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PRIDE 27 Interview Recaps
February 1, 2004 Japan
For those of you who can't download video files because of connection speed or such, the following is a short recap of the post fight video interviews conducted by PRIDE FC (English only):
Dan Bobish: When asked what he thought of the fight and it's outcome - Said he needs better conditioning - Said he only trained three weeks - Said he was breathing heavy and caught a shot to the liver on the ground and couldn't breathe
When asked if he thought lack of conditioning played a part - Said yes - when he fought Gary Goodridge, Goodridge's thumb in his eye fractured his (eye) orbit and he was unable to train for two months - Said he took fights because he wanted to fight in PRIDE - Said he did it to be respectful but had little conditioning - Said he was heavier than he wanted to be - Said next fight he'll drop 15 to 20 Kgs (33 to 44 lbs).
His statement - Said this is the last fight you'll see him be out of shape - Said from now on, we'll see him around 300-315 lbs. kicking ass - no more out of shape - Said he'll show people when he comes back
When asked what his Ideal weight is - Said it's 310 lbs. - Said right now that he's 360-365 lbs.
When asked why he didn't finish the fight in the first round when he had a chance - Said when he had a neck crank, he thought Igor would stop but Igor was very strong - Said he couldn't finish Key lock and arm bar - out of condition - couldn't breathe - no power to push - And Igor has very good defense
When asked what his next goal is - Said to come back and win - Said he will comeback in shape - Said he doesn't think there is anyone in the world who can stop him (when he's in shape)
When asked if he changed his style because of the ring instead of a cage (reference to being KOTC champ) - Said yes, much change, in the cage, he just runs into the cage, holds the man and beats him down - Said today was first time ever he has had to shoot in a MMA Match (usually stands and punch)
L.A. Giant (looks very disappointed) When asked why he lost - Said definitely inexperience - Said it was his first fight - Said he forgot some things - Said Sergei is a tough fighter - Said it was a lot harder than he thought
When asked about the focus of his training - Said his major focus over the last couple of years has been stand-up - Said defiantly his ground game needs to improve
When asked if his training is in L.A. Boxing - Said Yes, he's been training for the last year and a half
When asked if his partner was Shaun McCauley - Said Shaun McCauley, Justin McCauley, and Jeremy Williams were his corner men today - Said Thank You to all three of them for being there with him - Said he feels like he let them down but this was his first fight and he hopes to come back
When asked what his focus will be - Pro-wrestling or MMA - Said definitely MMA
Dos Caras Jr. (with ice bag on his knee and mask on) When asked how he felt after the fight - Said he felt sad about losing - Said he's going to keep working and training harder to fight again and win
When asked when he got injured - Said he had the knee problem four to five weeks ago - Said he thinks he popped his knee in the first round - Said he doesn't know exactly when it popped but that he felt a lot of pain since the first round - Said the pain slowed him down and didn't allow him to move very well - Said he will be better for the next time
When asked what his game plan was - Said he wanted to try to keep it standing - Said the problem was that after he re-injured his knee, he couldn't move very well and he couldn't kick hard or move like he wanted
When asked about his determination or spirit for the next time - Said it's going to be better - Said his decision to stay in California will make him better as that is where his trainer is - Before he trained two months and then went back to Mexico - This time he will stay for good and train everyday - Said for the next time, he will be better
Gan McGee When asked if he thought he could ever beat Herring - Said he thought he was winning in the beginning - Said he was landing some really good shots which you could see in Herring's face - he was bleeding pretty good - Said he kind of got short notice for this fight - Said he was really out of shape - was up at 320 (lbs.) when he started training - Said he wanted to fight there (Japan) for a long time - Said he was hoping to get into the Grand Prix so he took the fight
When asked if he was out of shape because he didn't have enough stamina - Said he was out of shape because he didn't have enough time to get into shape - Said it was short notice - Said with more time to train, he'll be in great shape and will fight anyone, anytime, anyplace
When asked about what he felt about the PRIDE event and the ring (opposed to the cage) - Said he thought the event was great - Said he really enjoyed coming to Japan - Said everyone he's met has been really nice - Said he's had a great time - Said the ring opposed to the cage really doesn't make a difference to him - he has always trained in both - Said he has a cage and ring back home and he switches back and forth between them, it really doesn't make a difference to him at all
When asked about how PRIDE is received among fighters - Said PRIDE is well known for having great fighters and putting on really good shows - Said Heavyweight wise, PRIDE fighters are really well respected and he's proud to be fighting them
