Quotes from Jimi Manuwa

It's always great fighting in front of familiar faces and not having to travel and deal with jet-lag and all of that stuff.

I used to fight in school. I was a rough, athletic child. I always knew I could fight and, watching UFC, I was always fascinated by it.

A lot of people think they're better than they are and it can be very hard to get found out when you come up against a good fighter, getting dominated in every single way - every area you thought you were good in.

If an MMA fighter is going to call out a boxer it's got to make sense.

I like exciting fighters - Anthony Pettis, Jose Aldo. I like all the great fighters, Cain Velasquez, all the champions. They're so good at what they do. I just admire people who are good at what they do and people you can watch and learn from.

But the thing about Brazilian fans is that they respect top fighters and I will win them over. When my hand is raised I believe they will cheer for me.

Yeah, like '300,' I've probably watched it 300 times. It's one of my favourite films. I've just finished watching 'Spartacus,' another great series. I relate a lot to those kind of films. I think most fighters should relate to those films. It just seems natural. I am Spartacus, I am Leonidas, I am the lead role in those films.

It never is a boring fight with me fighting.

That's what it's all about in MMA, we're not the highest paid athletes in the world, so when you can get the big money fights you have to take them.

As soon as I found MMA, I knew that this is what I wanted to do, and it gave me focus because I was good at it anyway, and it gave me a goal to reach. I kept winning my fights, and it's given me a goal and a career opportunity.

How I fight is what got me into the UFC in the first place.

I expect whoever gets in a UFC Octagon to put on a great show, because that's why we're there.

I enjoy healthy foods but I'm not scared to have a cheat meal or cheat day, have a burger or whatever.

But when you're cheating against your fellow athletes, that's something I can't forgive.

I'm a 'come forward' kind of guy, I will never fight any other way and I don't think I could learn anything different either.

Mixed martial arts has small windows of opportunity and there's always new faces coming through, so it's easy to forget you.

Thankfully, hamstring injuries don't take that long to heal.

That was one of the great moments for me, getting a knockout in front of my home crowd in London.

In the UFC, nothing is guaranteed. Anything can happen when it comes to getting a title shot.

It's easy to say when you're on the outside and when you're the coach or for people to say, 'Oh, you should have done this, you should have done that.' But when you're in there in front of thousands of people and you get hit and you want to win the fight, it's totally different.

I've got big respect for Corey Anderson. He's a great fighter, he poses a big threat.

There's no such thing as a lucky punch. You throw to hurt someone and if you hurt someone, job done.

Fighting isn't an ordinary career, so you have to allow your body time to recover in between training sessions.

I can't think of any heavyweights that would match up well with me. They're all too big.