Jose Aldo's Message to Fans

Always keep working. Keep working for your causes and for your dreams without ever giving up. That was the philosophy I applied in my life. Always keep your dreams alive and keep believing. Without stepping over anyone. Putting in a lot of effort and work, I knew I was going to get where I am today. That is the message I want to pass on to everyone. 
- Jose Aldo

Tito Ortiz comes out of retirement to fight Quinton "Rampage" Jackson in Bellator

Tito Ortiz has come out retirement and signed with Bellator to fight Quinton "Rampage" Jackson on November 2nd at the Long Beach Convention Center in Long Beach, California.

Ortiz retired from MMA after his last bout with Forrest Griffin at UFC 148 in July 2012. It didn't seem as though Ortiz was going to make any sort of comeback into the MMA world until teasing the potential earlier this month on Twitter:

Fighting is starting to sound fun again. 💪👍👊#Peopleschamp #comeback #Positive body is almost healed. @Punishment99 @ufc @Viacom @MTV @espn
— Tito Ortiz (@titoortiz) July 7, 2013

Quinton "Rampage" Jackson last fought at UFC on Fox 6 in January, dropping a decision to Glover Teixeira. After expressing much discontent with the UFC, Jackson signed with Bellator/TNA in June.

Both Ortiz and Rampage are former UFC light-heavyweight champions, and have trained with each in the past. They made up the main two-thirds of "Team Punishment" in the early half of the last decade, which the third big member of the MMA team being former UFC heavyweight champ Ricco Rodriguez. Ortiz is 38 years of age and Jackson 35.

The bout on November 2nd will be Bellator's first foray into the pay-per-view market.



Click on the links for quotes by Tito Ortiz and Rampage Jackson

Ronda Rousey and Georges St-Pierre hug it out at UFC press conference

Ronda Rousey and Georges St-Pierre hug it out at 31:40 into this video. This was at the UFC World Tour New York City Press Conference

Quotes from the above fighters linked below:

Alexander Gustafsson
Jon Jones
Johny Hendricks
Georges St-Pierre
Cain Velasquez
Junior Dos Santos
Ronda Rousey
Miesha Tate

 

 

 

 

Ronda Rousey on being a topic of discussion

 

Ronda Rousey is comfortable being a controversial figure in mixed martial arts because it's something that brings a lot of attention to her:

I'd rather be...a topic to discuss instead of just...a topic to dismiss and agree upon.

Dan Hardy on his health and if he'll fight again

UFC welterweight Dan Hardy has Wolff–Parkinson–White syndrome, a condition which produces a second heartbeat. Hardy feels as though he's been perfectly fine his entire career and never had any problems with his heart, and does not want to undergo surgery to fight. However, it's not clear what other options he has to be allowed to fight. He is hoping for a way around getting surgery done to compete again.



More quotes from Dan Hardy

Georges St-Pierre being like an Ant and always working

Georges St-Pierre is someone who has a strong appreciation for the animal kingdom. He discusses evolution and efficiency and references animals from time to time to make analogies to his mindset and fighting. It's not necessary the big animals he admires though. He has a deep reverence for the cockroach, which has been able to adapt better than any other creature on the planet, and survive seemingly forever. And GSP has a great respect also for another insect:

"The ant is always working...that's how I am...I never waste a second of my life, I always do things that help me advance in my life."

Pierre takes a martial arts mentality to his entire career and works towards perfection. Little improvements on a constant basis, like the Japanese concept of Kaizen; which refers to making things better. And Georges St-Pierre isn't afraid to try new things to sharpen his skills and hone his craft. He will learn to refine his spinning-back-kick with Joe Rogan; train gymnastics to improve overall athleticism; and generally just seek out knowledge from all disciplines and try and see if that intelligence can be applied to his art.

