Jeremy Stephens admits there’s fear in fighting, but it helps drive him to succeed.

This Sunday night (Jan. 14), Stephens will take on Doo Ho Choi in the main event of UFC Fight Night 124. The action takes place inside the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Missouri.

Stephens talked about his desire to push through fear:

“I want to beat your ass, I want to bust your head open, I want to brutally knock you out, I want to hit you again when you’re down. Why? Because I know what you signed up for. Since I was 16, I knew when I signed that dotted line, ‘Yeah, you could get knocked out. You could break your arm.’ I live for that (expletive). That (expletive) scares the (expletive) out of me, but that makes me go out there and perform like a scared tiger. I’m a very ferocious tiger and when you back me into a corner I’m going to strike. I’m going to launch out at you. I’m going to try to take you the (expletive) out. You know what you’re getting with me. You can look at all the tapes, but the one thing you don’t see is my mindset.”