Josh Koscheck on exercise, nutrition, sleep, and well-being

Eu não sou o melhor. Eu só faço coisas que as pessoas acham que são impossível - Anderson Silva

Un campeón es alguien que suda hasta el agotamiento, incluso cuando nadie más está

Un campeón es alguien que suda hasta el agotamiento, incluso cuando nadie más está
 - Bas Rutten

Faith Over Fear

The forces for you are greater than the forces against - Anthony Johnson

 The forces for you are greater than the forces against you so don't let something weaker than you take you down
- Anthony Johnson 

Holding Hate will hold you back - Conor McGregor

My legs are weak. My arms are sore. My chest is heavy. My body is in pain. But I will push on.

Mike Dolce Diet Breakfast Bowl of Champions

31 seconds into this video, Mike Dolce notes a great tasting breakfast bowl he recommends to people. Chael Sonnen describes it as "Dessert for Breakfast":

-Oats or buckwheat
-Fresh blueberries and strawberries with sliced banana
-Almond butter or another nut butter
-Hemp seeds and Chia seeds (if you want, hemp oil too)
-Coconut flakes
-Cinnamon
-Honey or Agave nectar if you want additional sweetening

Click for more quotes from Nick Diaz.

Anderson Silva can fight by end of 2014

Anderson Silva is recovering great, you can hear from Dana White at 3:50 into this video:

Nick Diaz wants to fight for the UFC title, Anderson Silva, Roy Jones Jr, and big money fights

Nick Diaz is one of the most popular and polarizing figures in MMA, but that makes
him a tremendous draw. He has the right mentality in that he consistently asks for title
fights and tries to put himself into big money bouts. The funny thing is he does this even after losing fights. But interestingly enough he came off a loss and got a title fight against Georges St-Pierre. This type of situation is very rare. What is very hilarious though is he is asking for another title fight after the loss.

I respect him for trying this method out, but lightning striking twice is rare. However, if he does want to fight for the title, he can stay in great shape and be mentally prepared and physically prepared to jump in on short notice should Robbie Lawler or Johny Hendricks get injured for their title fight. That way he can step in and fight for the belt. He would be on the top of the UFC's list to put in as a replacement. It's hard to talk your way to a title shot after a loss or two, but if you are willing to jump in on short notice when the UFC is desperate for a replacement, then the situation is golden for those who want title shots. If Diaz is willing to take the risk to jump in on short notice, that is the only way to get a title shot at the moment.

However, if he wants a big money fight at 185, that is something which can be done. In the past Nick Diaz did express interest in fighting Anderson Silva, however, once again it was while Silva was the champion, so it didn't make sense. But now Anderson is not the champ, he is coming off an injury, and an entertaining and unique fight with Diaz is a possibility. If he can negotiate a big money fight with Silva, then that is a great chance for Diaz to make a big splash in the sport again and make some big cash. The UFC have paid Diaz's teammate Gilbert Melendez quite a bit, so maybe the same management team can squeeze some good cash for a fight with Silva at 185.

Lastly, if Diaz's management team can get a good amount of money to box Roy Jones Junior, Diaz can entertain that option, as he noted this is of interest in the past. If he can get a good payday and feels he has a decent shot to do well against Roy, then that option is something that Jones is willing to entertain.

Diaz is about the money as he needs to earn a living, but he also has integrity in that no amount of dough is going to make him fight his friends.

Pressure makes diamonds

This is a good motivator for those who fear pressure. If you take the approach and mentality that pressure, anxiety, fear, nerves, they will all help you thrive, then that allows you to excel when those feelings arise before competition. Even if you don't believe it at first, the repetition of affirmations, in conjunction with creating a little bit of faith in those words, will build that seed of success and allow it germinate. If you have the mindset that you will achieve peak performance regardless of your emotional state, that is an incredibly empowering belief that lets to be free to just go out there and have fun and compete at your best. And that's all you can ever ask of yourself.

Joe Rogan on Haters, Winners, Jealous, and Michael Jordan

Joe Rogan takes the approach that inspiration is the emotion which should be evoked when one sees success being displayed by other human beings:

"100% of all haters in the world are unrealized potential...They see someone doing well and it bothers them. To a person like a Michael Jordan or a winner, they see someone doing well and it inspires them to take it up another notch."
 

Georges St-Pierre on how Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) helped him achieve success in MMA

GSP says he left MMA because of OCD. But it is also what led him to success in the sport.

Conor McGregor: Doubt is only removed by action

"With discipline, belief, and the right knowledge, we become the best we can be.” - Georges St-Pierre

- Georges St-Pierre

Don't downgrade your dream to match your reality, upgrade your Faith to match your destiny

GSP on lighting a fire in him

Georges St-Pierre in Takedown: The DNA of GSP book: I am always at my best when I am fighting a guy who insults me, and questions my integrity, it lights more fire in me. 

John Danaher on champions from Takedown: The DNA of GSP

From the book Takedown: The DNA of GSP:

If you look at the career of the average mixed martial artist...they win one, they lose one, they win one, they lose one. But then there are the champions. And one has to learn what makes them different.

