I've already proved I have what it takes to be the champion. I'm right there.

A lot of people forget that Americans are immigrants. People are forgetting that, to where people have this attitude, 'We're Americans, go back to your country. Go back. This is a free country.' I always heard that growing up. I always heard that.

When you go to hotels, who are the maids who work at most of those hotels? A lot of them are immigrants. We take pride in that because we're in a better place and want to provide for our families.

My mind is strong.

Once I go into these fights, and we have to go through the ringer to prepare for them, and we know I'm not 100 percent going in, winning is the most important thing, and dominating is the most important thing, and that's what we've been doing.

It's one thing to get somebody down on the ground, but it's another thing to finish him there.

Listen, anybody can put their head down and throw a haymaker and pray and hope it lands.

When I eventually get my hands on Covington, its more than just a fight: it symbolizes so many other things. It symbolizes the attitude toward immigrants in this country and around the world.

I will be unhappy if RDA ducks me. I will be very unhappy.

I think Mike Perry is a guy the fans actually care about.

I study this sport.

Not everybody out here trains with me; not everybody knows what I'm capable of. My coaches know what I'm capable of, my training partners know what I'm capable of, and I know what I'm capable of.

Once you have an opponent in your mind that you're preparing for, you're working on specifics, and you get guys in to mimic what they do.

Nobody - nobody - in my division wants to fight me, because I am the hardest fight for anybody.

I'm good everywhere. I can defend the takedowns. I can get a guy down if I want them. I can keep it standing and strike. I can do it all.

Demian Maia, he's a legend. He's a veteran in the game. He knows how to fight. He's been through so many five-round fights. He's headlined a lot of cards, fought Anderson Silva for the title, fought Tyron Woodley for the title. He's a veteran, he knows how to fight, and he's always training. He's a jiu-jitsu wizard.

You never say never. That's one of the lessons I've learned.

I'm not the guy to call the cops.

I work with one of the best striking coaches in the world, Henri Hooft.

Being able to open up and use my kick would make me so much more dangerous. It wouldn't even be fair to use some of the weapons that we work on.

I believe in karma.

I lived with my grandmother for a year when I was very young, and even to this day, when I tell my mother events that took place, she can't believe that I can recall that far.

My body knows my limits.

I ask for the fights. Sometimes I get them. Sometimes I don't.

I'm a man on a mission.

Yes, I came into this sport as just a grappler, but the more I learn, the more it shines in my fights.

Fans want to see a fight and be entertained.

If fans are willing to pay to see you fight, the promoter is happy.

I believe, if I beat Demian Maia, it's going to be very hard for the other top guys to go around me.

In my village where I'm from, there's still not running water everywhere. People are still struggling to get clean water.

A lot of people are still suffering from water-borne diseases... We want to create something where we can make life better for everyone.

Some guys just like being a fighter, and they live in that world, but I got into this to be champion.

The goal of this, I would like to think, for everybody, is to become champion.

I would say my childhood was amazing.

In other countries, being from somewhere else is celebrated. But not in America.

You don't ever want an African father to come to your school looking for you.

When I first got into the sport, or first got into athletics, I always felt that sense of responsibility that I was destined for something bigger, that I was going to do something major.

As an African, there are certain professions your family want you to do or are willing to sign off. Being in the medical professional, as a doctor, pharmacist, a nurse, or being an engineer - those are the only professions allowed!

When you start out doing something, you never wonder how big is this going to be, or how will I be remembered, or will people even care for me.

We never complained, 'We don't have this or that.' Even though we had to plant certain things and harvest them to be able to eat, we never complained.

I have an excellent team, a great manager, and we're going to put something together: we're going to start a foundation, and we're going to change lives.

When I fought in The Ultimate Fighter Finale, I had microfracture surgery, and that's usually eight month's recovery turnaround. I had to fight three months after that, and I fought three months after that. And I had to train through that with that.

Being a great physical athlete is wonderful, and you need it at this level to be able to train and prepare accordingly. But the closer it comes time to perform, the ratio switches. When you're in camp, it's 90 percent physical and 10 percent mental. But as you get to fight night, it's the opposite.

When you aren't able to do what makes you dominant, what separates you from the pack, it can throw your mind off.

I never in my wildest dreams dreamt of being in a position like this, of having a platform like this, where I can really show the world - not just Africa, but the entire world, people in Asia, India, wherever - that your current situation doesn't have to determine your future.

Once you sign a contract that states that you're going to have to fight this other man for a substantial amount of money, things change psychologically.

You don't have to be outlandish and saying crazy things and get out of yourself to get headlines or attention.

I'm a good, upstanding guy with moral values and core values.

I actually care about things, and I care about people.