Quotes

I think a lot of people think that MMA fighters are meatheads who don't care about their bodies," Blaydes said. "They think we don't care about getting CTE and being able to live a long and healthy life. I don't know about anyone else, I do care. I don't want to get CTE. I want to have a healthy brain.

These people need to think about their jobs. If they go to work and they got half of the money for showing up and then they got the other half if they did all of these risky things, what would they think?

One of the best things for me about what happened then is that now, I don't give a damn about what anybody says. I have a family to provide for and whatever I have to do to accomplish that, that's what I'm going to do. If that doesn't fit into people's idea of how I should fight, that's not my problem.

I could go out there like a madman and swing and punch and give people the bloody, crazy fight they want. But that's not the best way for me to fight given my skills. And if I fight that way and people love it and I lose, are they going to pay my bills when I get half of my money? Are they going to care about me when I'm going to the hospital to get my brain checked?

I want to remember my daughter's birthday when she's 18. I don't want to forget it. I don't want to forget her name. I don't want to forget where I put my car keys every day. The best way for me to do that is to protect myself. The best way to protect myself in the Octagon is simple: If I put you on your butt, you can't hit me hard. So that's what I'm going to do.