{"id":22664,"date":"2018-12-31T11:53:57","date_gmt":"2018-12-31T17:53:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kjagradio.com\/themic\/?p=22664"},"modified":"2020-06-19T13:46:54","modified_gmt":"2020-06-19T18:46:54","slug":"%e3%80%8ecygames-presents-rizin-heiseisaigonoyarennoka%ef%bc%81%e3%80%8f-2018-12-31-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kjagradio.com\/themic\/%e3%80%8ecygames-presents-rizin-heiseisaigonoyarennoka%ef%bc%81%e3%80%8f-2018-12-31-2\/","title":{"rendered":"\u300eCygames presents RIZIN HeiseiSaigonoYarennoka\uff01\u300f 2018\/12\/31"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><!-- VideographyWP Plugin Message: Automatic video embedding prevented by plugin options. --><br \/>\n<a data-flickr-embed=\"true\"  href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/gp\/jiggyjaguar\/84o0U1\" title=\"\u300eCygames presents RIZIN HeiseiSaigonoYarennoka\uff01\u300f 2018\/12\/31\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm5.staticflickr.com\/4899\/32670729318_de5b62de80_z.jpg\" width=\"427\" height=\"640\" alt=\"\u300eCygames presents RIZIN HeiseiSaigonoYarennoka\uff01\u300f 2018\/12\/31\"><\/a><script async src=\"\/\/embedr.flickr.com\/assets\/client-code.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>POST FIGHT BACKSTAGE INTERVIEWS: FIGHTER QUOTES FROM FIGHT-DAY<br \/>\nSAITAMA \u2013 December 31st, 2018 (~7,498 attendees)<br \/>\nRESULTS:<br \/>\n[Fight 1]<br \/>\nAI def. Nanaka Kawamura (TKO, 3:01 &#8211; 1R)<br \/>\n[Fight 2]<br \/>\nYuta Uchida def. Takuma Konishi (3-0 DEC, 5:00 &#8211; 3R)<br \/>\n[Fight 3]<br \/>\nTaiju Shiratori def. Yoshiya Uzatsuyo (KO, 1:43 &#8211; 3R)<br \/>\n[Fight 4]<br \/>\nKai Asakura def. Jae Hoon Moon (3-0 DEC, 5:00 &#8211; 3R)<br \/>\nAsakura: If I lost again, my career is over, so I feel relieved. I couldn\u2019t do anything in my last fight, so I feel im<br \/>\nproved. I wanted the finish but I can control the fight.\u201d<br \/>\nMoon: \u201cFor today\u2019s fight, Asakura was well prepared. I\u2019m heartbroken. Asakura has changed as a fighter. He k<br \/>\nnows the MMA game well now. I think he really wanted revenge against me.\u201d<br \/>\n[Fight 5]<br \/>\nKana Watanabe def. Sugiyama Shizuka (KO, 0:11 &#8211; 1R)<br \/>\nWatanabe: \u201cI think this performance will help me to ask a chance to next year compete in Women\u2019s Flyweigh<br \/>\nt Grand Prix. That\u2019s what I want.\u201d<br \/>\n[Fight 6]<br \/>\nMikuru Asakura def. Lion Takeshi (TKO, 2:39 &#8211; 2R)<br \/>\nAsakura: \u201cMy opponent analyzed me well. He seemed slow, so I expected not to get hit, but he caught me on<br \/>\nce, since his timing is good. No real damage though. I was able to adapt and finish him in the 2nd round.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Takeshi: \u201cHis striking is quick. I wanted to land my straight right, but he has a strong chin. It was short notice,<br \/>\nbut I wanted to participate on New Year\u2019s Eve. I want to fight again.\u201d<br \/>\n[Fight 7]<br \/>\nSatoru Kitaoka def. Tatsuya Kawajiri (2-1 DEC, 5:00 &#8211; 3R)<br \/>\nKitaoka: \u201cI was able to show what I prepared today. I lost my DEEP title in my last fight, so this was a nice rest<br \/>\nart for me. It was a split decision but I\u2019m really happy. I hit him with a solid punch early on, but he came back<br \/>\nhard. I felt how strong his heart was. A win is a win, but I wanted the finish. If I participate in the Lightweight<br \/>\nGrand Prix, it will be difficult.\u201d<br \/>\nKawajiri: \u201cI couldn\u2019t fight as I planned. I trained with him many times, I like him as a fighter. I\u2019m glad I was abl<br \/>\ne to fight with him. I\u2019m not sure about my future, since my body and heart hurts. As far as condition, lightwei<br \/>\nght is better than my previous divisions. I slowed down in the second half of my fights when I was a featherw<br \/>\neight.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>POST FIGHT BACKSTAGE INTERVIEWS: FIGHTER QUOTES FROM FIGHT-DAY<br \/>\nSAITAMA \u2013 December 31st, 2018 ( 29,105 attendees)<br \/>\nRESULTS:<br \/>\n[Fight 1]<br \/>\nRENA vs Samantha Jean=Francois canceled due to RENA having weight cut issues.<br \/>\n[Fight 2]<br \/>\nTofiq Musaev def. Nobumitsu Tyson (TKO, 1:19 &#8211; 2R)<br \/>\nTyson:<br \/>\nQ: What is your plan for the future?<br \/>\nA: If I have the opportunity I&#8217;d like to come back to this dream stage. I\u2019ll try to be able to adjust to whatever s<br \/>\nituations possible next time.<br \/>\nQ: Was there a lack of information prior to the match?<br \/>\nA: I was only able to watch highlights of his last matches. He seemed to use many kicks, and whenever he ca<br \/>\nme into me, I thought I\u2019d throw back punches. He really surprised me.<br \/>\nQ: Were there effects of him pounding?<br \/>\nA: It was really hard, I thought this hurts. I got wobbly, and he was really good technically. Heavier than I tho<br \/>\nught.<br \/>\nQ: How do you think he would fare in the lightweight grand prix?<br \/>\nA: I haven\u2019t faced the other opponents, so I don\u2019t know how he would fare in the tournament.<\/p>\n<p>Q: During the weigh-in when you were fooling around, Musaev seemed a little bit intimidated. Do you think that<br \/>\nangered him?<br \/>\nA: I was just trying not to look in his eyes, he looked angry.<br \/>\nMusaev:<br \/>\nQ: Any comments on your fight?<br \/>\nA: First of all, thank you very much. It\u2019s a great honor to represent our country our flag and our nation. It\u2019s gr<br \/>\neat to win and go home with a trophy. I want to thank RIZIN and it\u2019s a great honor to be a fighter here and a<br \/>\nwinner here. So thank you for that.<br \/>\nQ: How about the comment on the match itself? How did you analyze your fight?<br \/>\nA: First of all, I want to say that it\u2019s my first time in Japan, it\u2019s great to be here. It\u2019s obviously a challenge time<br \/>\nwise, and I\u2019m glad that I was able to come here at least 1 week early to adapt, because adaptation is very imp<br \/>\nortant. Prior to the match it was not easy to lose the last 300 grams and make the weight. When it comes to t<br \/>\nhe fight itself, the fight showed everything. The competitor is obviously a well-known athlete here in the cou<br \/>\nntry. I personally, as an athlete, don\u2019t understand why the things he does. Maybe it\u2019s to put on a show or be e<br \/>\nntertaining. But again, it&#8217;s his style, but I believe the athlete should show what he can show in the ring, durin<br \/>\ng the fight, not before or after.<br \/>\nQ: Previously in the press conference, you said you want to win beautifully, do you think you did that?<br \/>\nA: Well, first of all it was a great honor to have the first fight of the night at this great event. I hope I could de<br \/>\nmonstrate a good fight. However, at the end of the day I\u2019ll leave it up to you. I think that\u2019s something the fan<br \/>\ns should say.<br \/>\nQ: The opponent came here and he mentioned he struggled with unexpected tackles from you. Previously, he th<br \/>\nought that you were a standing type of player, but you took him down and it was unexpected. Was it the plan to<br \/>\nsurprise him?<br \/>\nA: So, the strategy started not today, it started by analyzing the matches, and my coach has helped me devel<br \/>\nop these tactics. We planned round by round. Certainly there was a certain strategy, and we are glad that it w<br \/>\norked out in the end.<br \/>\nQ: Overall, how did you feel about your first experience in RIZIN?<br \/>\nA: I will start with saying I want to thank RIZIN again, the executives, everyone who organized, volunteers, ev<br \/>\neryone. You can feel from the first minute how well its prepared. It will always stay in my memory as one of t<br \/>\nhe greatest event. It\u2019s so well planned. If RIZIN continues to perform on such a high level, one day, it will be a<br \/>\nmore remarkable event than the UFC.<br \/>\nQ: Please talk to us about your future perspectives including the chance of joining RIZIN again.<br \/>\nA: Well, we have great ambitions about it. Our hope and plans and dreams would be to win the grand prix at<br \/>\nRIZIN. It would be the best gift I could give to my coach, who contributed to my development.<br \/>\nQ: You are still humble after winning. You are on a 10 fight win streak, all KO\u2019s. Is this the best way to introduce y<br \/>\nourself into RIZIN?<br \/>\nA: Thank you for mentioning it. It was 10 good results. We think that these types of results are something tha<br \/>\nt RIZIN should see more. We hope that we get offers from RIZIN to perform. It would be an honor for myself,<br \/>\nmy team and my nation.<br \/>\nQ: Who do you want to face next in the Grand Prix?<br \/>\nA: It\u2019s a great privilege and honor to fight in the Grand Prix in RIZIN. Whoever they pair me against, I am rea<br \/>\ndy to fight.