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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.

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.

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'm more into MMA than any other sport. I watch a lot of the UFC fights. I have since it first came onto the scene.

In college, I tried to start wrestling as soon as I could and when it was available to me, as I loved competing, and then got into MMA under Pat Miletich, where I was able to sharpen all my skills and develop into a true fighter.

When I went to college, I came across MMA. My first reaction was, 'No, I don't want to fight. I just want to learn jujitsu.' I didn't know what UFC was; in my mind it was this violent, ugly sport. But when I watched my first amateur fight, I fell in love with the sport and thought it was beautiful.

Boxing is a buzz, but I went into it to make a living. I wasn't going to go into the ring and get punched in the head for the fun of it.

I started doing MMA and boxing at the same time - I always wanted to try an MMA fight to see what it was like. I had one fight, and I was hooked.

I was lucky. I held on to some of my money. I didn't really know what I wanted to do after boxing. But I found what I wanted to do.

There's more to the sport than just fighting, and you either understand that, or you don't. And if you don't, then I promise you the guys that are worth money don't want to fight you, because you don't get it.