Countdown to UFC 163: Aldo vs. Korean Zombie

Quotes by Jose Aldo
Quotes by Chan Sung Jung


UFC 163. August 3, 2013 at the HSBC Arena in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil

Jose Aldo vs. Jung Chan-Sung   
Lyoto Machida vs. Phil Davis    
Cezar Ferreira vs. Thiago Santos    
Thales Leites vs. Tom Watson    
John Lineker vs. Jose Tome    

Preliminary card (FX)
Vinny Magalhães vs. Anthony Perosh    
Amanda Nunes vs. Sheila Gaff    
Sergio Moraes vs. Neil Magny    
Ian McCall vs. Iliarde Santos    

Preliminary card (Facebook)
Rani Yahya vs. Josh Clopton    
Viscardi Andrade vs. Bristol Marunde    
Ednaldo Oliveira vs. Francimar Barroso 

Mike Tyson, Roy Nelson and Mario Balotelli on doing their jobs

Roy Nelson was once asked what he did to pump himself up for a fight, and he said he didn't need to do that because it's his job. Just like one doesn't need to pump themselves up to go to work every morning, he feels the same way about fighting.

That attitude of just doing your job, and looking at an athletic competition as such, is something that can take the negative stress away from the situation. It's also something that just allows one to let the greatness they've trained for flow out of them easily. Like Italian footballer Mario Balotelli, who doesn't celebrate, because there's no point in celebrating doing your job:
“I don’t celebrate because I’m only doing my job. When a postman delivers letters, does he celebrate?”

Baolotelli just expects that foot to go into the top corner when he kicks it.

Mike Tyson, one of the great boxers of all time, had a similar attitude as seen in this video on Jim Rome's how. Tyson was inspired by his trainer Cus D'Amato, who felt it was ridiculous to celebrate because winning and achieving your goal was what you expected to do. It shouldn't be a surprise. That's not to say it's bad to celebrate your win or to not be happy, but in general, having a work-man-like attitude and treating the victory as just a part of the job which you expected to happen, can make that climb to the top seem like it's one that is out of reach; rather it's something you expect to occur.

 –

Staredowns between Ronda/Miesha, Jones/Gustafsson, GSP/Hendricks, Cain/JDS

Quotes from the above fighters linked below:

Alexander Gustafsson
Jon Jones
Johny Hendricks
Georges St-Pierre
Cain Velasquez
Junior Dos Santos
Ronda Rousey
Miesha Tate

Fighters who used mind games the best in the Octagon

Some fighters use their physical weapons in the cage, and some people get into mental warfare. If you have the physical tools and on top of that start getting into mind games, that can be a highly deadly combination. Three guys have been most successful with this tool of mind warfar:

1. Anderson Silva

Putting his hands down, letting you hit him, dodging out of the way, and a variety of different antics have been used by Anderson Silva to throw off his opponent's games. He is able to prey upon fighters' insecurities and bring them out in the UFC Octagon. It didn't end up working against Chris Weidman, but it is important to note that if Weidman didn't land the fourth strike of the combination he fired at Silva to end the fight, the bout could have ended drastically differently. Because Weidman was getting angry and charged at Silva, and if he missed four straight shots after that, then that could have turned the momentum totally in Silva's favor; he was keeping the fight on the feet and starting to shift the bout into his control.

2. Nick Diaz

"Why is your nose bleeding?"
"Oh, we're throwing spinning s**t now?"
These are the sorts of verbal tongue lashings that Nick Diaz doled out to Carlos Condit in addition to slapping him in the face. Kudos to Carlos Condit for staying composed and not biting on the mind games, but many others aren't as mentally disciplined as Condit. Diaz's mind games in addition to his punching skills and endless endurance have made him a force at 170 his whole career. Go back to early in his UFC career when he fought Robbie Lawler; he was tagging Lawler and talking smack to him, slapping him, and Lawler got very angry and came at Diaz rushing in, only to be met with a straight punch that dropped him and ended the fight. Diaz is a master of boxing, cardio, and mental warfare.

3. Frank Shamrock

Frank Shamrock was tremendously strong in his mind, body, and spirit. He was another fighter who was able to expose his opponents' insecurities inside the cage. He would ask his opponents why they are breathing heavy, make a gesture that he is going to put them to sleep, and continually badger them with words and antics. It worked well for him in most of his fights and he used that mind trickery to mess with the head of the his foes in combat.


