It was a great fight to watch, Jon Jones, 23, said of Bader’s Sept. 25 victory over Nogueira at UFC 119. I thought Ryan Bader was exposed a bit as far as his wrestling ability. Nogueira not being a wrestler and considering the fact that Nogueira was able to stuff a lot of his takedowns, it was very interesting for me to watch. But I respect Ryan Bader as an opponent. I respect that he’s never lost a fight. I am up for the challenge and I’m excited by the challenge.

I’m confident because I study, study, study and, yes, I have some physical attributes that maybe give me an advantage. The long arms are something I was born with. But the way I pull off moves, the timing of the way I do my moves, it’s all because of my passion and love for this sport. I’m confident because I work hard. I’m a warrior.

But cockiness is not where I’m at. Financially, I’m not the most successful fighter. As far as stats, I haven’t broken any records. As far as Hall of Fame, I’m not there. As far as being a champion, I’m not there. I have no reason to be cocky. I just love who I am, I love what I’ve earned and I love this sport.

I’ve bathed myself in Anderson Silva. I think I’d have an advantage going into a fight with him because I’ve studied him so much. I’ve patterned my career after Anderson. You can’t really say you know Anderson Silva, because, like me, he can pull off pretty much anything he wants to pull off, whatever he trained for that specific fight.”

So, you can’t know Anderson Silva, but you can understand who he is and how he thinks and how he operates.

I feel I’m this close to getting a shot at being the UFC light heavyweight champion of the world and I’m not going to slow down or allow pressure to get in my way now. My dream is right in front of my face and I’m fighting someone I respect a great deal, so that will inspire me to train even harder.

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