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When I first started fighting, it was just me. But things changed when I married, knowing that I had another person counting on me.
You got to surround yourself with the strongest in the world, the strongest training partners and the best people. That's what I do.
I'm a guy who's been around this sport on the outside looking in, seeing, watching, scheming, plotting and planning his next big move.
Benson is a champion. I'd be lying to you if I said I wasn't scared to death inside this cage, stepping into the cage with that monster.
I knew I wanted to fight. It's a great way to continue competing and not to mention actually make money. You can make a career out of it.
I like Scott Coker a lot. He built Strikeforce, turned it into what it was and he has a great reputation with fighters and other promoters.
There are a lot of people who don't believe I deserve to be recognized as one of the top-10 best and I don't necessarily disagree with them.
It is not that hard to go out there and put on the performance of your life and beat any guy in the lightweight division on any given night.
Once I'm in training camp, there's no beer, there's no soda, there's no bad food. There's no anything. It's eat, sleep and breathe training.
For me, getting up is an inside job, but it has been hard stepping in the cage with guys who I've had to lose against and not a lot to gain.
Henri Hooft is the greatest striking coach on planet. He's phenomenal leader - he makes me believe in me more than I will ever believe in me.
I do have some unfinished business with Josh Thomson. I think that's a fight fans want to see, it's a fight Bellator wants, it's a fight I want.
Laziness is contagious just like hard work is. I didn't give myself an opportunity to be lazy and I didn't surround myself with people who are lazy.
The belt will grow dust and sit on the mantelpiece, but it's not about the belt. It's about how I can be as a father, as a human being that matters to me.
If it's an emotional chick-flick type of movie, chances are, I'm going to end up crying. I'm not afraid to admit that, because I think emotion is very healthy.
Obviously, beating Alvarez was the first step to getting my name out there. Now people now know who I am and see, at least in some part, that I'm the real deal.
I actually have a tattoo on the left side of my chest that says 'Blessed.' It represents how blessed I've been in my life and how thankful I am for all that I have.
Some guys, when they enjoy some success in this sport, they get complacent. Not me. It makes me work and train that much harder, helps to bring out the warrior in me.
It's a fast-paced somewhat violent sport, but it's very much entertaining. And the greatest thing about mixed martial arts is that it transcends a lot of demographics.
Benson Henderson is a guy that I fought before. He has two arms and two legs. He has certain patterns, mannerisms and tendencies that I know I can go out there and exploit.
I'm trying to be the best lightweight fighter in the world. That's my main objective. I just have to keep my head up, keep training and enjoy this awesome ride that I'm on.
Not since 2011, when I stepped into the cage and fought Eddie Alvarez for the first time and was the extreme underdog - I've never quite had that feeling of a 10 since then.
It's damage to a nerve. It pretty much shut down the whole lower part of my left leg. I wasn't able to step anymore. It's called foot drop - basically, you can't lift your foot.
You have to believe that you deserve great things. You have to believe that you deserve to win each fight that you're in. You have to believe that you deserve to become a champion.
I built my name on fighting so hard - I'll always do that - but I'm also trying to become more of a veteran, to be be calm and calculated and not always trying to bowl people over.
Bellator wouldn't be who they are without my performances and Michael Chandler wouldn't be who he is without Bellator promoting him and us having a phenomenal symbiotic relationship.
I don't focus on how I'm gonna get the finish or how I would like to get the finish. I focus on just my game plan that I've gone over with myself, my coaches. If the finish comes it comes.
I never focus on my opponent - I focus more on myself: knowing what my strengths are, where I can take the fight, how I can win the fight, and the intensity that I'm going to bring to a fight.
When people talk about the lightweight division they will probably mention my name a little bit. Whether they believe I don't deserve to be up there or I do, they are at least going to mention me.
There's still times I wish I could throw on the black and gold singlet and go out there in the Hearnes Center and wrestle for the Missouri Tigers. I miss that and I miss the stuff about college wrestling.
Finishing a guy like Benson Henderson, who hasn't been finished since for six years, the guy doesn't get finished and I finished it with a switch-step switch to Southpaw, knocked him out with my left hand.
If I could do this until I was 60, I would. This is a great life. All I do is train, all I do is work out, and prolong my life by the training that I'm doing, the things I have to do as professional athlete.
For as long as I can remember, our family has been huge Cardinals fans. My grandpa is a personal friend of Whitey Herzog's; they were neighbors for decades. Our love and support of the Cardinals definitely runs deep.
I love Scott Coker and I love Bellator and I love what we have built together and it's a little uneasy to think that I will no longer be under contract with Bellator after I knock out Benson Henderson and get my hand raised.
Life throws you curveballs and there are things that happen - you don't understand why they happened at the time. But then you step back and understand you're a better fighter and competitor because of the things that happened.
Bellator has taken care of me, and I've taken care of them. It's been the perfect storm of a symbiotic relationship - them having an asset they were not willing to lose, and me being in a situation where the grass isn't always greener on the other side.
Somebody with a huge brand like Bellator under an even huger brand like Viacom, to have them put their faith in me, to put me in so many things, to put me in commercials, send me to all these events, and just to continue to put me in the cage with great talent, it's great.
I think overall body awareness and knowing exactly where I need to be makes a big difference. Knowing how much weight to put on each foot or where I need to put my hands are things I'm very good at. Obviously with the wrestling background those are things that come naturally.
I just think that with my wrestling background there's not going to be any doubt in my mind that if I have to go through a three round war that in the third round I'm gonna be more fresh, more tenacious, I'm gonna want that win more than anybody else I'm going to have to fight.
You see it from my area, from any area, really, so many who want to be great and have the drive, but don't have the resources. I'm very blessed that I have a family that was financially stable enough to get me to tournaments and camps and to practices so I could wrestle year-round.