One thing to note is that using these techniques can be very effective, but if someone uses these techniques on you, you combat them and use them your advantage. Chris Weidman took the approach that if Anderson Silva stands there letting him punch him in the face, that's great, because now he's winning the fight. He's the one scoring points. Carlos Condit also was effective and stuck to his gameplan better than anyone against Nick Diaz on route to victory and showed incredible focus and discipline in the process.

You can change the way you perceive things. You can go into competition already thinking that if someone uses antics, this shows that they are not confident in themselves. Your opponent is no longer using his physical tools, but has to resort to other tactics. You can take the viewpoint that he is mentally breaking, running out of ideas, and grasping at straws, because he is insecure about using just his physical skills alone to win. That changes the way you frame things in you mind and the antics have a different energy because of your perception. Instead of a sign of confidence and bravado, now in your mind it is a sign of weakness in your opponent that he's resorting to these tactics; now you have the mental edge in your brain; which is the only point of view which matters in competition.

Additionally, you can mentally prepare to use your opponent's smack-talking and antics as an "anchor". So you can visualize your opponent doing what he normally does in terms of mental games, and the second he does that, you can visualize yourself successfully landing techniques on him. Basically conditioning your mind to get into a state where you're totally confident and in the zone when you see your opponent doing these things. For example, when you mentally rehearse reacting to something your opponent does or says, think of a time where you were totally on fire and in the zone and landing your techniques with total precision, accuracy, and confidence. Feel the feelings associated with this, hear the sounds, and get a clear mental picture of it all. The more you practice visualizing this success after picturing your opponent engaging in mental ware, then when it happens in combat, you are prepared for it and you have mentally conditioned yourself to get into a peak performance mindset when it happens. So instead of being a negative factor during competition, it becomes a positive one.

UFC champions who regained their titles

There have been many champions who have made it to the top of the UFC mountain in their weight classes, but there have only been a select few who have been able to win the belt, lose it, and then gain it back. Three fighters have been able to accomplish this feat: Randy Couture, Georges St-Pierre, and Cain Velasquez. Randy Couture has the unique distinction for doing this not only at light-heavyweight but also at heavyweight. One of the things that all three of these fighters have in common is their work ethic and extreme commitment to improvement.

Frank Mir almost accomplished this feat, as he did win the UFC heavyweight title and then go on to win the UFC interim heavyweight title. The most impressive thing about winning the second belt for Mir was that he was to achieve it after his terrible motorcycle accident that broke his femur.

In December, Anderson Silva tries to become the next fighter to achieve this goal when he looks regain the UFC middleweight belt against Chris Weidman at UFC 168. And at UFC 166, Junior Dos Santos tries to do the same by defeating Cain Velasquez for the UFC heavyweight title

For Randy Couture, this type of overcoming adversity is something that his whole career was defined on. It was not so much the victories, but the coming back from losses that he felt really showed the championship spirit of a fighter. That's one of the themes that you hear a lot when you listen to fighter: it's how you bounce back from losses which really defines who you are. Here are some quotes which reflect that position:

 

Enjoy the Process

The finish line, your hand being raised, victory, achieving the goal; that for the most part is what we tend to value: the prize. But at the same time, the process is something that can be an immensely joyful experience. Enjoying the journey, being in the moment, and soaking it all in; having that presence will make the achievement of the goal all the more fulfilling.

Some fighters who were on the verge of retirement and internally knew that they were on their way out of the sport, tended to have a stronger sense of enjoying the process. Guys such as Randy Couture and Matt Serra, had a real appreciation for the lead up to the fight in their last battles because they knew that it was not going to last forever, and that one day they would never make that walk to the UFC Octagon ever again. So they enjoyed it thoroughly with a big embrace of appreciation.

