Now I am training with sparring partners who are nice people, sure, but not my friends. These are sparring partners who want to knock me out in sparring. In the Croatian media, they said it was 'life and death' sparring - it was not quite life and death, but it was all-out fighting, very hard.
It was a mistake of mine to train like that, with friends, at home. It was a handicap I should not have given myself. In Croatia, we do not have big camps like in other countries, but I was not willing to go away to train.
I was a professional and did my best to prepare for every fight, but after PRIDE Grand Prix, to be honest, I didn't have motivation to go on.
I really think me and my family live humbly. I've secured my life, and I won't have to open the newspaper and be looking for work.
Frank Mir is gonna be my toughest fight in my UFC career. It won't be easy.
Win or lose, just stay calm.
