Quotes from Brian Ortega

Sometimes, the best response is no response.

I'll do things that a lot of people think is very risky.

I've always wanted better for myself; I just didn't know what route I was going to take.

I was sitting around, moping and feeling badly for myself. I went to the hospital to visit a child, and it hit me: helping people is what I'm meant to do.

The weight of the world on my shoulders was something that I had to let go.

My house always had at least 14 people in it. And one bathroom. So I didn't really want to be home.

The people around me saved my life, not MMA. It was people who said, 'You're better than this,' who told me, 'You don't belong in this world.' MMA and jiu-jitsu and training gave me an escape.

I want to secure my name. I'll fight who I have to fight for the belt.

I'm not the perfect person, but I have the perfect heart, I feel, when it comes to helping people.

If we have more confidence in ourselves, we can live a happier life and a better life.

I want to help make the world a better place.

I'm the kind of guy who, if you tell me you can't do something, like, 'Brian, you can't do a backflip off that two-floor building,' and I'm going to give it a shot.

I'm a businessman, a company man, but I'm no 'yes' man.

My whole life, I thought I sucked. And then I get in here, and I grapple other people, and I'm like, 'I'm actually good.'

When I go in the Octagon, it's no big deal. Just gonna go fight. Majority of the people? 'Dude, I'm scared to even walk through there.' Everything's a matter of perspective.

I have my parents to keep me in check, a team that loves me, and I have the ability to go out there, dream, and chase it.

For me, it was always survival. Learn where not to be at so you don't get shot. Learn where not to walk at so you don't get jumped. Learn who to stand up to, who not to stand up to. And then, when I got old enough to get a chip on my shoulder, I wanted to be the dog. I wanted to be the alpha.

What's that song? It says, 'Everything that you do will come back to you in your sweet time?' That's why I still don't relax. Even my coach gets mad at me sometimes. He's like, 'Come on, man - relax.' I go, 'Nah.' I'm always good.

Sometimes I wish I could just fight at 155 pounds.

I liked to pretend a lot. I thought I could be anything that I wanted.

I don't look like a fighter. I like it, though, because it just allows me to be in the position I am now, to where I can venture out to wherever I want to go. I can go into acting. I can go into this; I can go different ways now. And because of fighting, I can do that.

I've never met a fighter who said, 'I love cutting weight.'

I think I'm pretty marketable when it comes to marketing fighters 'cause I've met a lot of 'em, and they're not that interesting. They don't do too many things, or their days are not like my days.

Two good, large fights a year is good enough for me.