<br \/>\n[Fight 3]<br \/>\nShinju Nozawa Auclair vs Justyna Haba (TEC SUB (RNC), 3:41 &#8211; 2R)<\/p>\n<p>Shinju:<br \/>\nQ: Could you give us your thoughts on the match?<br \/>\nA: I haven\u2019t seen the video so I don&#8217;t know what to say where it went wrong. It\u2019s been 1 year since my last ma<br \/>\ntch, so I\u2019m very happy to come back. I\u2019d like to say sorry to my coaches and my team.<br \/>\nQ: How is the impression of your opponent?<br \/>\nA: I think she had a smart match. She was thinking very tactically. She took advantage.<br \/>\nQ: Were there any surprises about how she came out?<br \/>\nA: I think she came out very well.<br \/>\nQ: So it&#8217;s been one year. Could you give us your thoughts of coming back on this stage?<br \/>\nA: I\u2019d really like to thank RIZIN. I\u2019m really happy that I could come back. I lost today but I want to come back<br \/>\nsoon.<br \/>\nQ: What are your plans for the future?<br \/>\nA: I wish to have the opportunity to step on the RIZIN ring, and in order to do that I need to be active.<br \/>\nQ: You mentioned that you want to have a clean match. At the point that the opponent got you in the triangle p<br \/>\noint, that might have been the turning point of the match. what do you think?<br \/>\nA: I haven\u2019t seen the video so I don\u2019t really know where I went wrong. Maybe my coach told me that I just we<br \/>\nnt forward too much, I was a little too aggressive. I needed to think more and be patient. I think I need a littl<br \/>\ne more experience to show all of the moves I\u2019ve been doing in training to do it in a match. I\u2019d like more expe<br \/>\nrience in actual matches.<br \/>\nQ: You have bruises but how is your arm?<br \/>\nA: The arm is fine.<br \/>\nHaba:<br \/>\nQ: Could you assess your win?<br \/>\nA: I\u2019ve been preparing for the match with a combination of standing and ground work, so that paid off. The o<br \/>\npponent Shinju brought me down to the ground, so I understood she wanted to fight there, where I was pre<br \/>\npared, so that was good.<br \/>\nQ: It was finished on the ground, can you assess your flow of the fight?<br \/>\nA: When I was preparing for the ground fight, I was also preparing for the grappling.<br \/>\nQ: What was your impression of Shinju after fighting her?<br \/>\nA: To be honest, I thought she was much stronger in standing, so I was getting ready to defend her strikes, it<br \/>\nwas a little surprising that she took me to the ground. I just followed.<br \/>\nQ: You\u2019ve mainly been preparing for standing since you thought she was good at striking?<br \/>\nA: Yes, I did think that she was stronger in standing. My image of Shinju was higher in height and longer reac<br \/>\nh.<br \/>\nQ: It\u2019s been an outstanding professional debut today. What do you think about it?<br \/>\nA: To be honest, I don\u2019t really remember the fight itself, I want to watch the video. I\u2019ll find things to work on,<br \/>\nso at the moment I can\u2019t talk about the fight very well.<br \/>\nQ: Can you tell us about your future perspective? Plan for 2019?<br \/>\nA: After this match, I think there\u2019s many things I have to work on, including grounding and conditioning. I thi<br \/>\nnk I want to focus on things I have to work on and I want to improve based on that.<br \/>\nQ: You won with a choke. Do you have a title in jiu-jitsu or grappling type of martial art?<br \/>\nA: There was a European Championship in Czech last year, and I lost in the final. I don\u2019t have a belt, but the fi<br \/>\nnish was by holding the arm with your leg.<br \/>\nQ: Is that something you were prepared for?<\/p>\n<p>A: I did practice this finishing move. I have a coach who is not here right now in Japan, but there\u2019s a coach wh<br \/>\no taught me these finishing moves and how to use grappling moves.<br \/>\nQ: You are the first Polish fighter to win here in RIZIN. Any message for Polish supporters?<br \/>\nA: Of course I\u2019m very happy with the win. I think the time change in Poland its very early, but my fans, friends<br \/>\nand family is watching. But I\u2019d like to thank all of those people in Poland.<br \/>\n[Fight 4]<br \/>\nUlka Sasaki vs Manel Kape (3-0 DEC, 5:00 &#8211; 3R)<br \/>\nSasaki:<br \/>\nQ: Can you assess your fight?<br \/>\nA: Manel was strong, I never underrated him. But once I grappled, I felt he is really strong.<br \/>\nQ: He was prepared for you?<br \/>\nA: Yes, as a MMA fighter he is improving.<br \/>\nQ: What is your impression of him?<br \/>\nA: I thought he was an extreme striking type of player, but he has been improving his ground technique and<br \/>\nhandling tackles.<br \/>\nQ: You have some kind of conversation after the match?<br \/>\nA: He kept talking to me during the match as well. We were enjoying the fight. When I went for pound. He ke<br \/>\npt kissing me, if you plan to kiss me you should try to escape.<br \/>\nQ: You\u2019ve given all you got?<br \/>\nA: I really wanted to finish with KO, but at the same time I admit that he was strong. It\u2019s been a while since I<br \/>\nwent through 3 rounds so it was exhausting and I almost forgot how exhausting it is to fight all 3 rounds. Th<br \/>\ne match was kind of as expected.<br \/>\nQ: What is your comment on the RIZIN atmosphere?<br \/>\nA: Very flashy, all the openings. The excitement was exceptional and I found the spectators were excited by t<br \/>\nhe production as well.<br \/>\nQ: What&#8217;s your future perspective?<br \/>\nA: I have to pursue strongness and get the opportunity to fight. Whether it is outside Japan or inside Japan, I<br \/>\nhave to prove how strong I am in the ring.<br \/>\nQ: You were wearing wrestling shoes, what was the intention for it?<br \/>\nA: This was one of my challenges. I think I was watching the video of other RIZIN fights, and I found that figh<br \/>\nters were slipping on the ring surface and during the ring check last night I thought it&#8217;s better for me to wear<br \/>\nthe shoes.<br \/>\nQ: Have you seen Motoya and Scoggins fight?<br \/>\nA: I didn&#8217;t watch.<br \/>\nQ: What do you think of Motoya?<br \/>\nA: Motoya is strong and I\u2019m happy to see a Japanese fighter win. I would like to demonstrate fights that fans<br \/>\nwant, if I am offered him I will accept.<br \/>\nA: I met Justin, he complained he\u2019s not good at jiu-jitsu, which was funny.<br \/>\nKape:<br \/>\nQ: Comments on the match?<br \/>\nA: I think it was a good match. But I gained a little weight, so I didn\u2019t feel as I wanted to and couldn\u2019t move a<br \/>\ns I wanted to.<br \/>\nQ: How is your impression of your opponent?<\/p>\n<p>A: I thought maybe he was a little bit afraid. As the match went on, I thought he was a very clever fighter. He<br \/>\ngot on top of my little mistakes that I made, so I think today was his day.<br \/>\nQ: Could you explain what your mistakes were?<br \/>\nA: I thought I would have the advantage standing, but he gradually brought me to the ground game and put<br \/>\non some moves. I got a little tired, he took advantage of that and won the match. I regret that I lost the matc<br \/>\nh but I think those points for him were good points.<br \/>\nQ: He thought you had better ground moves than he expected. Did you train for ground moves considering Ulk<br \/>\na?<br \/>\nA: I think his advantage is that he can bring you into the ground from standing position. Once the match mo<br \/>\nves into the ground moves, I overthought things. Things didn\u2019t go well as planned.<br \/>\nQ: You think the result was proper?<br \/>\nA: Unfortunately I couldn\u2019t bring out everything I prepared, wrestling, kickboxing and everything else I prepa<br \/>\nred for in training. I think I lost to myself. So I\u2019ll just take the result and move on.<br \/>\nQ: Any plans or goals for the future?<br \/>\nA: I have plans for next year. I\u2019ll just take it easy, I had previous matches also so at this point I\u2019d like to rest m<br \/>\ny body. Then I\u2019d like to look at my plans next year.<br \/>\nQ: You have fought high level fighters, McCall, Sasaki, Horiguchi.<br \/>\nA: McCall, Sasaki and Horiguchi are all great athletes. I come to RIZIN because it&#8217;s a world class event. I have<br \/>\nthe ability to perform at that level to. I\u2019d like to take a rest because my body is hurting everywhere. Then I\u2019ll s<br \/>\ntart my challenge for next year.<br \/>\n[Fight 5]<br \/>\nYuki Motoya vs Justin Scoggins (SUB (TeePee Choke), 3:28 &#8211; 1R)<br \/>\nMotoya:<br \/>\nQ: Comments on the fight?<br \/>\nA: Looking back on my fight, I controlled the pace from beginning to end, so I\u2019m happy with that.<br \/>\nQ: Impression of opponent?<br \/>\nA: I think he keeps distance and has sharp kicks. It was too short of a fight to give an exact impression.<br \/>\nQ: Fight went as planned?