Another fighter in the UFC, who is still competing at lightweight and tries to emulate this sentiment, is Gray Maynard:

You have to enjoy it all because it’ll come and go. Then you’ll be old and fat and retired and drinking a beer like, “Damn, I tried to hurry that up. Why didn’t I enjoy it more?” So I really enjoy the process.

Gray knows that he's not going to be competing in this sport forever and cherishes what he has and is enjoying the moment. Rashad Evans, who is a very deep thinker, also has that strong sense of gratitude instilled into his psyche:

I'm going to appreciate everything because before you know it, this will be just a memory...My time will pass. So I'm going to enjoy this moment, I'm going to have fun...And I'm going to thank you for making me who I am today.

This attitude is reminiscent of one of Tony Robbins quotes. Robbins has helped thousands worldwide, and also inspired some UFC fighters such as Diego Sanchez, and give tips to Chuck Liddell before one of his bouts. Additionally, UFC president Dana White and UFC color commentator Joe Rogan noted in the past that they found use from his cassette tapes many years back coming up in their careers. Robbins has a lot of wise words to say about enjoying the process and how it's the journey which is equally if not more important than the final destination:

“Live life fully while you're here. Experience everything. Take care of yourself and your friends. Have fun, be crazy, be weird. Go out and screw up! You're going to anyway, so you might as well enjoy the process. Take the opportunity to learn from your mistakes: find the cause of your problem and eliminate it. Don't try to be perfect; just be an excellent example of being human.”

Charles "Mask" Lewis on one idea influencing millions

The late and great Charles "Mask" Lewis continues to live on through his magnificently inspirational and motivational words. He encouraged everyone to follow their dreams and believe in them with deep conviction. I truly believe that Mask's words will keep his spirit alive in the world as they inspire people across the globe. It sort reminds me of one of the lines the legendary rapper Tupac Shakur said before passing away:  "I'm not saying I'm gonna change the world, but I guarantee that I will spark the brain that will change the world."

The words and actions that people do can plant seeds for future generations. And one of the things Charles "Mask" Lewis dreamt about was trying to spread his positivity to the entire planet. He thought big, but didn't think big in a selfish way. He was thinking about inspiring and motivating others to dream big so that everyone benefitted and the world became a much more positive space full of happy dreamers and believers. And felt was adamant that anyone could do this with just one idea:

It just takes one idea, one, to change the course of your history, you kids history, and influence many a millions of others. Just one. But you got to go up there in that one little part that you're thinking that's just so crazy, it only sounds crazy because nobody else is thinking about it. That's your special gift. You got to get up in that. Whatever it is.

Imagery / Visualization during competition

Visualization is something that a lot of athletes, including mixed martial arts fighters, use before competition. They visualize executing their game plans and oftentimes just visualize the goal; suchas having your hand raised at the end of competition or having the UFC gold placed around your waist, if it's a title fight. Making these visualizations are real as possible (feeling the feelings, hearing the sounds, seeing the faces and objects clearly) helps the process tremendously.

But aside from doing these sorts of visualization / imagery techniques before competition, they can also be done during competition; like in between rounds. There's a book entitled Imagery in Sports and Physical Performance, which was edited by Anees A. Sheikh and Errol R. Korn, which gives great insight into this practice:

 

So for a fighter, he or she can take the advice that the corner is giving them in between rounds, and simultaneously make a mental movie of executing said techniques. While drinking water and taking deep breaths, one can also multi-task in that minute break in between rounds to visualize executing the plan; whether it's landing the jab, throwing a high kick, or a certain set up to a takedown. Whatever game plan tips that one's corner is doling out in between rounds, those can be instantly materialized in the mind to make the practice of those techniques in the cage moments later, easier to execute.

GSP: The best fighter doesn't always win

It seems kind of elementary, but it's a concept that can sometimes elude fans: The best fighter doesn't always win, but the fighter who fights the best. Sometimes it's just who strikes first and capitalizes on an opportunity before his opponent. For Georges St-Pierre, he sums it up as follows:

It's not always the best team that wins the game in baseball, or in football, or in hockey. It's the team that comes the most well prepared and played the best match. Same thing with fighting. It's not always the best fighter. It's the fighter that will fight the best fight that will win.

