Yoshihiro Akiyama Inverview

DREAM official website posted an interview with Yoshihiro Aikiyama on July 13. This interview was taken place on July 10.

- Your opponent was finally announced. What do you think?
I feel a kind of relieved. I got a clear short term goal; thus, I'm pumped up for the fight.
- What do you think about your opponent?
He hasn't been in MMA long. That's his strength as well as his weakness. I cannot fully analyze what he does.
- What do you think about fighting a pro wrestler?
Nothing. I flatter myself that I represent Judo. If he is proud of himself as a pro wrestler like I am as a Judo specialist, I respect that.
- What did you think when you got an offer ?
When I attendedd to an MMA event in Akasaka, I knew Shibata was interested in fighting me. I was surprised, for I expected to fight a foreign fighter. I was fine to fight him because I wanted to fight Japanese fighters.
- Why do you want to fight Japanese?
I fight anybody, yet Japanese fighter was ideal. I wanted to improve myself by fighting them this year, and then I wanted to move on fighting foreign fighters.
- Shibata loses 4 times in row. He admitted that he wasn't in the position to choose his opponent. What do you think?
That's true; however, nobody wanted to fight me at that moment. That's why it took long time to find my opponent. I didn't have much time left before my fight. Under the circumstances, I accepted his offer without any hesitation.
- How's your nose and knee?
Both parts have been cured totally. I train very hard as I did before injured.
- Where do you train at now?
I train at Keisyukai and Bungelingbay.
- Bungelingbay is a kickboxing gym owned by Akeomi Nitta, a former K-1 fighter. What are you learning in his gym?
I learn basics from the bottom up, such as kicking and punching techniques and how to slide my weights. I learn to get well-balanced combinations of all my techniques. The lower half of the body is also strengthen by kicking.
- Can you show us what you learn in the next fight?
I will definitely kick and throw punches equally if I keep myself in control. I used to rely on punching too much. I didn't slide my weight smoothly, so I couldn't kick effectively. I'm improving my weak points now. It's not easy to get everything; admittedly, I believe my offense will change by paying attention to my weakness.
- You haven't fought since Yarennnoka. Are you nervous?
No.
- What do you think about DREAM?
I watched past 4 events and I gave a cheer to HERO'S fighters.
- Why?
Because I'm from HERO'S. It's too bad to see Nagata's loss.
- You said you wanted to fight in all event in the rest of this year.
Yes. I couldn't fight in a half of this year. My MMA career is not that long, and so I want to fight as much as I can.
- Do you think about when you retire?
I think all fighters thought about the age of retiring. I don't know when I retire, but I'm sure I cannot keep fighting in my 40's. Although, I have a desire to fight in my 40's actually. When I was 18 or 19 years old, I felt people in my current age were quite old. Now I'm 33 years old and doing fine as a professional fighter. I may keep fighting depend of my mental condition.
- Randy Couture is 45 years old this year.
He is very impressive. I heard about a 41 years old swimmer who participated in Beijin Olympic.
- Are you talking about Dara Torres?
Yes. It was excited to hear about the news. I was so motivated to fight as long as I can.
- Tell me your goal in DREAM.
Though I aim a belt in my long-term goal, I'm not stress about anything in this fight. This is my first fight in DREAM. I will see if I can find my next goal in this event. I cannot lose this fight since I fight in my home town, Osaka.

Chonan updated his blog

My next fight with Roan "Jucaon" Carneiro is arranged. I have a lot I want to say regarding this issue, but I keep silent and show my anger in the ring because I got injured last time.

I'm training every day though my injury is cured only 70%. I will have more intense trainings once I totally recover. I cannot wait to fight, yet I'm afraid of getting injured again. I should be patient now.


http://www.ryo-chonan.com/blog/ms.cgi?t=sketch&blogid=&ShowDiary_file=/siai/1215674173

Kawajiri rather fights Aoki in final

Tatsuya Kawajiri showed his training to the press at JB SPOTS in Tokyo on July 11. JB SPOTS is a boxing gym whose owner, George Morikawa, is an author of a comic book about boxing, Hajimeno Ippo. Mitsuhiro Ishida and Hiroyuki Takaya who fights in WEC on Aug 03 trained together.

