RYO CHONAN vs PAULO FILHO Pre-Fight Interview

Tensei did the translation, I'm just the monkey who put it up.

RYO CHONAN



- My mind is clear right now, in a state of nothingness. Last time I was on a two loss streak so I was a bit nervous, but I’m usually pretty empty with my thoughts.

- Filho is very strong. Takedown, jiujitsu on the ground. That’s where he puts his game on the line. I don’t think he’ll be the champ. I’m not saying that I’ll be the one to stop him, but the top athletes like Dan and Kang are great in takedowns, ground, stand up, basically everything. Filho doesn’t do the stand up so that’s a question mark. That’s what I want to go for two. In most cases I’d be very glad to be fighting Filho….

- Not to make any excuses, but to be honest my condition is the worst. But when I fought Suda in DEEP my condition was also bad, in that case though it actually helped me get into it even more. So it’s not all bad. I have nothing to lose, so I’m just going to go right in and give it all I got. I hope the fans will enjoy watching it.

- I don’t hate summer, but you kinda wanna party around if you can right? Haha by the time my fight is over, summer is pretty much at an end. Before, the room I lived in didn’t have A/C and we only had a fan so I’m used to the hot weather. Also my neighbor was very loud and so I would rather be outdoors than stay in the room. Well I still like training too.

- I don’t know how far I can go, but I want to entertain the fans at least. If I gas out then you can just laugh and say “that fool didn’t practice enough.”



PAULO FILHO


- Condition is extremely good. Training went well. In the Opening round I was sick and couldn’t train well, but this time I’m doing ok.

- Chonan is a very tough fighter. He’s also a dangerous opponent. I respect him but I will defeat him in a good fight. I can’t really explain his strengths, but he never gives up. With that determination, when he’s about to lose he comes back to win. That’s dangerous. When my teammate Jucao fought him, I was surprised by the way he fought. I want to be cautious this time in order not to let him turn the fight around.

- At the press conference a day after the Opening round I said “I want to fight a Japanese fighter,” and it came true so I’m happy. Not just this tournament, but there are a lot of strong Japanese fighters so I wanted to have the opportunity to face one of them. I’m glad it became a reality. Japanese fighters are tough, and they have decisive techniques. I think all the fighters are dangerous.

- I didn’t train with Rickson this time. He was busy so there was no time. But we did some talking. So this time, like always, I did a lot of sparring with my teammates. At the gym I do striking as well as the ground game, so while I don’t know how things will go in a match, I can react against both. Of course I’m a BJJ fighter so I want a sub, but I want to end the fight in a good fashion so I’m interested in a KO too.

- In the other GP matches I’m watching out for Kang VS Suloev and Misaki VS Henderson. Also, it’s not the GP but Mach VS Azevedo as well. I actually knew Azevedo for a while now, he has technique and a lot of heart. I was very happy to hear that he would be in Bushido. I’m confident that he will be able to fight a good match.

- I’m very happy about the news that Mike Tyson, who I respect, will be a part of Pride now. I think he’ll do well in Pride as well. If I get matched against him then I’ll take it any time, but I’d rather be a friend than his opponent haha.