One of the guys I've always said was one of my favorite fighters to watch was Sakuraba. He's always been really creative. He's got a great attitude, and I think he has the right approach of just going in there and letting it all hang out.
I'm a fan of Fedor, have been a fan since he was in PRIDE, a great champion, and since I like to challenge myself, new challenges, that was one of the offers that came with my move to Bellator. Of course fighting Fedor would be an honor, a dream.
I think I'd do pretty well with Fedor.
Actually, when I fought in PRIDE, we had the best fighters in the world. Back then, the UFC had a very serious and big crisis; they were going through some tough times trying to get top fighters. All the best fighters were in PRIDE.
Back in the day, I was a Royce Gracie fan and a fan of Tank Abbott. It's always the different-looking guys that you want to root for. Then there were guys like Mark Coleman and Randy Couture, so for me to get in there and fight against guys like that is pretty cool.
I was brought into the life of one Bas Rutten in 2001 at a grappling tournament that I was attending to support a friend of mine. I had never met Bas before but, of course, knew who he was: the King of Pancrase, UFC Heavyweight champion, and the commentator with Pride.
For me, being a part of the halcyon days of Pride Fighting Championships and then watching the explosion of the UFC following the 'Ultimate Fighter,' I've been fortunate to be in the right place at the right time.
I think Nick Diaz is a great fighter.
I like Vitor Belfort. He's a nice guy and I have nothing against him.
I fought Dan Henderson in 2009, and I lost, and that was at UFC 100 - UFC 100 was the biggest pay-per-view the company's ever done. 1.6 million pay-per-view buys, watched all over the world, and of course, I get knocked out cold after talking lots of smack leading up to the fight. So I got my just desserts in that one.
Rampage Jackson came to the UFC with a brain. He came to the UFC with a huge following from being in Asia with Pride. He was a personality before he came to the UFC. You don't see them putting marketing money behind him to blow him up.
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.
For me, Sakuraba was my favorite fighter when I first got into the sport.
I'll never doubt Anderson Silva.
I love the sport, and I have for a long time. I'd stay up late and watch the Pride New Year's Eve shows. I watch all the UFC pay-per-views. I'm a fan. I love this stuff.
I have great respect for Lyoto Machida.
I didn't and still don't watch sport all that often, but I did see all the Pride fights back in the day, which is when I first saw MMA and I felt that's something I really want to do.
Big respect to Dan Henderson.
Wanderlei Silva, six feet tall and 205 pounds, boy, until I met you, I didn't know they could stack crap that high.
I'm a big fan of Anderson Silva.
I love Chuck Liddell. Chuck Liddell is a good friend of mine, actually.
