Tatsuya Kawajiri vs Chris Brennan Pre-Fight Interview

Tensei absolute rocks, and has done these translations of the pre-fight interviews, so I am going to post them here for easy access

CHRIS BRENNAN




- I feel happy to be fighting in the Pride ring again. But I got bitten by a poisonous spider on the right leg on August 5th, I was even hospitalized. I was on anti-biotics for a few days and I thought about not fighting. But I had two good weeks to train and I'm basically fully healed. I moved to Texas recently and my training environment isn't completely set up, but I trained hard with Richard Kidrano and Pete Spratt. Kawajiri is a tough fighter so I'm looking forward to this fight.

- Kawajiri is a world class fighter, his wrestling's strong and his GnP is good. He has a great record, and regardless of the result it'll definitely be a tough fight. Both Kawajiri and I are the types to keep going forward, so I think it'll be a good match between us. I have nothing to lose so I can give it my all, but I think Kawajiri may feel a bit of pressure while fighting.

- What I'm watching out for the most from Kawajiri is the wrestling. Strong wrestlers can usually keep the fight standing, and they can also take it to the ground in they want. So wrestlers tend to take control of the match when I face them. My winning pattern is to look for chances while striking, takedown, then bring him into the ground game. I want to follow that gameplan. Even if Kawajiri takes me down, I can take his back or go for a sweep. But it's not good to be on the bottom for too long on the ground.

- But I do have confidence in my submissions, and I have confidence I can get a sub off of Kawajiri. Before in Pride I was fighting at 80kg, but this is my best weight. I won't lose in terms of power, and I think I can show my true self this time.

- My last fight I was just held down by Takase, which was the most frustrating fight in my career. I constantly move for 15 minutes and go for subs, if it was to go to a decision I would rather stand and bang and risk eating a KO loss.


TATSUYA KAWAJIRI




- Before a fight I always get a hair cut. When I get a hair cut I get into fight mode. I want to fight soon. I did everything I had to do, so I think this fight will be great. I feel more confident than ever. I want to see how strong I got.

- Til now I didn't like summer, I couldn't really finish up my training like I wanted to. But this time I was able to do some good training, and my trainer pushed me to the hardest limits ever since turning pro. I gained more confidence, and I feel during sparring that the striking I did for this one year has really improved my stand up.

- My impression of Brennan? Macho-man, haha. It's a Japan VS US Macho Match. I heard he's one of US' great grapplers, but I'm one of Japan's great MMA fighters, so as an MMA fighter I can't let myself lose to a grappler. Of course he has the strong ground technique to submit an opponent, so I'll watch out for that. But that just means I shouldn't get into the submissions game. So I just have to fight as usual.

- It's true that I polished my stand up, but I trained in a way to be able to fight in any situation I face. I think I can hold my own against anyone in grappling in MMA. I'll show that an MMA champion who can grapple well will have no problems against a pure grappler. Brennan can find a sub in a flash, so there's a possibility that he'll find that opening, but I will construct my gameplan with that in mind.

- I felt terrible after last year's match in Nagoya. I couldn't train well since I wasn't feeling well, and that carried on into the fight. I think there are alot of Nagoya fans that think that that was the true me, that's no good so I want to show my true self to the Nagoya fans.

- I will chill until the fight time comes, haha. I will become a solid block of mental distractions, I want to pass time thinking about what to do if I win, what I'll eat, and stuff like that. I feel great, but that's what I also said before the Hansen fight...then it ended as a DQ win after a shot to the groin, I hope that doesn't happen again.

- In Nagoya, I will crush everything in the past with my fists, and fight my fight.