fan of jujitsu, so that pretty much got me started in fighting. I won a lot of local competitions when I was young and eventually won a ticket to go compete in Rio de Janeiro. In Rio, I struggled a lot in the beginning, living in the gym and not having much to eat, but eventually I joined the Nova Uniao Team and really improved my skills.
My next fight is always the most important fight, so regardless if I'm fighting for the title or not, I always have to go in there and give everything that I've got.
I wanted to train jiu-jitsu instead of capoeira because the mat was soft. It was better than training capoeira on the hard floor. I started reading jiu-jitsu magazines, reading about the world champions, and becoming one of them became my goal.
The training is intense here at Nova Uniao.
When I'm inside the cage, nobody will take anything away from me.
Thank God the UFC and MMA gave me a lot of stuff.
If I say one thing to the UFC, I say it in an interview. I don't have conflicting stories.
I think Americans are really patriotic people, so patriotism is something they can understand. I'm very patriotic about Brazil, my country, and that includes my language.
My objective since I started my career was: become the champion, remain the champion, retire the champion.
Portuguese is the language of my heart; it's the language of my feelings. It's the language that I feel I can express myself best in.
Of course, people will be partial, but I put myself among the best in history.
Everybody fights for money, of course, but I wanted to leave a legacy when I retired, get my name in the history. I don't think like that anymore. When I lost the belt, I saw how reality is. Champion means nothing.
Some people win 10, 15, and don't fight for the belt.
People come to me to say I don't sell; Brazilian media say I don't give interviews. Nobody is obligated to do anything.
A champion doesn't choose opponents or where the fight is going to be.
McGregor has no respect for the sport, for the person. That's it. He's not good for the sport.
