Michael Chiesa Quotes

When I fought Benson Henderson for the first time, or Jamie Varner, it was always like, 'Oh man... I'm in here fighting these guys. Do I really belong here?' That's all changed now.

I was always taught coming back from injuries the last thing you want to do is have a mental game going on with yourself and psyching yourself out and you just start thinking about the injury.

A lot of amateurs are terrified of going up against a player who is clearly better than they are. They never play their best, because they aren't comfortable. There's one surefire way to get over that, and it's to ask yourself, 'What if I beat him?' Imagine the possibility.

I always feel like I can't do it, that I can't go through with a movie. But then I do go through with it after all.

Oftentimes, people stay where they are in life simply because of fear. But do you know that fear isn't reality? It's only a thought in your mind.

Every audition is different, but I get incredibly nervous and insecure and worked up for however long I have to prep - that's when I get to spin. But you're not allowed to spin once you enter the room. Doubt really can't enter the room when you're auditioning - unless it's part of the character.

I think what weakens people most is fear of wasting their strength.

Sometimes the biggest problem is in your head. You've got to believe you can play a shot instead of wondering where your next bad shot is coming from.

On certain plays and situations I feel like I have the advantage. But sometimes I just have to not think about the size of the guy in front of me.

Because winning a gold medal had been a dream of mine since a young age, I needed to empty my mind during the preparation for the Olympics by telling myself that it would be OK not to win a gold medal.

If it's about work or sports or politics or women, we have no problem sharing our opinions, but if it's about our insecurities or our struggles, our fear of failure, then it's almost like we become paralyzed.

I'm always afraid of failing. I have to quiet that fear if I'm going to get up in the morning.

The biggest thing I've learned is just to not doubt myself as much as I do. Having self-doubt is definitely necessary, but it's about not letting it get in the way. When it turns into fear, you run into problems.

Sometimes, my self-doubt became self-limiting.

When I go to competitions, I don't have so much confidence that I don't worry or get nervous about the other skaters doing well.

I never think of who's in the competition. I never let myself get in that frame of mind, worrying about who I'm against.

There's a difference between feeling nervous and feeling: 'I'm not worthy of taking the ice.'

The one who intimidates me is myself. I'm scared to fail. That is the thing that makes me the most afraid, to fail. Just to think that I can do a mistake and lose the fight scares me, so that is why I work out a lot: to bring more chance to my size and less chance to my opponent.

The fear of failing... not quite the fear of failing, but the uncertainty of whether you are going to perform or not, is there every single game I have played in my life. It will always be there.

I think, when I was younger, I'd be crippled sometimes by what others thought or how others would do better. It's been a long journey, and having a lack of confidence is really damaging in this industry.

Sometimes, the hardest things are just the simple things. Basically, get out of your own head and just go play the game you know how to play.

My real fear with fighting is just not letting it go out there and hang out. I don't fear other guys. I'm just scared I'm not going to go out there and give everything I have. Like I'm only going to give a fraction of the things we trained and worked on.

I'm absolutely scared and I absolutely have reservations, but sometimes you need to find that deep down in you to bring out the best performance of yourself, to bring out the best version of yourself, but yep I'm nervous and I'm scared.

There have been competitions where I got on the line and psyched myself out before I even let myself compete. I was thinking about the other competitors and not giving myself a fair chance. I had to shift to thinking, 'Just focus on yourself and doing what your coach has taught you to do.'

With Masvidal, I dropped him and it's the first time I'd ever dropped anyone in my life. I kind of started to turn the corner after that, and it was just a realization that if my hands were a weakness, it was only because I didn't believe in them. I had the talent to do it.