<br \/>\nA: I wasn\u2019t thinking of going on the ground but I went for a triangle choke and I was kind of wondering whet<br \/>\nher I should sweep or not. I figured the finishing move was the best way to finish.<br \/>\nQ: Comments on the atmosphere?<br \/>\nA: Big crowd, excitement and I\u2019m satisfied with the stage.<br \/>\nQ: How was 2018?<br \/>\nA: This year I had 5 fights and 5 wins. I had 4 finishes.<br \/>\nQ: Perspective on 2019?<br \/>\nA: Next year, I want to improve, brush up my techniques and skills.<br \/>\nQ: Have you practiced the finishing move before?<br \/>\nA: I do practice sometimes. But not frequently. From triangle to armbar, the transition from triangle choke is<br \/>\nsomething I have been practicing.<br \/>\nQ: Justin has experience in the UFC. Do you have any ideal opponent in terms of level?<br \/>\nA: I\u2019d like to challenge someone who has good career.<br \/>\nQ: ???<br \/>\nA: I\u2019ve been watching Sasaki a little backstage, but if I have chance I\u2019d like to fight him.<br \/>\nQ: How was training in Brazil.<\/p>\n<p>A: I think I went to camp in Brazil for 50 days. I got mentally prepared in all of the training sessions. All of the<br \/>\ntraining paid off.<br \/>\nScoggins:<br \/>\nQ: Any comments on the match?<br \/>\nA: I felt good, felt loose coming out there. I love everything about this show, love the production. I got press<br \/>\nured into a corner and shot into a takedown, and he started working on the ground. Like I said before the ev<br \/>\nent, he\u2019s a great grappler. It\u2019s about getting that fight IQ up, not doing dumb stuff. I appreciate RIZIN having<br \/>\nme here to put on a good show for the fans. I\u2019m healthy and hope to be back soon.<br \/>\nQ: Tell us about your impression of the oppoent?<br \/>\nA: I felt good on the feet and definitely had a striking advantage. His submissions felts stronger than I anticip<br \/>\nated. Hats off to Motoya, these Japanese fighters are tough. That\u2019s why I\u2019m here. I\u2019m going to go back to the<br \/>\ndrawing board and learn. I hate losing, so I\u2019ll be back to beat someone up.<br \/>\nQ: This is your first RIZIN event, tell us your feelings on the environment and future plans?<br \/>\nA: I had flashback to PRIDE days, all the big explosions and lights. The production value here is crazy! Thank y<br \/>\nou so much for letting me be part of it. It\u2019s heartbreaking that I couldn\u2019t put on a show for the fans. It\u2019s been<br \/>\na bit of a slump, but I\u2019m 26 years old and been training since I was 3. I\u2019ll come back and fight whoever, doesn\u2019<br \/>\nt matter the rules. I\u2019ve been training under all rulesets my whole life. I love Japan and the Japanese fans. I\u2019m r<br \/>\neady to rock and roll.<br \/>\nQ: Where would you think Motoya ranks?<br \/>\nA: Honestly, it&#8217;s hard to say. I\u2019ve had so many fights where I am beating the guy\u2019s ass and should be winning<br \/>\nbut get caught in a stupid submission. I\u2019m 26 years old, the clock is ticking for me. He\u2019s really good, but at th<br \/>\ne same time I\u2019m losing to guys I should never be losing to. It\u2019s hard to place him right now.<br \/>\nQ: The finishing move, were you expecting that? Did you gameplan for things like that, or have any experience w<br \/>\nith opponents coming with that move?<br \/>\nA: I felt fine at first, but there was some adjustment he did that made it so tight. I thought I could fight it off,<br \/>\nbut that move, whatever he did, he adjusted it and I couldn\u2019t breathe. I need to watch the film.<br \/>\nQ: How do you deal with bouncing back from 4 losses in a row?<br \/>\nA: I don\u2019t know. All I can think of is just get right back in the gym, do what my team tells me to do and be a b<br \/>\netter student. Sometimes you just take \u2018L\u2019s. You can\u2019t quit. Sometimes there is no answer. I\u2019m gonna keep my<br \/>\nhead up and chest out. I\u2019ll keep learning, get better, and be best in the world.<br \/>\nQ: What do you think about RIZIN getting behind the Flyweights and the UFC letting go of it?<br \/>\nA: I really think RIZIN has the opportunity and will become the new home for Flyweights and all lighter weigh<br \/>\nt classes. As far as people saying those weight classes aren&#8217;t exciting, that&#8217;s what martial arts was made for, t<br \/>\nhe little guy beating the big guy. It\u2019s sad, but luckily we got organizations like this and smart matchmakers to<br \/>\nbring in an awesome roster like this, and I\u2019m happy to be part of it.<br \/>\nQ: What&#8217;s your prediction for the main event tonight?<br \/>\nA: I was really happy to be part of this tonight. I\u2019ve watch Floyd compete my entire life, and Tenshin is a bada<br \/>\nss. I\u2019m glad it&#8217;s an exhibition, since you get to see 2 martial artists grow together. I\u2019d love to mix it up with Te<br \/>\nnshin in Kickboxing.<br \/>\nQ: Now that you\u2019ve had your first fight in RIZIN, do you feel that there\u2019s any Flyweights that you match up well a<br \/>\ngainst?<br \/>\nA: I had this big plan before this fight but now there&#8217;s a kink in the plan. I\u2019m gonna talk to the matchmakers<br \/>\nbecause I want to give the fans what they want. Once I prove myself then I\u2019ll start calling for more matchups.<br \/>\nI\u2019m at the point where I want to prove myself to my fans and coaches. I\u2019m on a losing streak and the goal no<br \/>\nw is to get off the losing streak and stop making dumb mistakes.<\/p>\n<p>[Fight 6]<br \/>\nJohnny Case def. Yusuke Yachi (TKO, 4:47 &#8211; 2R)<br \/>\nYachi did not attend the post fight interviews since he headed straight to the hospital to get his eye checked.<br \/>\nLater reported that he has not sustained any serious injuries.<br \/>\nCase:<br \/>\nQ: Comments on the match?<br \/>\nA: It was a great fight. Yachi is as tough as they come, I knew he\u2019d be a formidable opponent. It comes down<br \/>\nto preparation, I trained accordingly. This is the result of hard work, that\u2019s all this is.<br \/>\nQ: Impression on Yachi?<br \/>\nA: I don\u2019t know what else to say, he\u2019s a great fighter. I wish him the best of luck in the future. I know he\u2019s bea<br \/>\nt some good guys, it just wasn\u2019t his night.<br \/>\nQ: If the match went longer, do you think the result would\u2019ve been the same?<br \/>\nA: I do, I know his best weapon is his big right hook, I knew he\u2019d throw it. I was prepared, not too eager to co<br \/>\nme forward because of that. I was trying to stay away from that. I was focused on landing my right hand, and<br \/>\nI think that set the tempo for the fight. Going into the last hand I think it would\u2019ve just been me avoiding his<br \/>\nright hook and me landing my straight right.<br \/>\nQ: Impression of the rRIZIN atmosphere?<br \/>\nA: This is the best I\u2019ve ever fought. This is my 33rd fight. I love Tokyo and Japanese fans. Ever since I got to th<br \/>\ne hotel, signing autographs, it\u2019s great. The energy, the walkout, fighting in the ring was like a dream come tr<br \/>\nue. It was so fun and this environment brought the best out of me. It got me to go out there and lay my hear<br \/>\nt and soul on the line and put on a show for the fans.<br \/>\nQ: Comment on future plans or goals?<br \/>\nA: I heard they&#8217;re doing a lightweight grand prix, I would love to be part of that. My goal is to be champion. I\u2019<br \/>\nm a huge fan of Gomi, and I would be honored to share the ring with him.<br \/>\nQ: Do you feel like you\u2019re proving to the UFC and everyone else that you\u2019re still one of the top lightweights?<br \/>\nA: I\u2019m over the UFC. It was a good platform, they cut me &#8211; whatever, business is business. I still think I could<br \/>\nwin a lot of fights there. There\u2019s nowhere I\u2019d rather be than RIZIN. Working with bellator also, the sky&#8217;s the li<br \/>\nmit here. Japanese MMA fans are the best fans in the world. The UFC kind of uses people, and when they can\u2019<br \/>\nt use them anymore, they let them go. Who wants to work for people like that. I want to work where I feel re<br \/>\nspected. I\u2019m a company man.<br \/>\nQ: What\u2019s your feelings now that you\u2019ve competed in the ring?<br \/>\nA: I love fighting here, the energy and fans are awesome. The ring was better for my style. The octagon peopl<br \/>\ne can move around alot more, but in the ring you\u2019re one step out or in the action. There were chances for me<br \/>\nto take advantage of the rule differences, but this is just the first fight in this ruleset for me, I\u2019m only going to<br \/>\nget better and better. I can\u2019t wait to get back and do it again.<br \/>\nQ: How would you encourage other fighters to come fight in Japan?