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Continued from the previous page
In the JUNGLE FIGHT, you are going to fight against Stephan Bonnar.
Have you seen him fight?
I've seen one match of his. It only lasted for one minute, so I can't
really tell, but he was strong and good. But you never know, we have to get into the ring.
Bonnar is a Carlson Gracie's student, you can expect him to have solid
techniques.
I agree, he'll probably be very technical, but I'll be fine.
You've gotten bigger and have more power. Do think you got slower?
No, Rico trained me under a calculated process, so I slowly got bigger
without losing any speed and stamina.
Your corner-man Rico Chiapparelli will also be fighting in this event.
What kind of an ending do you prefer.
I'd like to knock out my opponent. No more decisions.
This battle is going to take place at your home country. How do you
feel about it?
It's my first time fighting in my country, and I feel very proud.
Mr. Inoki had a conference with the Brazilian President Lula to promote this JUNGLE FIGHT event. You may get to meet your president, how do you feel?
It's definitely an honor if I can meet the President, but I'll be focusing only on the fight right now.
Have you been to Manaus before?
No it's my first time. I live in the same area, but it's still far away, probably a couple of hours by plane and boat.
Have you been to the jungle and played around?
No. I live in the city, and the jungle is pretty far away. I only go to the beach to play, there's nothing in the Jungle.
Didn't you want to explore the jungle?
I don't go because there's nothing there, only animals (laugh).
Mr. Inoki was claiming that he's going to swim in the amazon, maybe
with the piranha. What do you think?
There are many piranha in the Amazon river, there's areas without piranha too, so I hope he can swim out safely.
Is your family going to come cheer for you?
Only Shinzo, my brother will come. He's a very good corner-man too
because he's a striking specialist and he's got good eyes, so he can advise me before the opponent makes the strike by looking at their muscle contractions. I'd like to go see all of my family in Bellen after the
fight.
After the JUNGLE FIGHT, there's Ultimate Crush, PRIDE and BOM-BA-YE
coming up. You want to fight, right?
Yes, any place will be fine, and Mr. Inoki can tell me. I just want to
fight with a great fighter.
Can you give us a final message about the fight?
I just hope this event will give out a message to the world, so everybody
takes cares of the Amazon and the nature. This type of Mr. Inoki's
event will help save the future of the world.
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