George Groves Quotes

When I first got into the sport it was all about who could cut the most weight, who could be the biggest on fight night. That's the same era when you're sparring 10 five minute rounds, new partner every two and a half minutes, that era of just really hard weight cutting and really hard full contact training.

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.

When you drop weight, the closer you come to the fight, the more your muscles tighten up.

In the past when I'd made my 33 lbs weight cut there would always be some small injury, my back, my knee or something else.

You know, I'm never really 100-percent in any of those fights, because it's so hard to have perfect preparation for fighting and cutting weight and making 170 pounds, and being in the best shape for training camp and to make that cut.

Boxing, mixed martial arts and tennis are the hardest sports to train for.

I'd always told people that I would have liked to pursue some sort of professional fight career. I don't know if I'm quite right for it, since I'm extremely prone to injury. I've been boxing for a couple years, and I've messed around with some Jiu-Jitsu, and I've always felt that there's such a passion in a real fighter's heart.

When I trained for 'Creed,' I had about a year in advance to know what I was doing before. So I lived like a fighter, you know? I went through the workout routine, the diet, training with real boxers, training with real trainers, did the whole thing.

As far as fitness is concerned, you have to enjoy it, do good exercises, and integrate them into your tennis practice. The preparation for the season is as crucial as doing good blocks when switching from one surface to another.

The big goal is playing in June, so I'd rather be in the best shape I can be in health-wise than be dragging with nagging injuries or not being 100 percent trying to get to the Finals.

I train for whatever happens. I'm prepared for wherever the fight goes.

We always train with heavier sparring partners to make it harder so the fight will be easier.

The more minutes you play and the more grind and physical play you endure through the course of a season, you have to re-charge and get your body right for the next season. Be in that weight room and conditioning and that kind of deal.

Training for a fight is never easy, regardless of the opponent.

I go into every fight with a bad back and overweight and a damn-near diabetic.

I stretch for a full hour before a fight because I know I'm going to take a lot of punishment in the ring. That's my secret.

With my style, training is very rigorous. You're toe-to-toe, getting beat on six days a week for five or six weeks leading to a fight. There's no fun, no glamour.

I'd love a training camp. But if they walked in the door right now and said, 'Do you want to fight for the title in the next 10 minutes?' I'm out the door, warming up, ready to go.

I don't think people realize what those weight cuts were doing to me. It took so much out of me to make 155. I wish I could put into words what it was like, to be able to paint the picture of my weight cuts, but I can't. All I can say is that every fight week was a complete misery.

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'm more vicious in sparring when I am around 160 pounds or coming down from heavier than that.

I train great outside of camp but then once camp starts, it's just a constant weight cut.

From the very beginning, every time I trained for a fight, I didn't train to beat the guy I was fighting. I trained to beat Anderson Silva.

I feel like I can beat Jon Jones. I see some things in his game that I can capitalize on.

If I'm straight outta shape for a fight, I might need 12 weeks or more to get in shape.