<br \/>\nA: I would say a lot of Americans are scared to fight this style. But it\u2019s very efficient. The object is to stop your<br \/>\nopponent, what better way than a clean KO with kicks and knees. Look at it with more of an open mind. If an<br \/>\ny other fighter came to Japan and felt the emotion and energy that the fans have for the fighters, there woul<br \/>\nd be no other place they\u2019d rather fight.<br \/>\n[Fight 7] \u2013 Kazuyuki Miyata retirement fight<br \/>\nKazuyuki Miyata vs Erson Yamamoto (SUB (Hammer lock), 3:23 &#8211; 2R)<\/p>\n<p>Miyata:<br \/>\nQ:<br \/>\nA: Armlock is one of my strong weapons. Grappling is something I\u2019ve been preparing for. I grew up doing wr<br \/>\nestling and I wasn\u2019t grappling much after turning pro in MMA. I knew Arsen was good wrestler. When I get m<br \/>\ny hands on the ground, sometimes I feel my leg muscle so I was cautious with those kind of moves.<br \/>\nQ:<br \/>\nA: I feel that things are getting fun. Retiring at this point is &#8230;. I feel that I could do more for MMA. I think wr<br \/>\nestling world in Japan is now improving and getting stronger compared to my days. Based on that, those m<br \/>\nma fighters with wrestling background can come into MMA and improve the JMMA world as well.<br \/>\nQ:<br \/>\nA: In the result I get a win, so I should be happy with it.<br \/>\nQ: In the beginning you oth<br \/>\nA: I knew we had to do it. Yesterday after listening to Sakakibara san in the rule meeting, looking for just win<br \/>\nis something amateur pursue, but as professionals we should do something entertaining. I felt Arsen would j<br \/>\nump into me so it&#8217;s something i did as well.<br \/>\nQ: Do you train on that finishing move a lot?<br \/>\nA: I like doing grappling and fighting on the ground, I need to use it to maintain my muscles. I keep doing th<br \/>\nose training. Striking as I get older, my eyes get weak, so I focus on grappling and ground training.<br \/>\nQ:<br \/>\nA: I didn\u2019t intend to attack from bottom, but I knew opponent was young and have power, if I got top positio<br \/>\nn I would go for it, but I just don\u2019t want to go to far.<br \/>\nQ:<br \/>\nA: I was a wrestler until 27 years old and I joined MMA after 28 years old. Most of the olympians who goes to<br \/>\nMMA, they only fight for a couple of years and quit. Myself as well I didn\u2019t know if I could go this long. just li<br \/>\nke me, his expectation was hard. In consequence he lost to the stronger guys. For me I could get strong oppo<br \/>\nnents, I got many losses but that made me get stronger. I wish the best for Ersen as well. Doesn&#8217;t matter if yo<br \/>\nu win or lose.<br \/>\nYamamoto:<br \/>\nQ: comments on match?<br \/>\nA: Maybe I shouldn\u2019t say yet, but I thought that I could win this match. I thought I could finish the match in t<br \/>\nhe 3rd round. But Miyata\u2019s ground moves were much better than I expected. I regret that I lost.<br \/>\nQ: You thought you could control the match?<br \/>\nA: Yes, I had a feeling I could start controlling. Really tiny mistakes added up to big mistakes.<br \/>\nQ: Was it a detail?<br \/>\nA: I had my hand on the mat, he took advantage of that. If I didn\u2019t put my hand on the mat, I should\u2019ve put<br \/>\nmy hand on his stomach or chest, somewhere else, then hat probably wouldn\u2019t have happened. I don\u2019t know<br \/>\nhow many MMA fights I\u2019ve had so far. 6th match maybe? 5 or 6. Everytime, a very good opponent, so all the<br \/>\nmistakes I make, all the experiences I get. I\u2019d like to take that and improve in the future. It doesn\u2019t feel like I\u2019v<br \/>\ne had a match, only the reality that I\u2019ve lost is running around my head.<br \/>\nQ: Impression of Miyata?<br \/>\nA: He was strong. Very nice ground moves, he&#8217;s a great fighter. I appreciate he chose me as the opponent of<br \/>\nhis final match.<br \/>\nQ:<br \/>\nA: There were about the knee at the beginning. People asked me to go for a jumping knee, maybe Miyata als<\/p>\n<p>o had it in mind. It was his final match so I wanted him to go out with a blast. I can\u2019t say I knew he would do<br \/>\nit. It would\u2019ve been sad if I hadn\u2019t done that.<br \/>\nQ: Comments on overall ?<br \/>\nA: Result is everything, can\u2019t say much else. I never felt this was a memorial match during training. Of course<br \/>\nI\u2019m fighting for KID, but fighting is win or lose, it&#8217;s me. I was just focusing on the win.<br \/>\nQ: What do you think KID would say about your match?<br \/>\nA: He would say just keep on practicing and you\u2019ll do well. I think he regrets my loss. I\u2019m a fighter that gets n<br \/>\nervous before matches, but this time I didn\u2019t feel any nervousness, probably because KID was by my side.<br \/>\nQ: Future plans or goals?<br \/>\nA: My goal is I\u2019ll be having a child in february, I\u2019d like to see a very energetic baby, then go back to practice.<br \/>\nHopefully I can win the rest of my matches. I know result is everything, but I am training at a very good place.<br \/>\nI appreciate Miyata and RIZIN for calling me even though I\u2019ve lost several times.<br \/>\nQ: What do you have to say to Miyata?<br \/>\nA: I went over and congratulated him. He also congratulated me. I appreciated his comments. In a sense, I se<br \/>\ne how my future should go. After I started fighting MMA, I thought why should I be fighting strong men, but<br \/>\nnow I have confidence to take on anybody.<br \/>\nQ:<br \/>\nA: I will fight anybody. Whoever comes will be fine with me. When I started off, I was afraid of even watching<br \/>\nvideos. Those worries starting changing into motivations and confidence. I said at the funeral of KID, that I st<br \/>\narted enjoying MMA, so I want to say to my fans please look forward to my matches and I&#8217;m improving.<br \/>\nINTERMISSION<br \/>\n[Fight 8]<br \/>\nMiyuu Yamamoto def. Mika Nagano(3-0 DEC, 5:00 &#8211; 3R)<br \/>\nNagano:<br \/>\nQ: Thoughts on your fight?<br \/>\nA: I was able to look at the crowd while I was entering. But once I got to the ring, I felt nervousness. There wa<br \/>\ns some worries as the match was about to start.<br \/>\nQ: Impression of Miyuu?<br \/>\nA: She was physically very strong.<br \/>\nQ: Miyuu said she couldn&#8217;t finish you. Comments on that?<br \/>\nA: It was also difficult to me to attack her. She had the power. I just wasn\u2019t good enough to beat her.<br \/>\nQ: Feelings on being in new years event and the atmosphere?<br \/>\nA: I\u2019m very appreciative to RIZIN for letting me be part of this event. I think this will be a good experience for<br \/>\nme. It was really fun.<br \/>\nQ: Plans for 2019?<br \/>\nA: I would like to bounce back from this loss and practice more. I hope to get better.<br \/>\nYamamoto:<br \/>\nQ:<br \/>\nA: I wanted to show my standing skills and i could&#8217;ve gone a step or half step closer, then i could&#8217;ve knockout<br \/>\nfinish at some point it&#8217;s disappointing<br \/>\nQ:<br \/>\nA: wasn&#8217;t about opponent, it was about me hitting opponent. When it was on the ground, she was aggressive<\/p>\n<p>so I had to adapt to that as well<br \/>\nQ:<br \/>\nA: from the last match i wanted to demonstrate my combinations more. I only done 1-2 but I could\u2019ve done<br \/>\nmore better. I think I could\u2019ve controlled throughout the match, but I couldn\u2019t attack enough to make the ref<br \/>\neree stop.<br \/>\nQ: Comments on event itself?<br \/>\nA: Every Time I come to RIZIN, it is getting better and better. I\u2019m always looking forward to it. NYE event is al<br \/>\nways special, I\u2019m honored to be part of it.<br \/>\nQ: With a victory, what is perspective on 2019?<br \/>\nA: I would like to start again, I was talking with Ersen as well, he\u2019s prepared for training camp as well. I know<br \/>\nhe\u2019s disappointed but we have to start training in 2019, we both have to be more stronger and come back to<br \/>\nthe ring.<br \/>\nQ: Ersen was determined.<br \/>\nA: I hope I could inspire him as a mother as well.<br \/>\nQ:<br \/>\nA: To be honest, I think he was very calm and showed a good match on his feet as well, but Miyata\u2019s experien<br \/>\nce overtook him, because of his final match, he really wanted to finish winning.<br \/>\nQ: There was something going on about KID<br \/>\nA: For me I wanted to see my brother watching me keep winning, I know he is watching me from above but I\u2019<br \/>\nm so disappointed to not see KID watching me, but I really feel he is watching.<br \/>\n[Fight 9]<br \/>\nDamien Brown def. Daron Cruickshank (SUB [Guillotine Choke], 4:19 &#8211; 1R)<br \/>\nCruickshank:<br \/>\nQ: Thoughts on the fight?<br \/>\nA: It\u2019s a tough fight, I lost. I made a stupid decision. I was dominate as far as striking, he was the better man t<br \/>\nonight.<br \/>\nQ: Impression of opponent?<br \/>\nA: He\u2019s tough, he\u2019s slow. I saw everything he was throwing. He can take a beating, and he\u2019s got that old man<br \/>\nstrength for sure.<br \/>\nQ: He made some evaluation about when you try to take opponents down. Are his comments correct?