URIJAH FABER

All the businesses that I've been a part of throughout my fighting career have come out of a need.

I'd be down to go to 135. I've competed most of my life at that weight.

As a kid, I loved contact sports, especially American football and boxing.

After a loss, you have to reassess a little bit and be realistic.

I didn't get into too many fights when I was younger. I think I got into, like, one fight when I was in high school, and that was because someone was being rude towards my mom, and that was it.

I had a two-hour VHS tape of Sakuraba and all his crazy stuff. He was doing crazy double flying chops with both hands and undressing the Gracie family one shoulder at a time, and probably my favorite fight of all time was when he fought in Heroes and was rocked and kind of out of it, and they stopped him and kind of shook him in bounds.

Ribs are a real tricky thing: you don't really know when they're going to heal, especially when mine weren't broken. I don't know what it was, exactly - either a deep bruise or cartilage.

I have always been a big fan of combat sports - ever since I can remember, it was something that appealed to me and something that I thought I would be good at.

I've always wanted to be the best.

I'm kind of - I guess you could say - a momma's boy.

The rankings - they don't mean crap, to be honest.

I've held the title for years and years.

I'm a guy who has put my heart and my soul into something, into everything that I do.

On occasion, it's rough for me to sleep because I have a lot of things on my mind, so I'll need to get a little more sleep sometimes. I'm up late because I've got a lot of energy and a lot of things on my mind all the time, and I'm up early 'cause I've got things to do, so that's the only thing. That's how I like it; I like to be busy.

As far as fighting, I just love to fight and enjoy my life more because of that. I think that it is pretty apparent to those who know me that I do this because of the love. I am not looking to get famous or acquire a bunch of cash. I am following my passion, and that's what is about for me.

I enjoy competing, and I love to get out there, and I feel like I could compete with anyone in the world, and it took me a long time to get like that.

You look at teams in college, the MMA world, and beyond that allow bullying, where guys get jealous during training and stuff like that. You need to have a space where everyone feels like they have an equal opportunity - like they have support, people watching out for them.

I've told the UFC brass I want big fights: fights that are going to put money in their pockets and money in my pockets and staple me as one of the best of all-time.

The longer you stay out of this sport, the less sharp you are, and I've been aware of that; that's why I've stayed and haven't wanted to retire and come back - because you skip a beat.

I feel really lucky about being able to live a life that revolves around my passion. People are really supportive, and I've got some great fans.

I love watching other guys fight.

I'm a very hard working guy.

The most important thing in a fighter is his mentality. Do you really believe that you're the baddest dude on the planet?

There's only a certain amount of times in my life where I'm going to get to experience every single person directing their energy and focus on you, screaming at you.

I've loved just being a part of other people's success.