Quotes from Joseph Benavidez

My dream has always been to be a UFC champion. It wasn't to be a main event fighter.

I want to prove I'm a great, exciting fighter.

It would mean a lot, but it's weird, because what's the title? It's an extra line on your Wikipedia page and a medal that says you won on that particular night. It obviously symbolizes more than that, but those are the things people think about.

The punches that don't knock you out are the ones you feel the most.

Taking punches to the face at six in the morning, it's funny to hear that but, like, I'm grateful that I'm capable to do that.

I was sitting in the nosebleeds eating hot dogs and watching Georges St. Pierre win the world title from Matt Hughes. Like never in my wildest dreams if someone would have tapped me on the shoulder and said, 'Hey, seven years from now you're going to be down there doing the same thing' would I have believed them.

To me, the best part about winning the belt is hugging my wife after.

My wife... so grateful for that. Nothing can be bad - going home and having someone making you feel like the best every day.

That's what Dominick Cruz does. He wins decisions and he has that down to a science. He's great at it.

I remember this one time I had a dream about me writing a screenplay, and when I woke up, you know those dreams that feel so real, but I woke up and I was like, 'Oh my god I have this amazing screenplay I need to write down as soon as I wake up' and then I woke up and I was like what the heck was I dreaming of?

I have watched 'Wolf of Wall Street' like eight times.

I've gone through a lot to get here. I'm doing my job. And that No. 1 ranking next to my name says I'm doing my job better than a good percentage of everyone else.

I've realized that I can't control what the hell everyone else is gonna do. People are crazy. People want different things.

If I went out there and felt the best I ever felt and fought the best I've ever fought and lost, I would have to reconsider things and think differently. I would have a different outlook on my career.

The title's the goal, not to beat Henry Cejudo. Because I already accomplished that goal.

I'm going to be world champion and have a belt, and people will correctly be able to say I was the best instead of I was very good.

When you go in there and fight, you pretty much relinquish and give up the right to make any excuses about something.

That's why we're here: to leave a legacy that'll be remembered long after we're done. And what a great start to my legacy, man, being the first UFC flyweight champion.

Being the first flyweight champion would be history. I'd be immortal. No matter what I do, that's always there.

My three most impressive fights have been against black belts in jiu-jitsu.

I always want to prove that I've improved.

And that's what I want to do, fight the best guys, the toughest guys to prove I am the best.

When the UFC announced that 125 tournament, I remember thinking, 'Finally, this is my spot.'

I knew I had to just keep believing, never lose sight of my purpose. As a fighter, you need to be delusional in a way. It keeps you going.