<br \/>\nA: He didn\u2019t hit me. I think I heard the one minute mark, and I thought I should finish the round on top. But I<br \/>\nbeat myself, he didn\u2019t beat me.<br \/>\nQ: Thoughts on atmosphere of RIZIN?<br \/>\nA: I feel like every show, the crowd gets better and better. The more I fight, the more the Japanese fans cheer<br \/>\nfor me. Hopefully I\u2019ll be back here in 2019, fighting Damien Brown in the tournament.<br \/>\nQ: Plans for 2019?<br \/>\nA: I\u2019m pretty sure RIZIN will have a tournament for my weight class. I\u2019ll jump into that or I don\u2019t know.<br \/>\nBrown:<br \/>\nQ: Thoughts on match?<br \/>\nA: We took this fight, we knew that Daron was very tough and crafty. He had a lot of tools he could\u2019ve caugh<br \/>\nt me with. He landed some very solid strikes, spinning back fist and elbow. Happy my chin was able to hold u<br \/>\np to that. Besides that, I felt comfortable in there, the fight ended the way I thought it would, by submission.<br \/>\nQ: Impression of Daron?<\/p>\n<p>A: Daron\u2019s a nice guy, he showed me respect during the week and after the match. I\u2019m in the sport for the ma<br \/>\nrtial arts aspect, and if you can\u2019t show respect you shouldn\u2019t be here. He showed humility after losing.<br \/>\nQ: Feeling of the environment?<br \/>\nA: I loved every minute of Japan. I turned up on Friday, cut weight saturday and sunday, fought today. RIZIN<br \/>\nhas treated me like royalty. It\u2019s been amazing and I can\u2019t wait to get back here again.<br \/>\nQ: Do you think you are taking Daron\u2019s popularity from him?<br \/>\nA: He\u2019s established himself here, he\u2019s a key fighter for RIZIN. I appreciate the opportunity, but I\u2019m looking to<br \/>\nmake my own spot.<br \/>\nQ: Future plans? Desire to stay with RIZIN?<br \/>\nA: I\u2019m 34 years old, I\u2019d like to stay with RIZIN the rest of my career. There\u2019s been some changes over the last 1<br \/>\n2 months. I hope I\u2019ve secured my place on the RIZIN roster for years to come.<br \/>\nQ: When Daron tried to take you down, did you lure him into the finishing move?<br \/>\nA: I didn\u2019t think Daron was going to take me down, but I had a feeling based on his past fights, he\u2019s a world c<br \/>\nlass striker, if he feels threatened he goes for the takedown but keeps his chin out. I didn\u2019t feel threatened by<br \/>\nhis takedowns because he would be in a bad position.<br \/>\nQ: A lot of people are staying up in Australia, what&#8217;s your message to the Australian fans?<br \/>\nA: It\u2019s been a long year for me, but I&#8217;m very thankful for the fans since they pay the bills. I\u2019m appreciative of a<br \/>\nll fans across the world.<br \/>\nQ: How do you think<br \/>\nA: With the recent changes in my career, I want to fight the biggest people in the biggest promotions in the<br \/>\nworld. If there&#8217;s a GP in the future I want a seat, if not, I just want to fight the biggest fight at the time. No di<br \/>\nsrespect.<br \/>\n[Fight 10]<br \/>\nGabi Garcia def. Barbara Nepomuceno (SUB (Keylock), 2:39 &#8211; 1R)<br \/>\nGarcia:<br \/>\nQ:<br \/>\nA: At the end, I could bring her down and go on the ground, and that worked well. I wanted the KO win but I<br \/>\nknew my power was overtaking her and she had a feeling of more power.<br \/>\nQ: The finish was as you planned?<br \/>\nA: It was just as I planned. It\u2019s been 27 years since I started jiujitsu. I started thinking I would like to utilize my<br \/>\njiujitsu skill. My opponent has a background of kickboxing, she could take advantage on the feet. I didn\u2019t wa<br \/>\nnt to risk that. The first punch got her I think. That gave her damage, so based on that I could go to jiujitsu a<br \/>\nnd finish her. I\u2019m pleased with how I started and finished. I\u2019m just satisfied with the win.<br \/>\nQ: The punch at the beginning was a message?<br \/>\nA: I also wanted to fight on the feet, that&#8217;s true. There was a discussion with RIZIN that we could do some kin<br \/>\nd of fight that is focused on kickboxing. Not for this match, but based on the discussion , I had a feeling to fi<br \/>\nght with striking and I knew she was good on standing, so I wanted to take advantage of her strength as well.<br \/>\nI wanted to show her that I could give her damage more than she could give me. This victory I would like to t<br \/>\nhank my coach and dedicate this victory to my coach who has changed my way of taking MMA. He gave me<br \/>\nconfidence and I want to give this victory to him. He means so much to me. This is a new Gabi, from now on I<br \/>\nwon\u2019t get beaten up anymore. This was a big challenge.<br \/>\nq<br \/>\na: there was an offer for a kickboxing rules. It\u2019s going to be a big challenge for me, I\u2019m not a complete fighter,<br \/>\nI\u2019m still growing. If I get offer under rule of kickboxing i&#8217;m happy to accept. but this time i&#8217;ve been training fo<\/p>\n<p>r mma fight, so i wanted to go under mma rules. still im a fighter so i shouldn&#8217;t be scared of taking any challe<br \/>\nnges. in the future i would like to accept any challenge.<br \/>\nQ: How did you feel the atmosphere?<br \/>\nA: I\u2019ve been telling this in past interviews, but i grew up watching pride. I had a feeling that I would never rea<br \/>\nch the stage like pride. this is a dream come true for me to fight in saitama super arena. I still have goosebu<br \/>\nmps when I come here to fight. looking back on last year, there was some trouble i caused, so i really wanted<br \/>\nthis year to realize the fight. I truly wanted to fight in japan and get a win. I\u2019m brazilian but i have the soul of<br \/>\njapanese. as a fighter, anyone would want to come here and walk towards the ring surrounded by japanese c<br \/>\nrowd. It\u2019s a dream come true for any fighter. Japanese fans really respect fighters. any fighter would feel that.<br \/>\npaying respect is important for a fighter like me. I take importance of bushido and when i come back to japa<br \/>\nn i understand what bushido is and what respect for martial arts is. winning in japan is the best.<br \/>\nQ: future perspective?<br \/>\nA: rizin has been offering so many chances directly and indirectly. rizin has opened the door for me, not just<br \/>\nabout fights, but i get offers outside the ring. for me personally im showing the best performance in japan le<br \/>\nads me to so many things. i have adjusted my weight and i successfully did it. this fight was so special for me<br \/>\nand much more special than you expect. after 3 years i went back to my home and the best thing that sakaki<br \/>\nbara san can offer me is the women&#8217;s heavyweight grand prix.<br \/>\nQ: Comments on Kandori?<br \/>\nA: First of all I respect Kandori as an athlete. Last year I canceled. I think Kandori has been frustrated about th<br \/>\nat. Personally I don\u2019t pick opponents. I accept any offer and in the past I had the match against her, but I faile<br \/>\nd to make weight. She canceled in the past, she sent me her friend and I beat her up instead. If Kandori wants<br \/>\nto fight with me, I would accept but she is the one who has to be determined. There\u2019s so many fighters who<br \/>\nwant to fight against me, she&#8217;s not the only one. It\u2019s good for her to challenge. I\u2019m ready to fight with anyon<br \/>\ne, so if she wants to come to me, I\u2019m ready.<br \/>\nNepomuceno:<br \/>\nQ: Comments on fight?<br \/>\nA: I\u2019m very disappointed for my loss. I\u2019m very happy and pleased to have this opportunity to join in such a bi<br \/>\ng event. RIZIN is a very quality event. There are very good fighters that come here and I\u2019m very glad to be a p<br \/>\nart of it. This is a dream come true for me so I\u2019m happy for that, but still I\u2019m disappointed for not winning the<br \/>\nmath .<br \/>\nQ: Impression on Gabi?<br \/>\nA: There\u2019s not much difference in before or after. There was some kind of trouble or criticism between us. Aft<br \/>\ner fighting with her, I realize she is truly a strong fighter and big. It was a loss but at the same time a good le<br \/>\narning experience. This was my first fight in RIZIN and it was a bad result but I want to work for the future. If<br \/>\nI ever get the chance to fight in Japan I will accept. I want to thank Gabi for accepting my challenge.<br \/>\nQ: What do you think about kickboxing against Gabi?<br \/>\nA: I\u2019m happy to fight against anyone with the rules given. It\u2019s up to RIZIN.<br \/>\nQ: You were talking with Gabi in the ring after the fight. What did you say?<br \/>\nA: After the match I thanked Gabi. Because of her I had the opportunity to come to Japan and fight in RIZIN.