Bas Rutten's 4 most important things in life

For Bas Rutten he was on record as saying in the past that the three most important things in life are respect, love, and happiness. Interacting with us on Twitter he commented that he will add a fourth to that list: Health

@nmwright21 @mmaquote ad a fourth, "health"
— Bas Rutten (@BasRuttenMMA) July 29, 2013

That's along the lines of what another fan-friendly and positive fighter, Urijah Faber says:

Good Health is True Wealth

For more inspirational and helpful tips and advice from Bas Rutten, check out the video below. It was set up to inspire and motivate the Jane and Finch community in Toronto, which at times has faced some crime through gangs; although the community does have plenty of amazing citizens and even the ones committing crimes and in gangs have greatness which lies within them waiting to be released. Bas Rutten tries to give some positive vibrations in this video to inspire some of the youth in the community to let that greatness inside them shine forth.

Feeding your subconscious mind with positive thoughts

"Nurture you mind with great thoughts". A quote from Icelandic welterweight star in the UFC, Gunnar Nelson. Doing the act of nurturing your mind with great thoughts can be likened to planting seeds; it's the seeds which are planted which allow the growth of the beautiful flowers, vegetation, and trees. The planting these great thoughts will manifest in the future, as you long as you continue to water them, so to speak: as long as you continue to repeat them in your mind.

It's about programming the subconscious mind. It is believed that 90 to 95% of the time we are operating on the software of our subconscious mind; so if we can program that mind to believe the things that we want it to believe, then the results can be astounding. One of the ways to do this is via affirmations, and really feeling the feelings associated with the affirmations and getting into these affirmations as much as possible. Having that ultra realistic feeling of sensing all the senses in the affirmations, visualizing them, and generating the emotions associated with them, amplifies their impact.

Rashad Evans, who holds a degree in Psychology, feels the power of affirmations can be strong. In the video at the bottom of this post, around 5:40 into it; he explains that he was able to gain a stronger conviction in himself and belief in his abilities via the nurturing of great thoughts in his mind:

"I am the best"
"I won't be beat"
"I can't be beat"
"No one can beat me"
These mantras are just words but after a while it becomes a conviction in my soul.

The last line is a key component to all this: after a while it's a deep conviction. No longer is it work to try and force these beliefs onto yourself; but rather it's just a fact. Just like when you slip a switch you know the light comes on, or when you turn a faucet you know the water will drip; you just know and accept these great thoughts as facts. All of a sudden it's a just a natural thing to think that you are great and can do great things.

The sky blue, the sun is hot, I am great.

It's just something that is part of our reality and requires no thinking at this point. That's when the subconscious mind just accepts this and you operate from that position 90 to 95% of the time without even thinking.

Matt Brown on his feelings before a fight and 300 The Movie

In an interview with Extreme MMA News, Matt Brown describes his feelings before a fight akin to scenes the movie 300:

Explain the feeling you get when walking out to the cage and the moment the door shuts behind you.
It was described perfectly in the movie 300 in the wolf scene and again at the ending. “It’s not fear that grips him, but restlessness. A heightened sense of things.” I can’t describe it any better.

Jamie Varner on Sharing his Gift with the World

When you do a job just for the sake of doing a job and you hate it, you have a certain energy which goes into it that which is flat. There's a passionless expression which is translated into sub-par work. Basically you're functioning at a real low capacity and not scratching the surface of your potential. The opposite of this is doing something you love, where you're energized, motivated, excited, and really in the zone when you're engaging in your work to the point where it doesn't seem like work at all. Taking this up another notch is when someone believes that what they're doing was what they are meant to do and feel compelled to share that gift with others.

