Quotes from Liz Carmouche

Each day I go to train and I'm like, 'This is what I did well yesterday, and this is where I need to improve.'

My mom raised me to be an independent woman, and if there is anything I want in life, to go after it. And that nobody could hold me back. The only person that could do that was myself. That's the core of who I am and she ingrained that in me at a really young age, so I've been an independent, strong person my whole life.

They test NFL players for brain trauma. They track them for the life of their career and even outside of their career. So I've done all the MRIs and testing with them.

Coming into Bellator, I didn't want to slide into title contention just because I was in UFC. That wasn't fair to the other women. If I had to fight through all the women, I wanted to do that.

I spent so much time in the closet in the Marine Corps and I wasn't going to hide who I was. If it meant I was going to lose out on opportunities, they weren't meant to be.

My best friend in the Marines, her name is Kim, said one day while we were in Iraq that homosexuals in the Forces should be put on the front line because they deserved to die. This was my best friend talking.

When I watch fights, it's on YouTube.

I had zero interest in going to college. I used my GI Bill to help pay for training. I hated doing group projects or deal with people in the class who aren't paying attention. That made me go insane. I was looking for any way out. My sanity was fighting.

I don't think anyone should try to put themselves in a situation or push themselves out of the zone that they don't feel comfortable and safe in.

I fell into a safety zone where I didn't want to risk losing my fighting life with the UFC, so I wanted to go the safe route instead of taking risk and being the fighter I've always been.

I don't believe in letting my words speak for me, I let my actions speak.

Depending on what I'm training for, I might do more defensive moves, more counters, more attacks.

If anything I love when I'm the underdog. It gives me an opportunity to fight back stronger and show people, 'Ok, if you want to be on the side of the other person, then I'm going to make them pay for that mistake. Their body is going to pay the cost for you choosing them.' So if anything, that always lights a fire for me.

There's a certain safety net that you find in the military that, as dangerous as it is, you know they're going to provide you a meal and a home no matter what happens.

MMA has been very accepting. I wouldn't say that every gym you go to is as open as the gym I'm a part of. But they just accepted me with open arms.

The way I was raised, I didn't have a role model who was openly out.

After growing up in a military family and going to an Evangelical Christian school, to look around and see lesbians and gay men of all ages and colors living their lives openly, it was awesome.

There's a lot of hype surrounding Ronda and a lot of the girls she's fought fall for that Ronda hype and they're beaten before they go in. They freeze in front of her and she uses it to her advantage.

At 135 I always floated too close to my actual weight. I was always trying to keep my weight up to 135. And every time I faced off with an opponent, I could never believe how large they were after they blew up after weigh-ins. I would always just be the same size.

Physically, no disrespect to Ronda, but I don't think she has an advantage over anybody else. She's not physically stronger than any other opponent I've gone against.

I always needed a physical outlet, this is always who I've been.

It's great that now people can be accepted and the LGBT community can open up and share with the people where they come from.

A lot of people see M.M.A. as this violent cage fighting, and they don't see it as being two athletes who have put so much time and energy and focus into it.

I'm always brought in to be the loser and I'm OK with that.