<br \/>\nI thanked Gabi for accepting my challenge. Also the fans were following and posting some bad things about<br \/>\nme, my fans were posting bad things about Gabi. There was controversial circumstances going on, but perso<br \/>\nnally I never took her bad in person. I\u2019m not sure about her but, I wanted to tell her in person that I had no in<br \/>\ntention of causing these kind of troubles so it was a good chance to tell her directly. I realize that she is truly<br \/>\na good and strong fighter.<\/p>\n<p>[Fight 11]<br \/>\nJiri Prochazka def. Brandon Halsey (TKO (Submission due to strikes), 6:30 &#8211; 1R)<br \/>\nJiri:<br \/>\nQ: Comments on the fight?<br \/>\nA: There\u2019s so many things I have to work on. I have to catch or grab the opponent more effectively. I got the<br \/>\nopponent took me down and that unnecessarily. I\u2019ve been in a tough struggle a little bit a few times. My beli<br \/>\nef is to put all my strength into one fight. I thought too much about tactic and the outcome became a poor p<br \/>\nerformance.<br \/>\nQ: Impression on opponent?<br \/>\nA: He was so strong. He gave me good pressure and he tried to contact. I think he was good with contacting<br \/>\nbodies. It was hard on both fighters. It was very intense. I think maybe it got him as well, that exhaustion I to<br \/>\nok some behavior. The way he fought and kept getting outside the ring was not good. I\u2019m always determine<br \/>\nd for the match and I\u2019m always setting my goals to win. My fighting style is motivates me and that&#8217;s my style.<br \/>\nQ:<br \/>\nA: What motivates me is how I play, how I\u2019m determined. This is my lifework. Fighting is my lifework, and that is<br \/>\nmy motivation for fighting.<br \/>\nQ:<br \/>\nA: It was twice that I felt some kind of danger. The first choke he got me well. His choke was very good, but s<br \/>\ntill I thought I could escape. I\u2019ve been going through that position and that state of fight, so I knew how I co<br \/>\nuld turn it around.<br \/>\nQ: Did you feel him getting tired after the submission attempts?<br \/>\nA: I feel it because he goes full power all the time. I watched him how much power going all the time, so I wai<br \/>\nt for the signature moments. In this moment, I try to go with power and technique and go up and continuing<br \/>\nthe fight.<br \/>\nQ: What were your thoughts when he kept getting out of the ring?<br \/>\nA: I kept telling him \u201ccome on brendan\u201d. Everyone knows it was not so hard. He tried to make time for himsel<br \/>\nf to breathe and be back in the game.<br \/>\nQ: Future plans?<br \/>\nA: First of all, I would like to improve my fight and seek perfection. So I want to take some time to improve m<br \/>\nyself. Next year, I would like to have opportunity to challenge for a title in RIZIN.<\/p>\n<p>Halsey:<br \/>\nQ: Comments on the match?<br \/>\nA: Went out there with a gameplan, broke my thumb early in the match. It was hard to grab. Kind of winged i<br \/>\nt from there, didn\u2019t go my way. The better man won tonight.<br \/>\nQ: Impression of Jiri?<br \/>\nA: He\u2019s a tough guy. All respect to him. The better man won tonight, no excuses, and we move forward from<br \/>\nhere.<br \/>\nQ: Tell us about your opportunities in the match.<br \/>\nA: I had the choke locked in deep. My thumb was broken so I couldn\u2019t really squeeze and get a good grip. I h<br \/>\nad to bail on both chokes and it didn\u2019t work out.<br \/>\nQ: Feelings about the environment?<br \/>\nA: It was one of the best atmospheres I\u2019ve ever been in. It was an honor fighting in front of the Japanese peo<br \/>\nple. It was very humbling and very amazing. I look forward to putting on another show in front of everyone.<\/p>\n<p>Q: Plans for future?<br \/>\nA: I\u2019d like to fight at heavyweight in April.<br \/>\n[Fight 12]<br \/>\nAyaka Hamasaki def. Kanna Asakura (SUB (Armbar), 4:34 &#8211; 2R)<br \/>\nAsakura:<br \/>\nQ: Comments on match?<br \/>\nA: Hamasaki was really strong. Both in striking and groundwork, she was better than me.<br \/>\nQ: Impression has changed?<br \/>\nA: I knew she was strong before I foguth her. Her international record shows that.<br \/>\nQ: She mentioned the match it wasn\u2019t as she expected.<br \/>\nA: I tried to fight with my striking. I wanted to challenge with my striking. I had to utilize groundwork more. S<br \/>\nhe was in another level.<br \/>\nQ: Thoughts on new years event?<br \/>\nA: I really wanted to get a title belt so its disappointing. I think this made me to strive for a new goal. I have t<br \/>\no work on.<br \/>\nQ: New goals?<br \/>\nA: I want Hamasaki-san to keep the belt, and I want to be the one to challenge her.<br \/>\nQ: Did you not intend to tackle?<br \/>\nA: I got intimidated with the tackle. I didn\u2019t get the damage from her tackle as well.<br \/>\nHamasaki:<br \/>\nQ: Comments on fight?<br \/>\nA: The fight wasn\u2019t exactly the way I planned. I\u2019d been training boxing and striking. There are things I need to<br \/>\ntry. I\u2019m a little frustrated because I was expecting Kanna to tackle but she didn\u2019t. Maybe she was prepared for<br \/>\nme as well. I know that she is improving so much and stronger than I knew. If I could take her on the ground<br \/>\nI knew I had a chance to finish. I didn\u2019t care where the finish happened.<br \/>\nQ:<br \/>\nA: New Years Eve, Saitama Super Arena is special for me to fight in front of this crowd.<br \/>\nQ: You had an eyepoke?<br \/>\nA: I don\u2019t remember exactly but my sight was blurred so I took some time.<br \/>\nQ: Future Plans?<br \/>\nA: Now I have a title, I have to be responsible for that.<br \/>\nQ: Was there a turning point that decided the match?<br \/>\nA: I\u2019d been practicing boxing, so I think I could come into the match with confidence in my striking. I think ba<br \/>\nsed on that I could fight with striking and standing. That made me take her on the ground. There&#8217;s the young<br \/>\ner generation is starting to get into MMA, but still I have a strong will not to be beaten up by the younger gu<br \/>\nys.<br \/>\nQ: The age between you has been compared in the match.<br \/>\nA: I agree, I made drastic improvements in my 20s. Youth is an advantage for younger fighters.<br \/>\nQ: What\u2019s your mentality facing young fighters?<br \/>\nA: I don\u2019t really care about age or generation. My fight was around 9:45. There was a long time before my ma<br \/>\ntch after arriving to the arena, so I took a nap and was relaxed.<br \/>\nQ: You are the champion of RIZIN. What challenges come to you now?<br \/>\nA: Definitely I take it as a positive thing. In Invicta I became champion and it allowed me to face the best figh<\/p>\n<p>ters. Now I am champion in RIZIN, I will be waiting for strong fighters.<br \/>\nQ: Any challengers in your mind?<br \/>\nA: There\u2019s no prediction in my mind, but if I get anyone in front of me I\u2019m ready to face.<br \/>\n[Fight 13]<br \/>\nKyoji Horiguchi def. Darrion Caldwell (SUB (Guillotine Choke), 1:19 &#8211; 3R)<br \/>\nHoriguchi:<br \/>\nQ: Thoughts on fight?<br \/>\nA: I felt my opponents power.<br \/>\nQ: Impressions changed?<br \/>\nA: I think I put a fight as I planned.<br \/>\nQ: Thoughts on coming to bellator?<br \/>\nA: The champion of Bellator came to Japan, I thought I have responsibility for accepting this fight and becom<br \/>\ning the champion and having the belt with new years eve event.<br \/>\nQ:<br \/>\nA: RIZIN representing one of the biggest event in Japan, I didn\u2019t want the international fighter to get the first<br \/>\nbelt, so I feel relieved for winning it.<br \/>\nQ: You have intention of going to US to get belt?<br \/>\nA: Yes<br \/>\nQ: Perspective?<br \/>\nA: I want to promote JMMA just as we had in PRIDE. I want to express all the good things about JMMA.<br \/>\nQ: Feelings on standing ovation?<br \/>\nA: I\u2019m happy if my fight has given this inspiration to the crowd, I appreciate it.<br \/>\nQ: You feel about representing Japan?<br \/>\nA: I think I should work harder.<br \/>\nQ: It was unexpected for Darrion,were you thinking of going for a choke?<br \/>\nA: It was included in my plan. One of his losses were from a choke so I wanted to use that. He was in a bad p<br \/>\nosition so I went for it.<br \/>\nQ: Was that coaches advice?<br \/>\nA: The coach didn\u2019t want me to go for choke because it was risky, but I trained for it and I thought the positi<br \/>\non was best for a choke so I just went for it.<br \/>\nQ:<br \/>\nA: My corner kept telling me I was leading until 2nd round, personally I knew that he took me down and he<br \/>\nwas leading so I went for a 3rd round.<br \/>\nQ: Any comments on nasukawa mayweather fight?<br \/>\nA: I think there was so much weight difference, 10kg is quite a difference.<br \/>\nQ: Until 2nd round, were you expecting to go for grappling?<br \/>\nA: I was prepared for it. He has long arms and is rom wrestling so it is within my prediction. I wanted to use<br \/>\nmy striking, but since the fight is with the opponent I had to react to what the opponent did.