That's something that UFC lightweight Jamie Varner has experienced in turning his life around and moving in more positive directions. He considered stepping away from fighting and shifting back to a "normal" job and living a "normal" life; but decided that he was gifted at combat sports and felt it was his purpose and responsibility to share his talent, expression, and art to the millions of MMA fans worldwide. You can imagine the type of consciousness and quality of work which emerges when someone takes that type of approach to the work they do. 

Someone else who this reminds me of is Randy Couture. Couture was able to fight to the age of 47 against the elite in the UFC. This is a rare feat and something that was achieved by Randy through taking care of his body, being smart with his training approach, good dieting and genetics; but also a very strong sense of purpose. There's a Sanskrit word Dharma, which translates into English as purpose of life; and for Randy Couture fighting was his purpose in life. So when Couture mentions in his book, The Way of the Fight, how much he loves and appreciates fans, he's being totally sincere. "When fighters say they couldn't have done it without the fans, they do mean it", writes Couture in his autobiography. "If not for our crazy, hardcore fan base, mixed martial arts would have died during its dark years, and I might never have found my purpose in life."

Passion and purpose can take you miles further than you could possibly think; and those miles which you travel along will be of the highest quality, and filled with extreme joy.

Joe Lauzon on getting over losses

Joe Lauzon, regardless of whether it's a win, loss, or draw, always puts on an exciting fight. There's something special about a fighter who is willing to give everything he has at the risk of gassing out and having to fight two more rounds with depleted energy; but Lauzon is a fighter who is actually willing gamble on that at times to please fans. I have tremendous respect for fighters who take on that self-service action and many feel Joe Lauzon is the most exciting fighter in the UFC, which has translated to somewhere around half a million dollars in bonuses for him as a result.

But when it comes to losses, Lauzon also has a healthy attitude. He is able to overcome  the drowning negative feeling which can overcome fighters when they lose. Fighting is more personal than losing a tennis game because of the pride and egotistical elements involved. If you lose a tennis game it's not as devastating a blow to the ego as losing a fight. However, at the same time it's worthy to note that the ego is a construct of the mind, so the thoughts which can torture a fighter after a loss are actually figments of the imagination. It may not be the easiest thing in the world do to past conditioning, but one can train the mind to not take these thoughts that seriously. Somewhat akin to someone on the street who is babbling incoherencies in every direction to no one in particular; you don't take what that person is saying seriously at all; you can also treat negative thoughts in such a manner. They are only as real and serious as you wish them to be.

Joe Lauzon is a good example of getting over losses pretty well. He takes the mentality of treating the mental angst which arises from losing as holding a hot coal:

It's like holding a hot coal in your hand, it just burns you, it doesn't do me any good.

That quote was from an interview with Ariel Helwani from MMA Fighting, after Lauzon's loss to Anthony "Showtime" Pettis, and right before he was to take on Jamie Varner. This viewpoint is borrowed from Gautama Buddha's stance on anger. "Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned", stated Buddha about 500 years before Christ. That attitude of dropping negative emotions is a wonderful tool. These afflictive thoughts can creep up on us out of nowhere, but it can be a unbelievably valuable skill to be able to drop them ASAP and not suffer the burn which comes with hanging onto them. We can acknowledge the emotion but don't have to identify with it and hold on; just drop it and let go.

Visualization and Success

A quote from Denis Waitley, author of The Psychology of Winning, states the positivity of visualizing success:

"Winners say, Of course I can do it! I've practiced mentally a thousand times"

The thousands of repetitions in your mind end up paying off when it comes time to perform. You feel like you've done it a thousand times because you have in mental rehearsal. It's a very comfortable spot to be in and that comfort really relaxes your muscles, your mind, and allows peak performance to flow forth.

UFC light-heavyweight James Te Huna takes similar stance to his fighting game. Visualization of hundreds of techniques going well improves the odds that they do when the Octagon door shuts. There's no surprises and fears, and the brain is used to the scenarios which pop up in a fight because they have already been rehearsed mentally. There's less stress and anxiety regarding your performance when it's a familiar situation.

