At this segment, we asked the fighters, people involved which fight they fought or saw became their turning point for their career.

—Teodoras Aukstuolis
Representing BUSHIDO, Teodoras Aukstuolis will be facing Bruno Cappelozza for the opening round of the RIZIN WORLD GP. His background is in Judo, but there is a particular fight which made him decide of making him compete in MMA. The fight between Fedor Emelianenko vs Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira held on March 16th, 2003 during PRIDE 25.

“Nogueira was known for taking a beating but coming back with a submission. Fedor didn’t let him finish and punished him throughout the fight. I got the chills when I saw Fedor beating Nogueira without giving him a chance. PRIDE overall made me want to become a MMA fighter but I remember this fight in particular, so I can say that this is the fight that made me change my life as a martial artist.”

—Bruno Cappelozza
Bruno Cappelozza was the first fighter announced to make it into the RIZIN Heavyweight Tournament. JUNGLE FIGHT representative will be aiming for the first RIZIN Tournament Champion with his aggressive fight style. Bruno’s choice for his turning point was his fight against Marcelo Cruz at JUNGLE FIGHT 26 April 2, 2011.

“I broke my nose when I took him down early in the fight, but I was able to keep my aggressiveness and Won by KO. It was the most tough fight in my career so far, so that it why picked this fight. I hope that the Japanese fans like my style, thank you!”