<br \/>\nQ: Do you have a date for when you will return?<br \/>\nA: I\u2019m going to train right after. I want to brush up my Karate. I don\u2019t know when the fight will happen but I<br \/>\nwill go straight back to training.<br \/>\nQ: You were holding Mr. Nihei\u2019s picture after winning?<br \/>\nA: The last match with Tenshin I couldn\u2019t show my win to Mr. Nihei and KID, so I wanted to show them my wi<br \/>\nn.<\/p>\n<p>Caldwell:<br \/>\nQ: Any challenge in fighting in a ring?<br \/>\nA: Anytime I\u2019m ever in a ring, I\u2019m only standing up. Most of my fights are on the ground, I beat people up on<br \/>\nthe ground. Having a lot of space on the bottom of the ring took away from my takes. I used a lot more ener<br \/>\ngy and couldn\u2019t advance position like i normally would. It was a lack of experience inside the ring that cost m<br \/>\ne<br \/>\nQ: Like to try to come back to rizin?<br \/>\nA: This does not change the fact that I\u2019m the best 135er in the world. I will fight Horiguchi on my home soil fo<br \/>\nr the bellator title. It was a matter of experience, short notice fight. Tonight he was the better fighter. It\u2019s bac<br \/>\nk to the drawing board for me. I\u2019m not susceptible to losing, anybody can lose. It\u2019s the fight game.<br \/>\nQ: impression of RIZIN as event?<br \/>\nA: It was mind blowing, the greatest experience of my life. Japanese people treated me respect generosity an<br \/>\nd love. It\u2019s a second home for me for fighting, I\u2019d love to fight out here again.<br \/>\nQ: Plans since its the new year?<br \/>\nA: Goal is fight Horiguchi in the Bellator cage and then run it back here in RIZIN. I am the best Bantamweight<br \/>\nin the world. This is not an indicator of me so I would like to get this best out of 3 going with Horiguchi. I\u2019m a<br \/>\nfighter at heart, so I\u2019m going to show up and fight. Fuck it, I\u2019ma see him back on my home soil.<br \/>\nQ: Looking back at the finish, you stayed in his guard, did you<br \/>\nA: I didn\u2019t expect that, it was a bad transition by me. I\u2019ll go back to the drawing board. I lost to a submission<br \/>\nbefore.<\/p>\n<p>[Fight 14] \u2013 Special exhibition<br \/>\nFloyd Mayweather def. Tenshin Nasukawa (TKO (towel), 2:19 &#8211; 1R)<br \/>\nFloyd:<br \/>\nA: I wanna say thank you to the media, the outlets, all the people in Japan, the fans, you guys. It\u2019s all about e<br \/>\nntertainment. I went out there and I entertained. Teshin is a great champion, young hungry lion. I have more<br \/>\nexperience at the high level. We\u2019re still undefeated, it doesn&#8217;t go on our records. It\u2019s all about having fun. But<br \/>\nI wanna make a couple dollars while having fun. I\u2019m glad Leonard Ellerbe came, Brent Johnson. I just wanna t<br \/>\nhank my team, Bob, James McNair, Reciardo, Dajuan, Jaybling, Justin, Kingchee, Mo, Mike WillRay Frank JP,<br \/>\nmy daughter. Daquan. My whole team. I wanna thank everybody that came from the US to support the event.<br \/>\nIt was a great turn out, you guys are such a class act. I wanna say happy new year to everyone, may this new<br \/>\nyear be filled nothing be positivity and love. Thank you from my team. Let&#8217;s continue to grow be stronger an<br \/>\nd work together. Please support Tenshin, he\u2019s a great fighter, a great champion with a big future ahead of hi<br \/>\nmself. I\u2019m still retired. I don\u2019t want to sit here and answer questions all night. I came here to show my respect<br \/>\nfor everyone covering this event. Thank you to RIZIN. in Japan, RIZIN is #1.<br \/>\nTenshin:<br \/>\nQ: Comments on fight?<br \/>\nA: So many things were new to me. I think it&#8217;s been a good experience for me.<br \/>\nQ: You were in feel good tears?<br \/>\nA: I was so disappointed, I really believed that I could go and knock him down, but I never felt this disappoint<br \/>\ned.<br \/>\nQ: how was mayweather?<\/p>\n<p>A: At first, I think he was underrating me and laughing, and I thought at the beginning my first punch hit him<br \/>\nand something turned him on. He came to me and I made a guard and defense and I go to much with defens<br \/>\ne and I couldn\u2019t see his hook and that turned things around.<br \/>\nQ: Mayweather kept praising you and said this was not official so that your record is still undefeated.<br \/>\nA: I know that record doesn\u2019t show my defeat but it\u2019s the same thing. So I\u2019m not going to forget this feeling<br \/>\nand I\u2019m going to take this as a learning experience. I thought he would keep avoiding me for the entire roun<br \/>\nd but he came to attack me, that was a positive thing for me. I thought whatever comes, I should stay brave a<br \/>\nnd never step back. I think I could do that. But I really wanted to win.<br \/>\nQ: What was the opportunity in RIZIN NYE event fighting with mayweather like?<br \/>\nA: Today I\u2019m just so frustrated and disappointed. Bt I can take this as a stepping stone. I\u2019m more fearless tha<br \/>\nn ever.<br \/>\nQ: Any goals?<br \/>\nA: No one else has experienced this. I want to utilize this for my future. I really appreciate everyone\u2019s support<br \/>\nand cheer. I was really upset about his behavior but after the match he was very respectful and I think he is a<br \/>\ngood guy.<br \/>\nQ: Main difference between yours and normal match?<br \/>\nA: First of all everytime I tried to hit him he avoids and utilizes his feint moves. He is a world class boxer.<br \/>\nQ: Did you feel the weight differences?<br \/>\nA: Yes. When I came face to face with him I really felt that he is bigger than me.<br \/>\nQ: Was punch different than others in past?<br \/>\nA: Yes, I never been hit by this hard of a punch before.<br \/>\nQ: Based on today\u2019s experienece, what kind of match do you want next?<br \/>\nA: At the moment, maybe in March 10th, there&#8217;s a tournament that\u2019s been fixed. It\u2019s a world championship, s<br \/>\no I\u2019m going to prepare for that. This experience was bigger than any other experience that I\u2019ve experienced b<br \/>\nefore.<br \/>\nQ: This match was raising so much attention from the world.<br \/>\nA: It was long but short. My first time going to America. I got so many support from so many people. Conseq<br \/>\nuently the result didn\u2019t go well, but if I could have encouraged anyone, that was a good thing. I really want to<br \/>\nbe more stronger fighter.<br \/>\nQ: Anything you would change in your training now that you\u2019ve faced a high level striker like Mayweather?<br \/>\nA: In terms of training, everything stays the same. What I learned from him the most are techniques I can abs<br \/>\norb and utilize for my future matches. Feints and positioning.<\/p>\n<p>Event summary by Nobuyuki Sakakibara:<br \/>\nA: I thought maybe I would feel like a much more longer day but like Floyd Mayweather being late, but when<br \/>\nI noticed it was past 11pm, I feel that I still have many things that I need to experience through the negotiatio<br \/>\nns with Mayweather. It\u2019s easy for a promoter to stay within a small world, repeating the same routine. Last ye<br \/>\nar was an adventure for us. We needed to take chances. I don\u2019t like the word unified, unless we throw away t<br \/>\nhat word we\u2019re not going to grow. Tenshin I know it was crazy, the media overseas, I won\u2019t be afraid of critici<br \/>\nsm, i look forward to new challenges, I appreciate that Tenshin had gone together with me on this adventure.<br \/>\nI also appreciate and respect Floyd Mayweather for coming on board this adventure. Also Cygames DMM, Fu<br \/>\nji TV, GYAO and all the medias who\u2019ve come here and all the fans. I appreciate all your support. This will be a<br \/>\nmiracle but also a stepping stone to the next stage. We had first title match for RIZIN, the women&#8217;s title. The<br \/>\nodd\u2019s were for Hamasaki, but we could\u2019ve seen the progress that Kanna made. I hope there would be a remat<\/p>\n<p>ch. See how Asakura can shorten the distance between Hamasak and herself. For the match between Horiguc<br \/>\nhi and Caldwell, I\u2019d like to say thank you to Scott Coker of Bellator. His big decision made these two big orga<br \/>\nnizations come together to operate. They are top 2 players that fought. It may bea risk, but if you don\u2019t take<br \/>\na risk, nothing is going to come out. I think it was a great match and I talked with him right after the match e<br \/>\nnded. I understand Caldwell is not used to the ring, and maybe if they fight in the cage, it could be a differen<br \/>\nt results. Maybe the fans want to see that. This is not just a challenge for Horiguchi personally, but something<br \/>\nbetween Bellator and RIZIN. Maybe this year we can have a 5 v 5 or 7 v 7 match between Bellator and RIZIN.