Rashad Evans Quotes

I don't really believe in that ring rust stuff.

I don't believe in ring rust. I used to believe in ring rust, but I talked to my buddy Dominic Cruz, who's a bantamweight, and he basically said it's a mindset. What you do in between in your time off determines how you're going to look when you come in there.

There's days in training where everything flows and days in training where they don't. You just pray that doesn't happen the night of the fight.

When I got to match point in the final I was afraid I'd be a little nervous, but I just said, You have to stay focused, just think about what you have to do.

There's a ton of nerves for every fight I've been in; it doesn't matter if it was my debut.

Right before I go on stage, I'm absolutely terrified. My mind darts at many directions, but the center of me is going forward into the performance.

Venus told me the other day that champions don't get nervous in tight situations. That really helped me a lot. I decided I shouldn't get nervous and just do the best I can.

You have to bury nerves, because they can either destroy you or give you that extra boost. You have to use your nerves in a good way. Don't let them destroy you.

Learning how to compete is one of the most important things that an athlete can do. You can train as well as you possibly can and go compete and completely choke.

You can't fight if you're nervous.

I worry about myself in the ring; I worry about what I can do and how I can dictate a fight.

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.

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.'

My nerves tend to dissipate once the match starts. When I know I've practiced as much as I can and I do my best and leave it all out there, I feel OK no matter what happens.

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.

Boxing never hurt me at all.

The mental part of the game, being able to free up on the tennis court, is much easier said than done.

No matter how tired you get, when you get in that ring and hear that crowd road, everything will go away.

Any fight I feel pressure, just the same as the last one, the next one will be just as important.

You can't fight like a machine, like you are worried about what the promoter is going to think.

Some guys lock up when they hear the crowd. I feel the energy and take it with me into the fight. I've been in front of huge crowds and know to use that energy.

Any match you face, you know, you can be nervous.

It could be very costly if you don't have a clear mind during a tournament.

As fighters, the stark reality is, there's times in that cage when we want out. There's times when we've had enough and we want out, and we're able to recognize defeat.

I have showed things in sparring and camp that I don't show in fights.