Quotes from Stephen Thompson

I've never really had any beef with anybody yet, so I think that's a good thing.

Of course, you've got Lyoto Machida. He's definitely a karate guy and he's made a big presence in MMA. I would say look up Lyoto Machida. There are some other karate guys who are phenomenal at what they do at their karate game, the point fighting game, Raymond Daniels, who is an amazing point fighter and very flashy.

I'm a martial artist. That's what I've been doing since I was three years old, and fighting since i was 15 and that's all I know how to do. The money is just a bonus. It's a bonus for me. I think my real job is teaching martial arts, it's what I love to do.

Of course I've been called everything; Wonder Wonder Woman, Wonder Bra, Wonder Bread.

Sometimes people say, 'You've got to go out there and grit your teeth and just throw.' That's never been my style, but I think I need to be a little bit more aggressive instead of counterpunching.

You see a lot of fighters who just got into the UFC getting a lot more recognition than the people who have been in there.

From what I've seen of Darren Till, he's very durable. He likes to throw that left hand so he has a chance to knock people out.

You know I tore my MCL in the fight with Till. We did an MRI and thankfully nothing else was damaged.

To be honest, any one of those guys that I've stepped in the Octagon with - Darren Till, Anthony Pettis, Tyron Woodley - I would love to step back in the Octagon with those guys.

To be honest with you, Conor McGregor at 170, I think he's just going to be thrown around like a little rag doll.

From what I've seen he keeps his right side forward, he throws his left hand, throws his left leg and likes to throw a few elbows, but to be honest with you, I'm not very impressed by Darren Till - I think Masvidal is a better fighter. I think he brings more to the table than Darren Till.

In a world of locked rooms, the man with the key is king. And honey, you should see me in a crown.

You do have those guys that talk a lot. I understand they're doing it for a reason, to hype a fight, but then you get guys who do it and you can tell that they're trying too hard.

Ben Askren, he's a tough boy. Golly, he's a tough boy. That's what wrestling does. When you wrestle your whole life, you got to be a tough dude to wrestle.

Constantly moving, from side to side. Keeping your opponent guessing. If you stand still long enough, a wrestler is going to shoot for your legs. He's going to see where your legs are at. But, if you keep him constantly guessing, they can't get a bead on those legs. So, constant movement is probably one of the best takedown defenses you could use.

The average MMA guys have a boxer's stance which makes it easier for a wrestler when they try and take you down. I tend to stand sideways and that gives them only one leg to shoot for, it tends to make it more difficult to try and take me down.

Ben Askren, he is a very strong wrestler, probably the best in the division, I think. But then again, when you're in the fight game like this, some of the other things you have to improve. It can't just be wrestling all the time. You got to continue to work on your striking, get better at that.

We kind of understand at this level of the game when you work your way up to the top there's a possibility you may be facing somebody you've trained with before.

When you're out there in the octagon and you've got thousands of people, millions across the world, either cheering for you to win or cheering for you to get knocked out, the adrenaline is going, so it doesn't hurt while you're out there. Now fast forward to about an hour and a half to two hours after the fight? Oh yes. It's pretty painful.

If I started talking trash right now, people would just tell me to shut up, 'That's not you, Stephen - be quiet!'

Everyone in the UFC is good. If you're at the lowest end or the highest end, you have a chance to get knocked out and put to sleep.

You gotta be ready in this game. Like when Michael Bisping knocked out Luke Rockhold. I thought... everybody thought that Luke Rockhold would go out there and just smoke him and then Luke Rockhold got clipped.

Elvis was a seventh-degree black belt in karate. My dad knew that he couldn't dance like Elvis or sing like him, but he thought maybe he could try karate, and he fell in love with it.

Me coming from a karate and kickboxing background, Anderson Silva was like my idol, and so was Machida, especially with his karate background.