When asked if he considered himself a representative of the UFC - Said he is not a representative of the UFC at all - Said he is fighting for PRIDE now and is really happy with that
Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic (sounded very humble) When asked how he felt about the fight - Said he felt it was a good fight - Said he fought with a purpose - wanted to show his defense abilities - Said that's the reason he picked Waterman as his opponent from eight or nine opponents on a video tape sent to him - Said he felt Waterman was the best of the lot in his opinion and the strongest - Said his (Waterman) style was wrestling so he wanted to test his abilities - his defense abilities
When asked if the match went as planned - Said it do go as planned - Said he is very satisfied with the fight - Said Waterman showed he is a good fighter - Said Waterman was able to take him down and put him on the ground which made him happy because he just wanted to test one more time his defense abilities. - Said this was the main reason for accepting Waterman as his opponent to test his defense - Said he thinks he showed everybody that there is no problem for him on the ground - even when his opponent is 20 Kg (44 lbs.) heavier then him and very, very strong
When asked about him improving on the ground - Said of course, he will try to do his best for the Grand Prix and he hopes to learn to conquer PRIDE this year
When asked if Waterman was picked to test his ability with Fedor (Emelianenko) - Said he didn't think about Fedor - Said he didn't have anyone special in mind - Said he just wanted to test his abilities against such a physically strong opponent
When asked how his high kick was - Said the high kick was okay, it wasn't clean completely but was enough to finish the fight
When asked about his bout on February 15th (Bushido) - Said he is going to fight on February 15th - Said he doesn't know his opponent - Said the rules don't matter - K-1 or PRIDE, he doesn't care
When asked what he is going to do in Tokyo for the next two weeks - Said he is going to train and guest on some TV shows and prepare himself for the fight
When asked if anything's changed in him by giving interviews (some people think he doesn't like giving interviews) - Said he didn't know what to say - Said he doesn't have any special opinions about interviews - Said it's just a part of the job - Said he's willing to do it all the time - Said he sees no reason why anyone would think he doesn't like them
When asked about compliments made by Mr. Takada toward him - Said he is honored to be able to train at the Takada Dojo - Said he hopes to be able to learn from them too and that he is willing to teach if they would like to learn something from him
Ron Waterman (sounded very humble) When asked about his impression about Mirko - Said he respects him very much, he's a very good fighter - Said he really concentrated this fight on the first take down - Said Mirko is hard to take down - Said he got him down okay but once he got him to the mat, he had a really hard time passing his guard - Said that's what cost him the fight
When asked about his triangle attempt - Said Mirko is very strong on the bottom - Said every time he tried to pass Mirko's guard, he would pop his feet into his hips and push him away - Said he couldn't get by his guard to finish him off - Said he had him in a can opener a couple of times and had him squeezed as tight as I could but he fought out of it
When asked about difficulty in punching 'Cro Cop" on the ground - Said he gives Mirko credit for his ground work - Said everyone knows Mirko is great on his feet and he that he has great kicks and very strong punches but no one gives him credit for his ground game - Said Mirko had very good hand control and had a very good guard and it was very difficult for him to pass that
When asked about the weight difference in the fight - Said he was defiantly stronger than Mirko, which is why he thinks he was able to get the take down - Said he tried to use his weight and strength on the ground as much as possible - Said Mirko had very good hand control and wasn't letting him free his punches to land on him - Said Mirko did a very good job on the bottom
When asked about Mirko's finishing move - the high kick - Said he thinks it glanced off of him a little bit - Said he doesn't think it is what finished the fight - Said when he went down, he lost track of where he was and the ref stepped in which was a good call - Said the high kick wasn't really what stunned him so much as going down and losing track of where he was and getting kicked on the ground
When asked who the beautiful lady sitting next to him was (elderly women) - Said it was his wonderful manager Phyllis Lee - she is the reason he is there
When asked if Mirko was the best fighter he has ever fought - Said he has fought a lot of big heavyweights that are very strong and he felt more comfortable with them than he did with Mirko which he had 20 kg (44 lbs.) on - Said Mirko is very fast, he's dangerous on his feet, he has a lot of weapons
All the fighters thanked the press as they left.
*We've had a few e-mails asking us about Mark Kerr and Heath Herring - They had no comment
We apologize for the format but it's the easiest and quickest for us.
(2/1/04)
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