Every competition. Every fight. Every race. Every time you train.

There isn't an elite class of fighters, just fighters. There's a good class of fighters, a great class of fighters, and a great class of fighters. They all share the same basic traits. They're all intelligent, they're all hard working, and they're all driven to succeed in whatever they do. To do something better, do more and do it well. When I was first going to MMA, I thought it was all about the hard work. You'd work hard for a year and a half and then you'd be in the UFC automatically.

I wasn't a hardcore fan of the sport when I broke in and I didn't think it was worth a year or a year and a half of work for a single fight I could win in five seconds. I spent the entire season working on my rope-jumping for two years. I spent the entire season working out my ground game for two years. I spent the entire season drilling my striking for two years. There's some guys who will say that you train like you're going to get knocked out or you train until you throw yourself against the wall. That's what is known as a "waste of time." They're never going to make it. It's never going to happen.

‍💻 🐎 🚲

I spent my entire career training like that. I put everything I had into it while I was losing and then in training after I'd already made the decision to fight, I would do another three months of the exact same thing over and over and over again. That's what I call working hard. There's so much more to a fighter's career than wins and losses. Winning only helps. Every fighter will tell you that when they stop believing in fighting, they quit. Everyone will tell you that when you don't give your all, the world will come to an end. Every fight brings a new opportunity to learn what you need to improve to be the best version of yourself.