"I am surrounded by great people."
"If you're out for two years, and you beat one guy with a full-time job, without disrespect, but we're talking about fighting for a world title. You can't just beat a guy that went there to cover some guy that got injured, and then this guy, after two and a half years, gets a title shot."
"I beat Diaz, Pettis, Ben Henderson, Cerrone, and I earned it, man. I earned my title."
"Nate Diaz is a tough opponent. I've fought him."
"I'm the former lightweight champion. I want to fight one of the top guys. I don't want to fight a guy who isn't ranked."
"I think between 2014 and 2015, I made weight five times in 11 months. During that time, I felt my body change. It was able to hold on to more weight. And anybody who makes weight knows that it gets harder and harder to make weight once you've done it that many times."
"Cerrone is a great opponent. The guy won eight fights straight."
"I'm a big fan of Georges St-Pierre."
"A lot of people tell me I have to trash-talk more, but I got here with my fists, fighting, not with my mouth."
"You have to respect your opponent."
"You can promote fights - of course, you have to - you can say 'I'll beat you' or whatever, but you cannot put family, religion, anything like that in the mix. You need to separate things. That is a line a lot of fighters cross."
"I'm under contract. Whatever the UFC asks, I have to do because they are my bosses and they treat me very well. I can't complain about that, and it's this, man: When you have a boss, you need to follow orders."
"I wouldn't be where I am without Evolve."
"The future is out of my hands; it is in God's."
"I'm confident, motivated."
"I'm looking to make history."
"I'm an aggressive fighter, but I'm smart. I'm not going to play stupid."
"I don't do fight camps anymore because I live in camp."
"I breathe martial arts every day of my life."
"Every night that I put my head on the pillow, I go to sleep knowing that I can do more. I'm working toward perfection. I'm trying to be the best ever."
"I think every fight is different based on who is fighting."
"I'm the best in the world; thank you, Jesus, for that."
"I came from the bottom. Now I'm the main event and UFC champion."
"I want to do that. That's my goal. I want to become a legend."
"It wasn't easy to get here, and it will not be easy to take my title away from me."
