Quotes from Michael Chiesa

I've always said that as I've gotten older and come into my prime, when I turned 28 would be my best time.

Bar none, hands down, no matter what division I'm in, I am one of the best fighters in the world.

If you look at my fights, you see I finish a lot. It's just how I like to go and I'm always looking for a way to end it.

I've always just been this hairy, wild man.

I'm not afraid to stand toe-to-toe and throw punches.

I feel like a fight is a season. When you're in the UFC, one fight is the equivalent of a whole football season, so when you lose a fight, the fans only remember you from your last fight, so it's very important to perform well, and to keep winning.

I at least have to cut my hair. I can't do the whole man bun, funky long hair thing anymore.

Like every fight, after you make weight, you want to go crazy and eat after you've gone through a camp where you can't do that. So I'd eat pizza and wings and beers.

I really enjoy the opportunity to face another Ultimate Fighter winner because it doesn't come around that often.

I finish every fight. And if I don't finish and go to a decision, I win 10-8 rounds. How many guys do you know in the lightweight division who've had fights where they have gotten two 10-8 rounds scored? Think about it. I'm a winner.

Perseverance doesn't always mean winning and losing. Perseverance means showing up and rising to the occasion and performing.

I could string together 15 wins in a row and still not get a title shot.

I think the Eddie Alvarez fight is a good fight that makes sense - a couple Italian guys throwing down. I've got nothing but respect for the guy.

Anytime my life has ever thrown me a curveball, I can go back to that and draw a lot of confidence for myself knowing I can persevere.

When you train outside of camp, it's fun, I'm playing around, I'm working hard but I'm having fun. When I get into that camp it's 10 weeks of tunnel vision on that opponent, you're trying to work on your strengths and weaknesses, really trying to get better in different areas before the fight.

I know deep down I'm destined to be a world champion and maybe it's to be attained in the most prestigious division in the UFC at welterweight.

I believe I'm destined to be a world champion and I'm getting closer to what I want. Part of it is developing a championship mentality and I feel I have that now.

I'm the type of guy where I feel like if you throw me in against the guy that's gonna be my hardest match-up, I think that's gonna bring out the best in me, and I know that the best of me can beat anybody on any given day to become the world champion.

I'm not here to be mediocre. I'm not in the UFC just to get a paycheck and make a living. That's really not what I'm here for. If I wanted to make money, I would have gotten out of the sport and done something else. I want to be a world champion.

There's only one guy at 170 that's bigger than me, and that's Darren Till.

I'm letting my coaches take the reins more. Letting them make the decisions on what's going to be a hard practice, what's not going to be a hard practice and also this weight cutting thing. It's the best decision I've made in my entire career.

Looking back in hindsight, I really stunted my growth as a fighter by constantly cutting weight all the time.

I'm in this sport to test myself. I want to see how far I can take this thing.

I'm around a world-class staff that is pushing me to the limit while making sure I don't break myself, which is something I've had a problem with.