FiveKnuckles: You had a tough fight with Anderson Silva. What was it like to square up against the fighter many consider to be the pound for pound best fighter in the world?

Rivera: It was truly an honor. I was out classed that night, there is no question in my mind that Anderson is the best fighter in the world. He has fought from 170lbs - 205lbs, he dominates every one, no matter how much they weigh. However, what's even more amazing is what a good person he is. Anderson is a gentleman. After the fight he hugged me and invited me to his house. He is a great champion and an amazing person.

FiveKnuckles: El Conquistador is a pretty cool nickname, how did you get it?

Rivera: My brother had run across a chain mail and thought it would be a cool gimmick. I liked the idea, so I ran with it, but I wanted it to be something that would be more than a gimmick and would cast a positive light on my ethnicity, so that's how "El Conquistador came to be. By the way you gotta check out my new fight shirt, it is by my sponsor Ranger Up, it's a fierce Conquistador who has been through hard fought battles, just like me!

FiveKnuckles: Several months back we did an event together called Train The Troops MMA where we helped train hundreds of Marines who were preparing to deploy to Afghanistan and Iraq in MMA and combat related skills. What was that experience like?

Rivera: It was amazing to be able to participate in Train The Troops MMA. We had a great group of fighters and coaches such as Matt Lindland, Gray Maynard, Damacio Page, Tim Kennedy, Tim Credeur, Tim Burrill, Matt Phinney, Tahi Burns, & Seb Zewdie who gave of their time. The cool thing was to see how much the Marines appreciated what we were teaching them and how hard they worked to learn as much as they could. I get asked to do a lot for the military and I never say no if at all possible. I've been to Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, and Korea to support the troops and consider it an honor. There are six billion people in the world, yet only a small percentage are willing to sacrifice to serve their country, I want to thank those who sacrifice.

FiveKnuckles:Tell me about the book you recently participated in called Mixed Martial Arts IQ: The Ultimate Test of True Random.

Rivera: The book focuses on MMA trivia and is a collaborative effort by Ranger Up and noted MMA author Zac Robbinson I agreed to participate in the book because a huge chunk of the proceeds are going to support the troops. The questions are funny, I'm sure that people who are interested in MMA and top notch fighters such as Matt Lindland, Chael Sonnen, Tim Kennedy, King Mo Lawal, David Loiseau, Pat Cote, Nate Quarry, and Rich Franklin will enjoy reading the book.