I’ve been a barbarian my whole life. I’m just a smarter barbarian now. Evolution, you know?

You learn a lot of different things with trials and tribulations and, at the end of the day, you get some positives from whatever mistakes you've made.

I lift weights, but that's not my main focus. I'm a fighter now, and I want to evolve and make myself a well-rounded fighter, so obviously I'm not going to leave any stone unturned, when it comes to submissions, submission defense, striking, knees, leg kicks, and also learning to defend everything. It's not just an offensive sport because you're going to take some punches and you're going to give some punches. You've got to be able to handle both sides of the spectrum. I've brought in a number of highly trained trainers to help me evolve, and I believe we've left no stone unturned.

Fighting at home doesn't add any pressure - they call it "home-field advantage" for good reason. I don't have to travel. I get to sleep in my own bed the night before the fight.

Success is a combination of effort, talent and hard work. There's got to be hard work and mental toughness. It's not just one thing that gets you there it's an accumulation of things

I'm going to drink a Coor's Light, cause Bud Light don't pay me nothin'.

You have to train smart. There is always a risk of over-training or training beyond what your body is able to recover from, and that leads to injuries.