His training lasted for 1.5 hours. After training, he had an interview. His training menu:
- 3 min./3R sparring in a striking with boxing gloves
- 3 min./2R sparring in a striking with open finger gloves
- 5 min./2R sparring
- 3 min./2R working with a hanging heavy bag
- 10 min./1R, 5 min./2R a combination training of ground sparring and mitts punching)
- Shadow boxing 3min.

Kawajiri:
I fight twice per a day; therefore, I train 2 times harder than usual. I'm very tired because I'm having incentive trainings every day. I'll adjust my condition by reducing my training load gradually. I know my next fight with Alvarez will be a tough fight. The harder my next fight is, the more I enjoy my victory. I studied his fighting style by watching his fight video with Hansen. I carry out everything I want to do regardless of his style. I want to defeat him by KO ideally. (He was asked which fighter he wants to fight, Uno or Aoki) Doesn't matter to me. I'm not worried about fighting either of them. I know their style well because I have trained with Aoki and fought Uno before. The key to fight them is do not let them touch me and don't fight on the ground. (He said he wanted to fight UNO in DREAM.3, after Ishida was defeated) I forgot about that when I found out my next opponent is Alvarez. I suppose PRIDE fans want to see me fight Aoki. I always have good luck in Osaka; I won the tournament of SHOOT and I had good experience in a curry restaurant. I think it's time for me to shine.

http://www.dreamofficial.com/news/detail.php?id=1215779495

DREAM announced additional fights for DREAM.5

DREAM had an press conference on July 10 and announced 3 additional fights in DREAM.5, a middleweight one match: Yoshihiro Akiyama vs Katsuyori Shibata, a lightweight reserve match: Joachim Hansen vs Black Mamba, and a welterweight one match: Motoki Miyazawa vs Kuniyoshi Hironaka, were announced.

Akiyama:
(Shibata had requested to fight with you in an MMA event on July 2. ) I accepted his request because I wanted to get my opponent as soon as I could and start to prepare for the fight. I think DREAM.5 will be better rating on TV than DREAM.4 because KID and I participate and people will talk about us. My nose bone is completely cured though it took longer than I thought. I haven't fought quite a while and now I'm very excited to come back to the ring. I haven't seen Shibata's fights yet. He is not an experienced fighter, but I think he has secret power. I have an image that he is very energetic and will do anything without any hesitation.
Shibata:
I'll put everything I have and try to win. I want to win no matter what, even if I'm an underdog.
Hironaka:
My fighting style was broadened in the UFC. I want to show the difference between my style and other Japanese fighters. I want to exchange punches a lot like a bout of Hansen vs Alvarez. I think soon DREAM will be an event like the UFC because Mach represents this event and Nick Diaz fights here now. I want to have DREAM hold a welterweight tournament, then I want to be a champion.
Miyazawa:
I want to represent myself by defeating him by KO or submission.
Sasahara:
I'm still negotiation with Mark Hunt's opponent. I cannot announce who he is now, but he is one of the very well known fighters. I'm going to arrange Mirko's fight in DERAM.6 since he canceled his participation in DREAM.5. due to the injury on his right elbow.

Message from Mirko Crocop
Hello everyone, I suppose to tell everybody how excited I am to fight in DREAM.5 today; however, I have to postpone my fight. I injured my right elbow and it's taking a while to be cured. I was impatient about not being able to do any ground training. I was so hasty that I sparred very hard with kick boxers; as a result, I injured my left shin and the kneecap. I think my fans are disappointed to find out that I'm not fighting. I decided not to fight in DREAM 5 but have a fantastic fight on Sep 23. I'm starving to fight. Please look forward to seeing my fight in DREAM 6.

http://dreamofficial.com/news/detail.php?id=1215690269

Shinya Aoki updated his column in Kamipro.com

I went to see a grappling event, DEEP X, after training last Saturday. Grappling event nowadays is different from what it used to be. Grapplers in an event used to be so aggressive that they aimed at submitting their opponents all the time. Now this is a competition to compete scores and not many submissions are seen, which does not quite entertain myself personally.  however, I guess this event is being improved from a different point of view. My favorite MMA style is to end my fight by submitting or KO. I'm not going to force my opinions on others, but I believe that's what MMA fans want to see and the best attraction in MMA.

