"At the very beginning for me it was moral and ethical. In this day and age, buying animal and dairy products causes way more suffering and harm than it does good. Don’t get me wrong, yes, I love animals … but if we were in a different day and age like 100 or 200 years ago then, sure, I would do whatever I had to do to live. If I had to be a hunter-gatherer then I would. I might feel bad about it, but I would respect the animals that I killed and I would eat meat. But things are different. We don’t live in that day and age anymore. Today you have processed meats and a lot of animals suffering unnecessarily for it. Now, some people just blow that off and don’t have a conscience about it or they just don’t care. They wouldn’t eat their dog but they feel that way about other animals. But for me, I just decided to stop eating meat. I didn’t want to contribute to all of that. I’m not trying to change the world or wear that on my sleeve or make a political statement, because that just turns people away. I only have control over one person and that’s myself. And I feel good about it."

Longtime Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) lightweight veteran Mac Danzig is trying to change his win/loss record, not the world, as he heads into his UFC 145: "Jones vs. Evans" fight opposite Efrain Escudero on April 21, 2012 from the Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. Danzig, one of the first mixed martial artists to convert to a 100-percent vegan diet, pokes holes in the age old theory about meat and protein as it pertains to the success of modern day athletes in his recent interview with UFC.com. Jon Fitch and Jake Shields also pledged the vegan lifestyle in 2011, and have since suffered devastating knockouts in recent fights -- while Danzig hasn't won consecutive contests in almost four years. Coincidence? Any Maniacs out there in MMA land part of the vegan movement? Speak up!