There is a ferocity to MMA and to the training, but there's such a humanity to it too. It takes so much sacrifice and humility to get into it and to rise through those levels. If you look at the fights as a means to test who you are, every one of these fights is an opportunity to see how far you're willing to go up against yourself - and to find and define your limits.

Just because you're well known doesn't mean you don't experience heartbreak or have a relationship that doesn't go the way you want it to, or you're not worried about the text that you just sent that girl and she hasn't responded.

I'm trying to be really synced. It goes back to the idea that, ultimately, the reward is the work. The staying balanced, it requires you to know that the work you're doing right now is ultimately what is going to give you the sense of freedom that you're hoping to find in a more realized life.

What I've been thinking about recently is the idea of finite and fragility. Either we're acknowledging that our lives here are finite, this moment is finite, and that this whole world is fragile, or we're not, but it is really happening and that is really true.

You have to defend your character. That's your job, if they're hiring you. That doesn't mean you can't collaborate, but you do have to make some big, bold choices. We do that in real life, too.

I try not to be judgmental. I meditate twice a day. I get some sort of physical exercise. I infuse my life with love. I love what I do, the job.

You have to eat, all day, and you have to have the right fuel to get you through different physical and mental obstacles that fighters have to get through. Just dealing with the diet alone becomes an all-encompassing, fully immersive experience. And then, there's the physical side of it, having to put your body through everything required to make you look like a fighter.