Without wishing to sound arrogant, when I was younger, I used to win every single martial arts tournament I ever entered. I used to enter the under 14s and under 16s, win both gold medals in those, and then go in the men's tournament just for experience, and end up getting a silver medal.

Fighting in England, for me, is the height of my career. It really is.

One of my proudest moments is definitely UFC 105 in Manchester when I stopped Denis Kang in the second round.

A lot of people get up to the top of the pile, maybe get one No. 1 contender match-up, and if they lose, they drift into obscurity. I lost, and I went back a bit. But I built myself back up. Three times.

I'm a proud Brit and a proud Englishman.

I can wrestle a little bit, but I'm not Chael Sonnen.

Due to the UFC educating people on MMA as a sport, people give us the respect as athletes, opening doors to opportunities which wasn't available in the past. It has been amazing to be part of the UFC journey.

People write me off, and yet then, when I fight people, my opponents have a completely different opinion of me afterwards.

Of course it's an honour to be fighting at UFC 100, but I don't sit back and think about that. For me, it is only ever about winning.

I swear to God, I don't even know who Demi Lovato is. My son has a crush on her. Apparently, he was sat next to her when I knocked Luke Rockhold out, so Demi Lovato knows who I am, that's for sure.

Financially, I've done very well doing what I do. I've got plenty of money in the bank. I've got gigs with FOX doing analyst work, media work. The UFC has been very kind to me. Ultimately, however, I want to be world champion. I have to achieve that to validate my entire career.

I want to be world champion, and that's why I've worked for an entire lifetime to get here.

I want to be the first British person to lift a UFC World Title.

Omelettes, I'd say, are my secret weapon in terms of diet: I love them, they're nice and easy to make, they're very nutritious, and they're low in carbs.

You've got to sell fights; you've got to be entertaining.

For so many years, people have used the expression 'poster boy of British MMA,' but I've never seen myself as that; I certainly never described myself as that.

I worked in factories, slaughterhouses, as an upholsterer. I did demolition work, was a postman, was a tiler, a plasterer. I even sold double-glazing door-to-door. But I always dreamed of being a world champion, first of all as a boxer.

I went to college and did advanced electronical engineering, not really knowing what I wanted to do. It bored me to death, so I dropped out.

Some people are born for a certain thing. And for me, unfortunately, I wish it was something a bit more artistic or whatever, but I was a born fighter. That's what kept me coming back. It makes me feel alive. And, I just know, there is nothing I do better in this world than fight.

If a football player has a bad game, he's allowed to do that because he plays once or twice a week. With fighting, it's once every few months.

Fighting is different than other sports because you're not competing as regularly.

A lot of Americans say the food in England sucks. I don't think the food in England sucks - the food is great - but I've got to say, the Americans have got the dining out experience nailed down.

I often put my foot in it a little bit sometimes.

As a fighter, you know when you connect with a really good shot because you feel the impact on your fist.