There's always going to be people talking so you just have to focus everyday and be the best fighter you can be in the Octagon on the day of the fight.

I put a lot of pressure on myself to be the best.

I try to have the same mindset in my practices as I would for my fights.

If you get into the habit of cutting corners, they start to add up.

Winning the middleweight title was an amazing feeling.

As I got older, I lived right next next to the Long Island Railroad, so in junior high and high school I'd just jump on the train with friends and head to the city. We'd run away from the conductors, hide from them in the bathroom. It was just what you did.

There's only so much you can control when you're fighting, so the things you can control - like your fight song - are pretty important. So you want to pick that wisely.

I feel like anyone at middleweight, when I have a full training camp, I'm going to go out there and finish them. That's my mentality.

I'll never underestimate 'GSP.'

I've never had anything. I just wanted to one day live comfortable. Like, be able to go out to lunch with my friends without being like, crap, I don't know if I can afford this bill right now. I shouldn't be doing this. That's all I really wanted.

We bought a dog, and we financed it - a $1,400 dog. We had no money, so me and my wife had to put our names together with our credit just to finance a dog.

I didn't think I was much of a public speaker.

I wanted to be champion. I know fame comes with that.

I've wrestled my whole life.

I expect the worst of every situation, so if it does happen I'm prepared for it.

When I started and first got to the MMA gym the guys would start and say, 'You're like the All-American kid.' It was because, I don't know, I go to church every Sunday, I got married young and I've always been an All-American in college having gone All-American all four years.

I really like Cain Velasquez. I like his pace that he puts on; he is mentally and physically breaking everybody he goes with. He's just tenacious and relentless. I like Anderson Silva, too. I like his style. He's very relaxed.

My ultimate goal was always that I want to be known as one of the greatest of all time. The first step was obviously to be UFC champion.

I think wrestling is the one of the greatest sports there are.

I struggle just like everybody else struggles. It's always a struggle in life to overcome temptation. I just try and get through it. No one is perfect.

Everybody has a sinful nature pulling them at every turn.

There's times where you get the loud, crazy comments from me, and there's times where I say basic things, and stay quiet because I don't want to cause any drama. Sometimes I'm in the mood where I'm just going to tell it how it is, and have fun. And whoever doesn't like it, OK.

I think there's times where I'm introverted, and there's times where I'm extroverted.

Getting hit is part of the job. You don't want the first time you're getting punched to be in the fight because there's a lot of shock and awe and you won't react well. I like to get hit in sparring. I don't want to get concussed, or I don't want to be getting knocked out, but I want some shock treatment to prepare me for the fight.