In this event, the most impressive fighter was a female fighter, Miku. She has excellent techniques and did a transformed front sleeper, which is currently very popular among MMA fighters, easily without any hesitation. There are not many fighters who can use this submission very beautiful right on time. I suppose she studied hard to gain new skills with her high motivation. I respect people like her. Guys showed us more powerful and energetic performance. I enjoy watching tactics, such as offenses and defenses of pass guard and sweep.

I have less than 2 weeks before my next fight. I keep regular hours every day for quite a while because I have fights subsequently. After my upcoming fight, I want to relax and eat favorites. I know MMA is not only my work but my hobby, so I will start training without taking a break. I'm going to have productive days for my fight.

Last summer, I was filled with insecure feelings; specifically, I was anxious about losing my fighting ground(PRIDE) and frustrated about that I couldn't do anything to prevent PRIDE from lapsing. I could do nothing but wait.  I didn't lose my pride as a PRIDE fighter and believed that the situation would take a turn for the better. I know our fans felt the same way with me. As a result, we had Yarennnoka, and now I fight in DREAM. I think the fans moved MMA promoters and created the NYE event. All I can do for my fans who support MMA and me is to get a title. I think what I did in my past was right and I'm proud of myself.

http://www.kamipro.com/column/aoki.php?id=1215419715

Coca-Cola may start to sponsor MMA fighters?

Hiroyuki Owatari, who works for DENTSU which is a major ad agency in Japan, fights in K-1 World Max 2008 on July 7. He belongs to Seido Kaikan and passed a test of K-1 tryout in March. He told about being sponsored by Coca-Cola and showed his trunks with a logo of "Real Gold" which is an energy drink sold by Coca-Cola in Japan.

Coca-cola had never sponsored any sports including violent activities and gambling. When he talked about his K-1 debut to his client, Coca-Cola, they were interested.  They contacted to their headquarters in Atlanta and got a permission to sponsor him. This will be a test case.

Owatari said, "Since my client supports me, I cannot lose now."
http://www.nikkansports.com/battle/news/p-bt-tp0-20080706-380335.html

Sengoku fighters trained with Olympic wrestling team

SENGOKU fighters such as Yoshida, Takimoto, Gomi, Kitaoka and Kawamura trained with Japanese Wrestling Olympic team on July 4th.

"This is my second time to have a real wrestling training" said Yoshida. He brought his own wrestling shoes today. Fighters except Gomi , who has a wrestling background, had a different training menu with others.  even so, they warmed up, sparred and learned top level techniques for 2 hours. Yoshida and Takimoto, who are former gold medalists, had an opportunity to spar with Shingo Matsumoto, who is an 84kg weight class Olympian. Gomi said "Their sparing was really worth seeing."

Kawamura:
Wrestling was a lot harder than I expected. I had such a great experience today that I would like to make a use of what I learned in my regular training and fights.
Takimoto:
I suppose everybody is under huge pressures by other people's expectations; although, they should stay focused on their training and I hope they have good performance in the Olympic.
Gomi:
Training with top level wrestlers stimulated me to work harder for my next fight. While I cannot go to watch their game because my fight is coming soon, I wish them luck in the Olympics. I know it is hard to obtain a chance to fight in a main event. I won't compromise my performance, I mean I'm not going to disappoint anybody but also show a great fight. This training was a good start for me to achieve that.
Yoshida:
It was very hard training and I was even ordered to do better by a coach. I had a full day of great training. I'm impressed to see top level wrestlers. Everyone was very powerful and energetic. I thank everybody to give us such a great opportunity. I hope they have great game in the Olympics without getting injured.



http://www.sengoku-official.com/pc/2008/0704_02.html