Marlon Vera

A bad woman can drag you down but a good woman will take you a long way.

To be champion, you've just got to fight, dude.

How MMA works, anything can happen.

I'm 155 pounds in or out of camp.

When I was 14 years old in Ecuador, I was telling everybody I want to be a UFC fighter, I want to be a world champion, I want to move to U.S. and train with a real gym. Looking back, everything was a fantasy back then, but nobody knew I was being for real. That was my dream.

You have to work at becoming a better husband, a better father, a better brother and a better son, because I understand it's an everyday thing. You have to work to be better in relationships and solve problems.

Being a father, being a husband, you don't always have all the answers. When a problem comes up, we have a discussion. This is life. You have to figure it out. It's not simple. You have to work at getting better.

A lot of athletes or fighters put so much into one tournament or competition or fight and they perform well and win but they forget that, guess what, when Monday morning comes around, you have to go out and do it all over again.

I believe in keeping myself hungry and motivated every day.

When a fighter has motivation and is hungry, things happen.

I believe in hard work.

I spend time in the gym and do everything my coaches tell me. I try to listen to my coaches and go forward from there.

I was teaching a lot of classes trying to survive by myself in the U.S.

I don't celebrate nobody's failure.

A good wife means so much.

When I see videos of me hitting the mitts or training back in the day, it was like a joke. But I was being serious.

I'll just keep making money, and eventually the belt will come to me.

What's the point to come back when you retire on top? You come back because either you need attention and you miss that thing, or you need money.

A cut can change a fight.

When you speak the truth, you don't need to remember anything.

I see myself as a very good kicker. That's how I started my career, I was throwing a lot of kicks back in the day.

Sometimes you win, win, win; you start to go, and then you get a tougher fight in the rankings. And then you figure it out: Well, now I need more. You hit the roof, now you need somebody that takes you to the next level.

I listen to everything, but rap and reggae are probably my main two.

I just like to watch fights live.

I've been trying to be at MSG since I signed with the UFC, and MSG was just special for me. I was so motivated. I was so happy to be there.

Winning is great, winning is the most important thing - it's not the only thing.

Everyone has excuses when they're not doing well. If I have an excuse, I just analyze it in my head and I try to resolve it. But the people don't know I arrived to the UFC without experience.

Many fighters who came green to the UFC, now they don't even fight anymore. I came green and I matured in the company.

This is not a sport. It's only a sport before and after the fight. In the cage it's not a sport - it's a fight, and that's it.

I know I'm working hard, so I'm not worried about anything.

You can be No. 10 and fight for the title.

I've been handling my career pretty good.

You can see it since the beginning of my career. I just keep it real.

As a fight fan, anybody who beat the No. 1 contender should fight for the belt, right? That's obvious.

The UFC likes me? Yeah, sure. They love me.

I don't waste my energy on things I cannot control.

If anybody can see the future, nobody would be stuck in a hole at some point in life.

When you do everything to win and put everything aside, life gives you victory.

I feel like I'm getting better by practice, I'm better by every day on the job, and I've said it and I'll say it again: I'm becoming a problem, because I'm getting better. I'm getting better.

We've got a guy like Israel Adesanya, he's very flashy, he's very technical, but he has a real solid base.

That's the reason I love doing commentary, because I'm watching live. I can pick up the energy of the fight, I can see what's going on in there.

I pay attention to every single UFC, top to bottom. It doesn't matter who's fighting, it doesn't matter who's first or last fight of the night, I'm watching. I like to watch.

I'm always ready and I do my best to back up my words.

Preparation plus opportunity gives success.

I believe in myself and I'm always prepared, training hard.

All fights are tough and you have to be ready for anything.

You win one title and then you got to go and go after the next one.

I'm going to do everything to do for my family, for my loved ones.

Not everyone is lucky to have a great woman beside them.

I was a kid and so milking a cow was fun, but at the same time, it was work. My family needed me to do the work.