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Nicky
26-10-2004, 07:57
Brazilian magazine 'Tatame' recently interviewd Ricardo Arona. Here's what Arona had to say (interview by Alexandre Lobo):


Tatame: On October 31st, Vanderlei Silva will put his light heavyweight belt on the line against Quinton Jackson. You fought Jackson once, and for sure you know Vanderlei's game. How do you think this fight will play out?

Arona: Fights depend a lot on the moment. The first time they fought Jackson made a mistake by having a very limited game. A fighter needs to be prepared for any situation inside the ring. After Quinton took those strikes that left him stunned, he continued wanting to fight on the feet, and he took a sequence of knees. He needed to take that fight to the ground or pull guard. Nobody takes fourteen knees in one fight. In reality that is a grave mistake! In all honesty, he lost that fight due to his own mistakes more then to Vanderlei. He could've escaped from those knees in many different ways.

Tatame: So you're saying that if Quinton prepares himself better for this fight...

Arona: Well, if Quinton Jackson enters the ring really confident...but not just with his mouth, because he likes to talk a lot...but you know what? I personally don't care who will win. Originally I had some issues with Vanderlei. But Quinton Jackson crossed my path and gave me a loss under a bad circumstance. Now I want both of them. It doesn't matter which one is the champion. I want the both of them, and I want to settle our issues once and for all.

Tatame: How did you feel after your loss to Quinton Jackson, especially since he will now fight for the belt?

Arona: I felt very sad, but not with my performance. I was putting on a great fight and surprising him in the standup, where he usually does better. In all honesty, I felt sad in the way the fight ended. What he did was against the rules and that fight should be considered a no-contest. When I got slammed I took a very hard headbutt to my jaw that left me dazed.

Tatame: After that fight you disappeared for a while...

Arona: I was recovering from some injuries, because I faced Jackson with an injured knee. While I was recovering I was also waiting for confirmation on my next PRIDE fight.

Tatame: You will fight on October 31st?

Arona: Everything is certain from my side. I'm training a lot, and I'm already in the fighting spirit. The only thing left is to find out know who I'll be fighting, so that I can focus on him and be ready to step into the ring and put on a show. (editor's note: Arona's opponent on October 31st was announced as Sergei Ignachov)

Tatame: It's being said that PRIDE will launch another Middleweight GP next year. Will you be in it?

Arona: I hope to put on some great fights so that I can be invited again, just like last year when I was chosen from a pool of many athletes from around the world. I felt very honored by that, and I want to show that I can win it and be the champion of this weight class. For me, the middleweight belt is not in the right hands. The middleweight belt doesn't belong to Vanderlei or to Quinton Jackson. That belt was made for me and I will prove it, you can be sure of that.

Tatame: You are the ADCC superfight champion, and the tournament will return next year. Are you already thinking about your superfight against Dean Lister?

Arona: I still have two MMA fights before that, and until then I will only try to be focused on the ring. But any way, I do think about Abu Dhabi every day, watching tapes, studying, reading the magazines. I'm starting to breathe Abu Dhabi again so that I can face Dean Lister and put on a great superfight. I'm four-times champion of Abu Dhabi, and getting a fifth title would be a record that noone else has accomplished yet. That is very important to me. I want to continue to be the owner of the ADCC belt.