<br \/>\nThere is a discussion with Scott about a joint promoted event in a place between JAPAN and USA like Hawaii.<br \/>\nOverall it was a very great title match. The fact that Horiguchi won dramatically, this is something that will rai<br \/>\nse the level of bantamweights in Japan. Hopefully this would maybe lead things into having Horiguchi fight a<br \/>\ngainst other organizations champions besides Bellator. The match they say is an exhibition, but 3 mins 3 roun<br \/>\nds match is still a match. They fought seriously, and the result without guess. Exhibition doesn\u2019t mean that it&#8217;<br \/>\ns a match you ease through. If I get into other matches that might be an hour or two, so I\u2019ll let you come wit<br \/>\nh questions.<br \/>\nQ: What would you consider about the fairness in condition?<br \/>\nA: It&#8217;s a difficult question. If we try to make it like a strict competition and make it more close to that, it takes<br \/>\nthe fun away. I think it\u2019s up to people who watch. There may be people who think that&#8217;s very dangerous. I wa<br \/>\nnted to take the weight class away and make it bigger. The only thing probably to shorten somewhat the diff<br \/>\nerence of weight was the glove size. Maybe we should\u2019ve asked for bigger glove for Mayweather. But these a<br \/>\nre risks that we take. We\u2019ll take a look at what happened, and make use of things that we take away from this<br \/>\nmatch.<br \/>\nQ: Teshin got knocked down 3 times, on the rules it was 3 knockdown rules?<br \/>\nA: Yes it was. Probably after the 1st one his eyes looked wobbly. I think Tenshin himself was never going to q<br \/>\nuit. I think you saw that well. You\u2019d think the glove was a safety measure. Maybe we should\u2019ve negotiated str<br \/>\nonger rules that would\u2019ve favored tenshin.<br \/>\nQ: Was there anything you\u2019ll remember the most during his stay in Japan?<br \/>\nA: I\u2019ve never seen a fighter go to into the ring without warming up. Maybe he took the match too lightly. His<br \/>\nopponent is a young uprising champion. I was totally in shock. I don\u2019t know, let me take time to think. I\u2019m re<br \/>\nally tired now. Considering what we announced on Dec 5th. I only achieved about 30-40 percent of what I wa<br \/>\nnted. Considering the power balance and it\u2019s reality, only putting 30 % negotiations is reality. In the one loss<br \/>\ncall the result would be Floyd Mayweather\u2019s win by TKO.<br \/>\nQ: Talk about LW GP?<br \/>\nA: The lightweight gp, I don\u2019t see any Japanese strong candidates so I\u2019d like to search for Japanese fighters w<br \/>\nho could enter the tournament. There are many athletes and fighters around the world who could enter this t<br \/>\nournament. Johny Case, Daron Cruickshank, Kitaoka. Maybe the beginning could be around the summer for<br \/>\na 16 man tournament in lightweight division. I don\u2019t want to put any restrictions about defending titles. I wan<br \/>\nt to answer the fans affections. Probably next July end, we\u2019ll have an event in Saitama, probably end of setp\/<br \/>\noct, oct in yokohama. Nagoya. Other dates in Fukuoka and Osaka. We like to hold events in local cities. In Me<br \/>\ntropolitan tokyo area, Saitama and Yokohama. Broadcasting is shifting from TV to internet. We are consideri<br \/>\nng studio RIZIN. That\u2019s an idea. Event in Hawaii may also be an idea. Some of the commentators that you sho<br \/>\nuldn&#8217;t have matches with this much weight difference. I knew there would be criticisms like that. Do you thin<br \/>\nk Tenshin feels that too? If there was a chance to fight Floyd Mayweather, if there was a chance to do that on<br \/>\nmy palm, then I will do that. What do you think Tenshin will play in RIZIN in 2019? I discussed with tenshin an<br \/>\nd his father, when we went to las vegas together. It was 2 weeks we spent. Standing striking. Work without ki<br \/>\nck. He fought Mayweather alot loss. Maybe 5 weight class different, but 6 weight class. I don\u2019t want to keep t<br \/>\nenshin just within boundaries of kickboxing, He may see interest in boxing. I hope that experiences helps him<\/p>\n<p>learn how to move forward in the future. Do you have any plans for a kickboxing tournament? In terms of co<br \/>\noperation with RIZE, I\u2019d like to keep that cooperation if possible. I would hold the tournament in a way that y<br \/>\nou would say that is rizin kick boxing.<br \/>\nQ: Do you think there would be 2 different events in one 1 typeof event in the future.<br \/>\nA: From the perspective of promoter, this is much cheaper. But sponsors are different so there are different is<br \/>\nsues. But maybe this years year end event is on the 29th and 31st on two different days.<br \/>\nQ: Could you talk a little more about floyd mayweather&#8217;s warm up?<br \/>\nA: It seems like he really did nothing in the locker room.<br \/>\nQ: SNS said he went to a korean barbeque he wanted to see mt. fuji but he went shopping. He\u2019s brought a whol<br \/>\ne bunch of family members in mewus I thought he was shopping for them, but he was shopping his own Versac<br \/>\nes. I was told that the whole time was going to Mt. Fuji.<br \/>\nA: I heard that he was in a good mood and since it was a beautiful day, he saw Mount Fuji and wanted to go.<br \/>\nSo the staff around him had to try to stop Floyd from going to Mount Fuji because if he did, he surely would<br \/>\nn\u2019t have made it to Saitama on time.<br \/>\nQ: Are you interested in running heavyweight division for womens?<br \/>\nA: I do have a plan for lightweight. I saw shinju performance was at flyweight. This is probably no chance for<br \/>\ngabi\u2019s class.<br \/>\nQ: Everyone images that you and Bellator will be working closely<br \/>\nA: Of course I have wills to send RIZIN fighters to bellator for exchange as well and I\u2019m thinking to bring bell<br \/>\nator fighters to rizin, you mentioned about the title match for women and we had a title match tonight, but<br \/>\nwe cannot send hamasaki in that regard since they do not have her class. To be honest, the top fighters in bel<br \/>\nlator&#8217;s is maybe stronger than us and we have to make the rizin fighters deeper to catch the best fighters at b<br \/>\nellator.<br \/>\nQ: Do you have plans putting on events internationally?<br \/>\nA: Of course our main market stays in Japan. We have to be successful here before going outside. Having coll<br \/>\naboration with bellator and working with mayweather promotion, we want to make this a tipping point, beca<br \/>\nuse I realize the fight market is actually the US is going to be the main market in global vision. we have to be<br \/>\ncompetitive in US as well, partnership with bellator and mayweather promotion is going to be the stepping s<br \/>\ntone.<br \/>\nHeisei\u2019s last YARENNOKA! Attendance: 7,498<br \/>\nRIZIN.14 Attendance: 29,105<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>POST FIGHT BACKSTAGE INTERVIEWS: FIGHTER QUOTES FROM FIGHT-DAY SAITAMA \u2013 December 31st, 2018 (~7,498 attendees) RESULTS: [Fight 1] AI def. Nanaka Kawamura (TKO, 3:01 &#8211; 1R) [Fight 2] Yuta Uchida def. Takuma Konishi (3-0 DEC, 5:00 &#8211; 3R) [Fight 3] Taiju Shiratori def. Yoshiya Uzatsuyo (KO, 1:43 &#8211; 3R) [Fight 4] Kai Asakura def. Jae [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22661,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,108,34],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-22664","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nws","8":"category-sport","9":"category-sports"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjagradio.com\/themic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22664","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjagradio.com\/themic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjagradio.com\/themic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjagradio.com\/themic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjagradio.com\/themic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22664"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/kjagradio.com\/themic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22664\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22673,"href":"https:\/\/kjagradio.com\/themic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22664\/revisions\/22673"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjagradio.com\/themic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22661"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjagradio.com\/themic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22664"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjagradio.com\/themic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22664"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjagradio.com\/themic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22664"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}