I realize I’m right there with everyone else, but at the same time I need a little extra effort to get those wins. I think they’re starting to come now and they’ll continue at the...

I’ve worked pretty (darn) hard, so I’m going to have confidence going in. I don’t worry about what other people think. They’ve never been in my situation, they’ve never gone through things I’ve gone through.

Hard work isn’t the whole thing either. It’s working hard, but working smart at the same time, going to every single practice trying to improve on something.

I felt pretty relaxed and pretty focused at the same time. The first round I got off to a slow start, so it was nice to get that out of my system.

I feel like I can go with anybody in the country, but at the same time there’s so many tough guys in the weight class that anything can happen; it’s just who worked the hardest...