Chael Sonnen: Failure and success are always an option

Ryan LaFlare on trying your best and giving everything you have

Takedown: The DNA of GSP book quote

From the photographic book edition of Takedown: The DNA of GSP

Michael Chandler on giving people a sense of hope

Fighters are so revered by fans because their battles in the cage reflect the struggles people face in their own lives. That is part of what brings the "art" to mixed martial arts in that everyone who watches can be inspired and moved by the performance which take place in competition. Michael Chandler is a fighter who feels it is his purpose in life to inspire others in such a fashion:

I truly believe this is my calling all my life; to be able to inspire people, motivate people, give them a sense of hope.

Charlie Brenneman: Maintain your integrity through it all

What are some of lessons you have learned through MMA? 
I've learned that hard work does not always pay off, but persevering and sticking to your goals is what makes you a solid person.

What motivates you to compete in mixed martial arts?
 My motivation comes from my desire to be the best possible fighter that I can possibly be.

Who/what inspires you? 
My inner desire is what inspires me. My desire to pave the way for a positive future for my daughter and family.

Any motivational message you'd like to share with our readers? 
Life is not fair. Fighting is not fair. Good people do not always win. But NEVER shy away from doing what's right. Maintain your integrity through it all.

Sara McMann quotes

I felt like I could be a good example that you don’t have to have all the right things in life, all the doors already open for you, in order to do great things. In fact, I truly believe that a lot of people who do great things, many of them have come from harder backgrounds and took some of those hits in life. —Sara McMann

Sara McMann on bringing humanity and empathy to the cage. pic.twitter.com/D2UV5Rnm8R

— MMA Digest (@themmadigest) February 23, 2017

Daniel Cormier and Sara McMann on how tragedy has helped them in fighting

 
Daniel Cormier and Sara McMann are both Olympians in wrestling from America, but also share another bond in term of tragic loss and suffering. Sara McMann lost her brother in a murder and years later her fiance was killed in a car accident. Daniel Cormier also lost his three-month old daughter in a car accident. They have both suffered immense pain, but in that process have understood what it truly like to have a real bad day. And through that understanding they have realized that losing a fight is nothing in comparison to that. Oddly enough, that has helped them in competition because it has taken away the fear of losing for them. Many times the fear of failure is so overwhelming that athletes can choke when the times comes to compete. But Cormier and McMann have a more peaceful attitude towards in terms of the outcome of the competition because they know it pales in comparison to the hardship and suffering they have been through already. They are in a sense free; they are free to just go out and perform and not be bogged down by the blanketing anxiety which can hold some people down from achieving peak performance.  

UFC 170: Chael Sonnen was ready to step in and fight Daniel Cormier

Chael Sonnen was set to jump in on just 9 days notice to replace the injured Rashad Evans and take on Daniel Cormier at UFC 170. Sonnen definitely has the old school mentality of fighting anyone, anywhere, and at any time. Coming from an amateur wrestling background, Sonnen is used to competing several times a day in tournaments against people who are unknown. That fearlessness in competing has allowed him to earn a lot of great opportunities in the UFC. But it was actually Pat Cummins who got the spot to fight Cormier. Nonetheless, kudos to Sonnen's willingness to walk the walk every single time.

Michael Chandler on his chest tattoo "Blessed"

Michael Chandler on his tattoo on his chest which reads, "Blessed":

For me, it's just a constant reminder of how truly blessed I am. Just to be staying on two capable legs...and have two capable arms, to go out and compete and do what I love. It's an amazing gift that I've been given and that's one of the things that I don't want to take for granted.

You can hear Michael speak about this 3:49 into the following video interview clip conducted at Capitol Hill in Washington, DC:

Ronda Rousey on overcoming high school bullying

It's hard to imagine that Ronda Rousey was bullied in high school, but she was, at least on a verbal level. But that type of verbal abuse and shaming can definitely create a monstrous psychological impact on a person during formative young teen years. Rousey however was able to overcome that psychological hurdle and understand the greatness which lied within her.

Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle

Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle

Some make the argument that life, in a sense, is just one big fight. That is also one reason why so many are drawn and inspired to combat sports athletes; we see their struggles in the cage and ring, and it touches us inside as it reflects the hardships we have and continue to encounter in life. 

One thing about mixed martial arts that people like to see is the show of respect that fighters have towards one another. The tapping of gloves before a fight and the class and reverence they show towards one another after the bout is something many enjoy watching. The fighters understand what their opponents have to go through and sacrifice to just get to the fight, and then go through to endure the fight. That allows them to have a sense of camaraderie, respect, and compassion for the other man or woman in the cage. 

In everyday life we can adopt this philosophy of respect towards others, because in some way, we are all fighters. You can go back to a great quote from Rashad Evans on the concept of us all being fighters for greater understanding:

We all are fighters, every single person who walks this earth is a fighter, everything that lives. To live is to fight, and we just fight in just different arenas. 

So we all fight in different arenas, in different ways, and all are having to deal with different things in our life. Suffering is a universal concept and while it can be immensely difficult to endure at times; but it is also something which breeds a beautiful emotion: compassion. Because we all suffer we can have a sense of kinship to other human beings and sentient beings as a whole. The great Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh speaks about how compassion is made out of non-compassion elements. Just as a flower requires mud to be able to flourish, in the same vein compassion requires the "mud" of suffering to be able to blossom forth. So since we are all fighting our own battles and suffering, we can look upon every single human being on the planet as someone we can connect with and be compassionate towards. No matter how perfect someone's life seems, there is suffering which creeps into our existence in a myriad of ways. 

Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle