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Due to the injuries that I will have for the rest of my life, it is physically impossible for me to consider any career in wrestling.

You know, I think I had a great career; there's not much I think I'd do different other than get a title shot much earlier. I didn't get one till 49 or 50 fights into my career.

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.

If I could have had everything exactly the way I wanted, this is how I would have written it down. Win all my fights in the first round, then go to the UFC and headline a show, and have it as a pay-per-view and at home. People's dreams don't come true like that.

I was always pushed to do that much more, and in the long run that made me more of an MMA fighter. My mom always told me that if I let it go to the judges, I'd lost. There was no way I was going to win a decision, so I had to find ways to finish the fight fast.

I wanted to win the gold medal and then go home and further my education in college. I had no intentions whatsoever to become a professional fighter because I had heard horror stories about former boxers who made money but, in the end, ended up with nothing. I didn't want to be one of those guys.

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.

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.

The UFC didn't want me to fight there so what could I do? We were unable to make a deal. They offered unacceptable conditions.

I wanted to fight guys like Shane Moseley, Miguel Cotto, and Alvarez.