I want to keep active, so when they called me to fight Nate Diaz, I agreed because I wanted to stay active. I got a little surprised because he was out so long, but he's a tough opponent.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
Nate Diaz is a tough opponent. I've fought him.
I spar with Nick and Nate Diaz... those boys know what they're doing; they can throw their hands.
You know looking back on it now I used the fight and after the fight as motivation, to make sure I was going to be the best middleweight in the world for a long time.
There's something about somebody who does something special in the UFC that they're allotted certain freedoms and wiggle room around the rules. I'm just not in that category. So if I want to fight Georges St-Pierre or Nick Diaz or Nate Diaz, then it's all the hooplah and all the talk about it.
Whoever has lost a fight in the UFC and hasn't wanted to fight that guy the next day shouldn't be in the sport.
If you look at my career, towards the end you will see I was fighting like once a year. I was not part of the Don King top heavyweights, so I was kind of kept out. His guys were getting three to four fights a year and I could only get one.
A lot of people don't understand my reasoning behind wanting to fight big fights and big names. Knocking off these big names in fights really solidifies me as the best welterweight that's ever done it.
You always want to quit while you are ahead. You don't want to be like a fighter who stays too long in the ring until you're not performing at your best.
When I came back to the UFC, I was just excited.
I beat Diaz, Pettis, Ben Henderson, Cerrone, and I earned it, man. I earned my title.
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