“On my block, I had all these guys coming in and out of jail. When I wa...” — Brian Ortega Quote

On my block, I had all these guys coming in and out of jail. When I was 13, I was playing outside my house, and one of those guys came across the street and started cussing me out, wanting to fight me. People knew I trained kickboxing and would put the gloves on with my friends, so that made me a target.

Fight fans always appreciate a fighter who is willing to step up on short notice.

I am who I am. I'm a cool person, and I don't think I need to sell myself. I'm just going to let the fights keep talking.

I was blessed to be able to be born here. My dad crossed. My dad illegally went through the border and was living under a bridge; he was homeless. People are making fun of him, beating him up. All kinds of things. After he kind of figured out the situation, he brought my mom over.

I don't remember ever having writer's block. If I sit in there for four hours, I'll usually have something.

I'm not really worried about writer's block.

If you are going to make a change, make it big and bold. Walk up to the biggest guy on the block, stand in his face and get it started. Then go around, brigade by brigade, making it make sense.

There were days when my dad and grandpa had to work and I would call a cab to get to school. I felt a little embarrassed and would get out a block before school. There were kids getting dropped off in a Mercedes or Lexus. I didn't want them to see me.

I was just focused on winning games for the Magic. I was just trying to play at a very high level, just trying to block out all the noise. I had some good games.