Ronda Rousey on not fighting with emotion

For Ronda Rousey , fighting with anger or any other emotion can be a detriment to your ability to succeed. It comes to minimizing errors because the slightest mistake can lead to a humongous window of opportunity for your opponents, especially in a game of centimeters that is mixed martial arts. One mistake and the fight could be over. That's what makes mixed martial arts unique vis-à-vis other sports; that one technique finish. If somebody jumps over their opponents head and dunks on them in an NBA game in the first minute of competition, that's great but there's still 47 minutes of basketball left. If you get knocked out in a mixed martial arts fight in the first minute of action, the referee isn't going to wake you up, dust you off, and then send you off to finish the next 14 minutes of fighting. It's over. So staying calm and emotion-free can be a healthy attitude to take to minimize errors, and that's what Ronda Rousey strives to do in competition:

If you're fighting with emotion instead of structure, then it's always going to be a mistake.

John Danaher on the benefits of Jiu Jitsu off the mat

John Danaher speaks about Jiu Jitsu not being a skill that can be used on the mat, but something that can be translated into everyday life. We're not just talking about using BJJ in self defense situations, but the mental activity of making fast decisions and coming up with quick solutions under fire. At times fast decisions are needed to be made and if you have practiced coordinating your mind to fire off fast solutions under duress, that will allow you to have that type of mental acuity in everyday life. John Danaher noted this in an interview with Open Mat Radio:

“The deepest benefits of Jiu Jitsu come off the mat.  It encourages a world-view based upon the idea of rational problem solving.  Jiu Jitsu is all about solving problems that are rapidly changing under stress, and that gives you an ability to identify the crux of the problem in front of you, even in a stressful situation and adapt your body and tactics to overcome that problem and to continue overcoming it as the problem itself changes.  It encourages you to use a very rational trial and error method, basically the same method that science uses to overcome these problems.  So it gives you this sort of problem solving mindset, which I think applies throughout life itself.”

Conor McGregor praises Demetrious Johnson for win over John Moraga

UFC featherweight star Conor McGregor praised his flyweight co-worker Demetrious Johnson for his armbar victory over John Moraga at UFC on Fox 8 in Seattle. McGregor, who takes on Max Holloway at UFC on Fox Sports 1 on August 17th in Boston, has a tremendous amount of respect for the smoothness, precision, and efficiency of "Mighty Mouse". Conor McGregor wrote on his Twitter:

Big @MightyMouseUFC fan and his coach Matt Hume!! Smooth, precise and efficient. UN-ARMED COMBAT at its finest!!
— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) July 28, 2013

With the victory over John Moraga, Demetrious Johnson now improves to 18-2-1 and is a perfect 4-0-1 in the UFC flyweight division, and has defended his title twice.

Georges St-Pierre on training on the days you don't want to

Georges St-Pierre holds to the theory that he gets better not on days that he wants to go to train, is motivated and exciting and feeling good about going to the gym; rather he feels that he gets the most improvement from days where he doesn't want to go, can't stand going, but overcomes that blanketing negative aura and energy within him and musters up the will-power to get up and give his all in training. GSP mentions this in his book The Way of the Fight:

...if you can overcome the negative energy coming from your tired body or unmotivated mind, you will grow and become better. It won’t be the best workout you have, you won’t accomplish as much as what you usually do when you actually feel good, but that doesn’t matter. Growth is a long-term game, and the crappy days are more important. The best part is at the end of your workout on the crappy day. You feel better about yourself, happier and proud.

Bruce Buffer on No Fears

UFC announcer Bruce Buffer discusses the important of celebrating the small and big victories in your life, and subtracting fear out of the equation of your existence. From Buffer's book It's Time!: My 360-Degree View of the UFC:

John Moraga Quotes

UFC flyweight star John Moraga was able to turn his life around from growing up in a tough part of West Phoenix, and working his way to the top of the UFC's 125 pound weight class.

Demetrious Johnson Quotes

Demetrious Johnson is one of the fastest fighters you'll ever see. The UFC flyweight champion brings an immense amount of speed, talent, technique, and tenacity to the UFC Octagon.