Darren Elkins

“Sometimes, I'm a big underdog, but I believe in myself and I really don't care.”

“I just think I need to fight a guy that has a lot of fans, and a definite title push behind him. That's the kind of guy I want to fight, somebody that's going in the same direction.”

“When it comes to pure will, I'm the toughest guy you'll ever meet with that.”

“I'm not underestimating Brandao at all. He won 'TUF' and he's in the UFC; obviously he's a good fighter.”

“Each fight I want to be better than I was the last fight.”

“If you look at the odds, I am like the underdog in a lot of my fights, and I win most of those fights.”

“You've got to be able to keep your mind on what your actual goals are. And I got a family, man. I'm not only fighting for myself. I'm fighting for them.”

“Training at Alpha Male has really helped me.”

“Thank God my wife is a nurse.”

“I feel like the worst thing to do is put a time frame on it, and then it's like you're either done too soon or, you know, you just - it's not a good thing to do. So I'm just going to take it one fight at a time and reevaluate myself, and when I feel like I'm done, I'm done, and I'll be happy with it.”

“Hacran Dias is really tough.”

“I'll be honest, I have a style that most people can't handle. They come in great shape, the best shape of their lives, and I'll still gas them out. It was like that in my wrestling career and it's been like that in my MMA career.”

“You get ahead of yourself and you get too much confidence, and sometimes you get knocked down.”

“The grind is my game, those are the fights I'm going to succeed in. It's not the prettiest stuff sometimes but man, I make it work and I make it work good.”

“I'm a little bit low-key, I'm from Indiana, and I don't fight with a huge camp.”

“The first round is never my round... That's never my best round. It's the second and third. It's like I'm switching gears - I'm a diesel engine.”

“When I was the young me, the young, beginning UFC Darren, I'd always make fun of the old guys. 'Oh this old guy still messing with them,' and calling them old guys.”

“You've got to be mentally tough.”

“The one sure thing is, if you believe you're finished, you probably are. I just keep fighting and you never know what may happen if you do that.”

“In this sport, the way I look at it, going off one fight and straight into another one, you have to make quick assessments.”