Quotes About Overcoming

I keep defying the odds, you know.

The odds were against me when I arrived at Central Arkansas. I was barely 6-foot-2 and didn't have a scholarship. But I always felt I could make it to the NBA; it was as if I had foreseen my future, and I knew I would make it.

I beat the odds, and I beat the odds so many times.

I like to think I defied the odds my entire life, definitely my entire athletic career.

I was compared to a bird that was too fat to lift itself off the ground.

I've been on some really good teams, but we weren't able to get over the hump. It's offense, defense and special teams, and then the ball has to go your way.

Oftentimes, people stay where they are in life simply because of fear. But do you know that fear isn't reality? It's only a thought in your mind.

Low ceilings, low doors. I hate that. Oh my God, it's the worst. This world is too small for me.

I used to be a professional kiteboarder. People were like, 'Oh, my God, are you scared of sharks? Are you scared of injuries?' You can't be scared. If you're scared, then you can't do it. You can't train to be the best.

At first, whenever I first got into the UFC, I was like, 'oh my God, I'm in the UFC.' When you come from where I came from, being in the UFC basically meant I was on top of the world.

I remember the first time I fought somebody with a name and that was Tito Ortiz. I didn't start fighting until like the second round because I was like, 'Oh my God, that's Tito Ortiz. That's Tito Ortiz from TV. Look how big his head is, damn.'

People were saying, 'He's worth £32m? He tried a back-heel and fell over!' Even I laughed. In my head, I said, 'OK, you've seen the bad side, now come see the good side'.

After I lost the first set, I was like, 'OK, I need to get help because I can't play this way.'

The failure of 'OK Jaanu' hit me hard.

It's okay to have fear - we're all human; it happens - but in facing your fears, you can really open yourself up to things you never thought possible.

Coming into the league, everyone said I was going to be fat, I was the next Oliver Miller. I had all these red flags. I just feel I was never given a fair chance coming in.

I've done things, from the Olympics to defeating two of the greatest fighters of all time.

One of the things I definitely think of as a driver of me is fear. And it's fear of failure, fear of being overtaken.

I think that everybody, at one time or another, has been betrayed and lied to, and it's about the pain, and it's about the healing process, and it's about how do you get past that and move on.

I was beating Anthony Pettis. I know nine times out of 10 I would have defeated him. It's just that one time you barely get clipped and down you go.

There's only one thing people love more than their heroes, and that's stomping them into the ground.

Whatever terrible things may have happened to you, only one thing allows them to damage your core self, and that is continued belief in them.

For people who have been ostracized, who have been all the way at the bottom, there's only one way that we can go - and that's up.

I've had an operation on my jaw - I don't have the big jaw anymore - and I've also had an operation on my eyes.