Interviews with Natalya Denisova, Yuta Watanabe, Hiroto Yamaguchi, Kirill Sidelnikov, Norihisa Amimoto, and Yuki.

Friday, April 15th, 2016 – We are two days out from Rizin 1, presented by Top. The event is being held in the Nippon Gaishi Hall in Nagoya and the fighters have given us their thoughts and feelings on the upcoming fights.

Daron Cruickshank: “My fight will be the most exciting fight of the night”.
Fight 4: Rizin Female MMA rules, 53kg. 3 x 5 min. rounds.
Kanako Murata (117/52.9kg) vs. Natalya Denisova (115/52.2kg)

Natalya Denisova: As soon as the offer came in, I started training extremely hard twice a day.

Q: Could you please tell us your thoughts on your opponent, Kanako Murata?

A: She is a very respectful wrestler, this I know. This fight however, is not sparring; we are going to go at it and fight. It’s going to be a very dominant victory for me. I’ve wanted to be a fighter ever since I was little and was always looking for my chance and I found it. There is no limit on how much I love MMA. I can punch, kick, choke, I can do a lot of things.

Yuta Watanabe: I’ve been nervous, I’ve been excited, I’ve thought to myself “is that me standing in the ring?”, I’ve had so many different feelings over and over again, but I feel good. A good kind of nervousness. I am in the best shape of my career.
This occasion is so big and I gave it my all in training every day. I feel really good, training has been great. Everything feels great.
I can feel the connection Rizin has with Pride. It feels like the child of Pride. My coach Tsuyoshi Kohsaka stood in the Pride ring and it’s not like I think to myself “is it ok for me to stand in this ring too?”
No, the way I feel now, I want to fight on the same level as Kohsaka, and then surpass him. I want to exceed all expectations. Kato is a good striker and a very tough, physical fighter. I have an image of him being a really strong fighter.
When the fight was announced, I thought to myself “he’s a very good fighter”. The ring is the place where all good fighters fight, but it doesn’t matter how strong my opponent is, I have to exceed that and go beyond what I can do. The most important thing is to win and I’ve been training very hard for that. I am going to give it my all to give the fans the fight they want to see and the fight I want to fight.

Hiroto Yamaguchi interview – “I am going to win this fight, and Rizin are going to have me fight for them again!”
Fight 3: Kickboxing rules, 64kg. 3 x 3 min. rounds.
Hiroto Yamaguchi (141/63.75kg) vs. Tetsuya Yamato (141/63.75kg)

Yamaguchi: When the offer from Rizin came, I was quite surprised. When I was watching the New Year’s Eve event last year I thought to myself, “I am going to compete for Rizin too!” and that’s why I didn’t believe it when I first got the offer. I didn’t think my chance to fight in Rizin would come about so quickly, so this has given me real confidence.

Q: Could you please tell us your thoughts on your opponent, Tetsuya Yamato?

A: He is someone I have admired for a long time, so when I found out I was going to fight him, again I didn’t believe it. I didn’t quite believe it 100% until it was officially announced. It’s like a dream come true.
In saying this, it’s all about winning and losing and I am here to win. I am going to win this fight, and Rizin are going to have me fight for them again!

Kirill Sidelnikov interview – “Thanks to my experience in Combat Sambo, I am a much stronger fighter now”
Fight 7: Rizin MMA rules, open weight.1R 10 mins, 2,3R 5 mins.
Kirill Sidelnikov (259/117.4kg) vs. Chris Barnett (301/136.6kg)

Sidelnikov: My preparation has been really good and my conditioning is great.

Q: At the Rizin New Year’s Eve event, you had your first MMA fight in 5 years. And now you’ll have another one?

A: I plan to keep fighting in MMA. I did step away from MMA for a while, but there wasn’t any particular reason behind it other than I wanted to give it a break for a while. That’s when I started doing Combat Sambo. Thanks to my experience in Combat Sambo, I am a much stronger fighter now.
I think Chris Barnett is a really good fighter. He is deceptively fast for a big guy, and I think it’s going to be a very interesting fight.

Norihisa Amimoto interview – “With my Tae-Kwon-Do background, I am going to surprise a lot of people”
Fight 2: Kickboxing rules, 73kg. 3 x 3 min. rounds.
Danilo Zanolini (161/72.85kg) vs. Norihisa Amimoto (159/72kg)

Amimoto: I was so happy when it was announced that I was going to fight in Rizin. I remember at the time telling everyone that I thought I might cry (laughs). When I was watching the New Year’s Eve event, I had no idea I would be fighting on Rizin’s next show and I am so happy to have this chance.
A fighter I fought previously, Hinata, was on that card and I thought “wow”. So when the offer came about for me to fight this time, I was very surprised.

Q: Could you please tell us your thoughts on your opponent, Danilo Zanolini?

A: He is a fighter with no weak points but we’ve been over how to fight him so many times in training. The thing I want to show the most is my never give up mentality, my will to win. I also want the younger generation of people to watch this fight and have the courage to do this themselves.
This is my first time in Rizin, but with my Tae-Kwon-Do background, I am going to surprise a lot of people.

Yuki interview – “If I can grasp this chance with both hands, my popularity will only increase”
Fight 1: Kickboxing rules, 60kg. 3 x 3 min. rounds.
Yuya Yamato (132/60kg) vs. Yuki (130/59kg)

Yuki: Although I have a certain degree of tension, I am my usual self. In saying that, this event is bigger than any event I have fought on before so I do honestly feel some pressure. When the offer from Rizin came, I thought to myself “What!? Really?”.
I was more surprised than anything but accepted the fight straight away.

Q: Could you please tell us your thoughts on your opponent, Yuya Yamato?

A: He is a very good fighter with a lot of spirit. Rizin is going to grow and grow, and their events are going to get bigger and bigger, so I want to get a good result here. My kickboxing friends have urged me on, telling me to give it everything I have so if I can grasp this chance with both hands, my popularity will only increase.