When I looked at the state of women's MMA, what I saw was that it was missing rivalries or anything theatrical about it. Everybody was trying to be Miss America, unwilling to go under any kind of criticism, and taking the safe answers. I thought I needed to do whatever I could to get attention.

I'm not a full model like those other girls. Mostly I was surprised that I could hang.

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 me, MMA is like speed chess. It's like I'm herding a person into a certain position. Say my endgame is an arm bar. I'm not gonna actually take you and put you there. What I'm going to do is convince you that it's a good idea to move in the direction I want you to go.

I'm scared of failure all the time. But not scared enough to stop trying.

If you're unwilling to leave someplace you've outgrown, you will never reach your full potential. To be the best, you have to constantly be challenging yourself, raising the bar, pushing the limits of what you can do. Don't stand still, leap forward.

I really think that 'Sports Illustrated' is a big step in the "healthy is the new skinny" movement.