Quotes from Michael Chiesa

If you're gonna get punched in the face, elbowed, cut up, busted up, injured, have to cut weight, have to bring yourself to the brink of death to show up the next day and try to put on the performance of your life, you've gotta love it. And if I don't love it, it's just not worth it to me.

I want a shot at being an analyst. I love watching 'UFC Tonight.' I'm very critical of all the new fighters they have come on there.

Give Tony Ferguson a title fight. He needs it!

I had my sights set on Tony Ferguson for a long time.

Obviously winning is what's most important, but I need to show people that I've improved.

I don't classify myself as a wrestler, I'm a grappler.

Usually I'm a very instinctive fighter.

I really feel like going up to 170, I'm going to really be able to show my skill set.

I was still part of that trend where it was see how low you can get, get as small as you can get, be the biggest guy in your weight class, and it started to burn me out.

Dumb and tough goes a long way in this sport but to be elite, you've got to be smarter.

I'm just looking forward to a great fight and just to keep making my dad proud.

We're never going to solve weight cutting, we need to just get past that. People are always going to cut weight.

I want to be great, I want to fight the best guys, I want to test myself, I want see what my limits are. I don't think a lot of guys in this sport really have that mentality.

I've always prided myself on being mentally tough, but just because you're mentally tough doesn't mean that what's going on between your ears is always good things.

Being mentally tough is having to battle those demons and push yourself out of your comfort zone and force yourself to be the person that your mind is telling you you aren't.

My father worked very hard and he never missed a day of work, no matter how sick he was.

Mario Yamasaki should just crawl in a hole and never step inside of any type of professional mixed martial arts event. He should never officiate, ever again.

When I first got into the sport it was all about who could cut the most weight, who could be the biggest on fight night. That's the same era when you're sparring 10 five minute rounds, new partner every two and a half minutes, that era of just really hard weight cutting and really hard full contact training.

I'm a blue collar guy from Spokane, Washington, who was raised to just be respectful, be a sportsman, and just speak with your performances, and I'm glad that I'm back to my old ways.

In every fight, I have a spot that I could lose the first round. When do the oddsmakers ever like me? But it's not a math equation, it's a fight.

I am a nerd about this sport. I know guys' records, who they fought, how they win, who they're married to, where they eat dinner, what kind of car do they drive. I'm a big nerd of the sport, so it would be easy for me to sit in front of a table of guys and just talk about fighting.

Colby Covington is a nightmare match-up for me, but I'm ready to walk through the fire.

The beard has gotta stay. That's my staple. I can't get rid of it.

I won my fight on 'The Ultimate Fighter,' my dad died the next day and I stayed in the game and won the whole thing.