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I know MMA isn't for everyone. It is a combat sport; some people don't like watching it, but it is entertainment for some people.

I didn't really have intentions of fighting in MMA; it just kind of fell into place. Once I started fighting, though, I loved it, and I walked away from kickboxing right away.

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.

There are so many ridiculous arguments that MMA is somehow anti-woman.

I had to learn to take my time in MMA, and I was just able to keep a clear head.

Boxing was not the sport that I thought is was due to all the politics.

What got me into MMA first was that I was a wrestler, and I was a gangbanger getting into trouble a lot and getting into fights. I grew up in a family of 15 in a four-bedroom house. It was dysfunctional, so that alone made me want to be an MMA fighter. It's really the only sport where you gotta basically depend on yourself.

There wasn't much money in this sport when I started, but I didn't get into it because of money. I loved to fight, and I loved MMA.

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.