Tyron Woodley

“Fighting is the only sport where fans don't understand this is our living.”

“What's on my playlist when I'm fighting is not so much hip-hop. Sometimes, it's something more inspirational. I get a chance to think about what I'm fighting for, like, my family. It takes me to that state because a lot of times, it's a spiritual warfare for me.”

“In the past, I said I didn't want to speak on certain issues because the second I said one thing about race, then 'Tyron's playing the race card.' But if you really think about it, what is the race card? The race card is that the man held me down, I had unfair circumstances, and I wasn't able to be successful because I was held down.”

“Wrestling is second nature: I've been doing it for so long, so if it looks like someone's leg is available, it made sense for my first three fights that I would shoot for legs.”

“I didn't pick wrestling over football. My coaches picked that for me. I never wanted to wrestle in college. I always wanted to play football. They thought I was too small, but I had a lot of heart.”

“People don't realize how sick Amanda Nunes is. She beats some of the UFC bantamweight males in the gym.”

“For me, it's just being wiser, finding my opportunities, and really fighting a smart fight.”

“I gotta be able to beat good guys at any moment. I think that's what I'm taking.”

“The true game of mixed martial arts is putting your wrestling in there, putting your striking in there, but also being deceiving - hiding behind your punches if you're wrestling and hiding behind your wrestling if you're punching. It's just a matter of blending it all together.”

“I didn't really get into the sport for fame. I didn't get into it to be this infamous guy that everybody worships. I got into this sport to make a difference.”

“I've physically seen profiling. I've seen me walking up the street with my friends, and the police officers get out of their car and bust the hell out of my friends. And they can't do anything about it, and the cop gets back in his car and drives off.”

“It's always something; it's never going to be something that's pleasing. People will always find something to say, and once you become comfortable with that, you can walk away and smile.”

“When you're watching people in non-title fights making four times the amount of money that a champion makes, it takes away the flavor of being a champion.”

“The only person I'd be interested in boxing would have to be one of the best of the best. It would have to be, like, Andre Ward.”

“My goal is to go out there and dominate. We all know if I'm in a position and I see my opponent hurt by landing good striking, I'm going to try to get him out of there. If I'm in the top position or in the position to finish by submission, I'm going to look for that. I don't feel the need to prove the haters wrong.”

“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.”

“My nickname, T-Wood, came from football because I was so small, but I used knock people's helmets off. All I wanted to do was hit. I didn't care about interceptions or touchdowns.”

“Everybody is going to have their moment. I recognize that when my time comes, it's going to be nobody else's time. Nobody is going to have my moment, and I will be a superstar.”

“I want to fight at middleweight.”

“I think that - this is my personal opinion - but sometimes African American athletes are considered overly cocky.”