Michael Chiesa Quotes

Actually, when I don't have a fight I'm training the hardest because I'm not worried about getting hurt.

I've had such a tough time making weight at 155 all the time. I'd make the weight, but I don't feel like the same kind of Sage. My power in my punches, my explosion, my speed - it just doesn't feel the same.

If I feel there is something to help me recover better or make me a better athlete or player then I will always try it.

People go on about weight. Mike Tyson wasn't the biggest heavyweight and he was an animal.

What if I could just focus on fighting? What would that be like? What would it be like to take advantage of all the resources this place has to offer? Because you're not doing it when you're cutting weight all the time.

Being an athlete, my job was to physically perform.

The older you get, the easier it is to get injured. But what I've learned the hard way is that the more excess weight you have, the more likely you are to get injured doing everyday things.

The conditioning and the lifestyle changes you have to make to remain a healthy athlete are what molded me into what I am today.

I have to change a lot of things before I become a good marathon runner.

I have MMA strengths, but I need to build on my weaknesses.

Towards the end of my career, I had a lot of wear and tear, a lot of arthritis that was building up. Being 300 pounds for over 15 years was starting to take its toll. I was constantly on all sorts of anti-inflammatories and medicines to deal with the pain.

Now that sports science is more advanced, we know that there are so many off-pitch factors that can affect how good you can become. If people are telling you to sleep a certain number of hours, eat specific foods, and drink a certain volume of fluids, then you have to be prepared to listen and learn.

I wrestled when I was a kid. That started me off with the discipline, because making weight was my responsibility. It is a team sport, but it is also a solo sport.

Weight cuts are not easy, are not nice, but it's part of our job so we shouldn't complain and just be on weight when you have to be.

The problem with these UFC fighters - and they're all fantastic athletes, top of the line in the entire world - is that they wear their bodies down in these training camps. All these guys that are cutting weight are just destroying their own bodies.

Just pushing myself for more rounds at a higher pace in training. Your focus should be grounded in what you do, and that's fighting. I'm getting my cardio that way.

There's a lot to being a weightlifter. People think it's all brute strength. But it takes strength, quickness, flexibility, and technique. And it can cause a lot of stress.

For me the more important thing is fighting. You know, training, fighting. The sports side. I didn't choose my media life.

I noticed the more muscle I put on, the more cushion and padding I had, the better my performances were getting. I decided I could be this little, stick-thin thing out there and be hurt all the time, or I could show my athleticism, and if it comes with a little bit of weight on the side, it is what it is.

I just take it one fight at a time. If I'm able to fight, and I'm still healthy enough, I'd like to fight. But I'll know when it's time to stop.

You can deal with a little pain. It's just about making sure you can throw the ball good enough to go out there and help your team.

Let me be clear: MMA training is tough work, and every fighter has had to enter the Octagon with aches and pains as well as exhaustion. This is the game.

The cut made me hate the process of getting ready for a fight. I was focused on how to make weight instead of how to beat my opponent.

I've been working on all my aspects of my game.

When you fight in the UFC and train with the guys that I train with, you learn that there is always still a lot of work to do.