My father would say, 'Ronnie, you're going to be someone special. Whatever it is that you want to do, you're going to be the best in the world at it.'

The way that I like to fight is I like to paint myself into a corner and so the only way is for me to win.

For girls it raises your testosterone, so I try to have as much sex as possible before I fight.

At home, I watch fights and documentaries - that's it. If it's not about the birth and death of stars, 'Frozen Planet,' or someone getting punched in the face, I'm probably not watching it.

The kind of hope I'm talking about is the belief that something good will come. That everything you're going through and everything you've gone through will be worth the struggles and frustrations. The kind of hope I'm talking about is a deep belief that the world can be changed, that the impossible is possible.

There was a long time I had no job security, no options and no education.

The Olympics is a once-in-a-lifetime thing. I was lucky enough to go twice, but most people only get one chance. And in judo you can train your whole life and it’ll come down to a split second: You can lose everything or win anything.