“I want to win by KO”. An interview with Asen Yamamoto.

 
—How is your mental state leading up to the fight?
I’ve done absolutely everything possible to get ready for this fight, everything else I will leave to God. The only thing left to do now is to win the fight.
—You went down to Okinawa to train. What kind of training did you do down there?
I went down to Akinobu Hiranaka’s gym, and towards the end, I trained with my uncle on punching and boxing. My punches are much faster now, and I think I improved on my timing.
—And what did Hiranaka Sensei have to say about the training you did?
He is not the kind of guy to say “hey you did good kid”, but right before I went home he said to me “kid, you have improved a lot” so I will take a lot of confidence from that. I was only there a short time, 10 days actually. I also trained in Thailand and for a few days in Krazy Bee gym in Tokyo.
—How is your defense against Kron Gracie’s newaza and chokes?
I don’t lack in anything right now, I’m 100% good to go.
—How do you envision you will win this fight?
I want to knock him out. Of course the first objective of any fighter is to win, but whether I can knock him out, well I don’t know we will have to see.
—Do you enjoy MMA training?
Yes, I do. It’s different to wrestling training and after starting MMA, I’m hooked. I try not to think about the future too much though, I am just concentrating on this fight with Kron and will see how far I have come when I fight him. I want to be as good as I can be for this fight.
—What did your Uncle “Kid” Yamamoto say to you?
He told me that my preparation was perfect, and that I should stretch a lot and relax. He described it as being “perfect”, which has given me a lot of confidence.
—And how about your weight?
It was pretty comfortable cutting weight and I don’t feel tired from it at all. I feel good.
—On such a big stage, what kind of fight do you want to fight?
Basically, we are all entertainers. If the fans can be entertained and get into the fight, I am happy.
—Do you feel any difference when you wrestle, to when you do MMA?
No, not really. A fight is a fight. I consider wrestling to a be a fight about two guys trying to take each other down. All we are doing is adding punches and kicks. Other than that, I don’t really know any other differences yet.
—Did your grandfather Ikue Yamamoto have anything to say?
He told me to be confident and go out there with the will to win. He is a wrestler so he doesn’t know much about striking, but he was really positive to me with his words.
—Do you think your MMA experience will help you when you are wrestling?
I don’t know, I’d have to wrestle and see. But discovering new newaza techniques is definitely an advantage and very useful.
—Do you have anything you’d like to say to the fans?
The fans supported me when I was training, so all I ask now is that they start getting excited, and together we fight. I want to win together with the fans and be happy.