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Judas
10-01-2006, 20:18
Interview van sherdog gehaald:

Hey guys, here is the new interview I translated from Fedor's website. It's from one of Fedor's friends who traveled with him to Japan recently. It's got some interesting and funny stuff about the things going on backstage. Enjoy.

Interviewer: During Fedor’s entry into the ring he is being accompanied by a new coach, we asked Fedor’s friend Igor Martynov (who also accompanied Fedor to Japan) to tell us something about him.
Martynov: Ruslan Nagnibida is a famous person in Japan. From 1998 to 2002 he participated in a “Seikin-do� league. He had 37 fights, 33 wins (19 of them by knockout), 3 losses and 1 draw. He defended the 78 kg title seven times. He begun working with Fedor before the Mirko fight-he helped out with his kicking technique. He accompanied Fedor to Holland and to the Kislovodsk (the mountains). According to Fedor, Ruslan helped him out a lot before his fight with Cro Cop and before the fight with the Brazilian, Zulu.

Interviewer: You were lucky enough to be backstage during the show. What happened there before and after the fights on the ring?
Martynov: Before telling you what occurred backstage, I would like to note that during this visit to Japan the organizers placed all of the fighters in the same hotel. They based this on the fact that all of the hotels were booked due to the New Year.

Interviewer: As a rule the fighter arrive in Japan 3 days before the fights, how do they spend this time?
Martynov: Traditionally two days before the fights, the athletes go through the photo session, interviews to the local press, and the day before the fights, there is the final press conference for all of participants of the tournament. As it is customary, both Ogawa and Cro Cop missed the press conference. Of course the amount of the press is always overwhelming; there were simultaneous interviews of Fedor and Sakakibara, they were both surrounded by about forty reporters.

During the numerous photo shoots and the interviews, we crossed paths with Giant Silva, Zulu, Yoshida, and Hunt (it was interesting to see Hunt dressed in Russian winter hat, shorts and snickers).

During every interview Giant Silva demonstrated his new boxing technique; Fedor’s striking coach liked his style and noted that he did everything correctly. However exactly how his preparation helped him during his fight with Thompson, all of the spectators could see for themselves.

Zuluzhinho told the reporters that he carefully watched all of Fedor’s fights and found some weaknesses in the Russian fighter. He promised to capitalize on them and finish the fight early in the first round. We must give him his due-“he kept his word�.

Regarding Hunt, during the press conference he was asked a question, as to whether he is concerned about Mirko’s new and improved grappling ability that he showed in the Barnett fight; he said that he was not concerned at all, and did not even see that fight.

Interviewer: I want to go back to what happened backstage. Any particular moments that grabbed your attention?
Martynov: Well first of all the fighters’ dressing rooms are located according to the corner that they are assigned-blue or red. Aleksandr and Fedor had their dressing rooms adjacent to each other, and their next door neighbor was Dan Henderson. It turns out he speaks a little Russian. After his fight with Bustamante, he clearly said in Russian “I’m so tired�. We offered him in Russian to drink some vodka, and he agreed by saying: “a little bit is okay�, after which we drank with his team to celebrate his victory. When we asked him how he liked the vodka, he answered in the clearest Russian “F-ing Great!�. Of course we did not drink that much, but a couple of hours later one of the guys from Henderson’s team approached us (he was not in the most sober state) and asked us for more vodka. Since the Cold War is long over, we did not refuse the American. We had some fun neighbors.

Interviewer: How did Aleksandr and Fedor feel before entering the ring?
Martynov: Until the fighter introductions (that take place from 11:00pm to 3:00 pm) the guys relaxed and tried to focus on their fights. They usually play cards; boxing and wrestling coaches together with Fedor and Aleksandr. Aleks was able to win twice. Fedor was not so lucky, and was not pleased with the results. The card game is always accompanied with different jokes and bets that help to take the mind off the upcoming fights. The latest one was the bet between Fedor and his wrestling coach: before the March 8th Vladimir Voronov should weigh no more than 93 kilos, which is 10 kilos less than his weight now. The price of the bet is 4.5 liters of “Martel� cognac. Also, when Aleks was asked by the reporters where did his extra weight go, he points to Voronov and says that all of it was taken by him.

After the fighter introductions the fighters had a little time for a short warm up, which Aleks had skipped. After the warm up the fighters leave their dressing rooms and enter the special places where they wait for their entrances. The fights of Aleks and Fedor followed one another, and that is why the boxing coach Aleksandr Michkov stayed with Fedor, and Voronov and Roman Nagnibida went to corner Aleks. Fedor carefully watched the Aleks fight from the dressing room and during certain moments could not stop himself from trying to give Aleks directions, by talking to the TV screen. Fedor enjoyed Aleks’s fight as whole. The episodes where he felt that Aleks needed additional attention and work were brought up by Fedor immediately after he came back to the dressing room.

Interviewer: The fight between Fedor and Zuluzhinho lasted only 26 seconds? Can you tell us how he was able to achieve victory in such a short period of time?
Martynov: Fedor took this fight and preparation for it very seriously. It was obvious that the class of the opponent is lower than that of Fedor, but also that his size could compensate for lower skill level. With a fighter of that size any “kink� can make the fight much more difficult for Fedor. During Zulu’s entrance the crowed was awed: from a purely visual perspective the Brazilian fighter looked much more formidable than Fedor.

The first shot that dropped Zulu was specially practiced during the training. The weaknesses of the opponent were not only scouted out by Zulu, but also by Fedor and his team, and as a result of it the fight did not last long: the opponent gave up… Fedor’s fans rejoiced, their fighter once again has proven that he has no equals in the World! When the brothers congratulated each other, Aleks asked Fedor: “Why so fast?� to which Fedor replied :�I took a look at your last few fights and decided to do likewise myself!�

After the tournament closing, the organizers invited the Russians together with the teams of Thompson, Silva, Zuluzhinho, and Nastula (the fighter himself did not come) to a restaurant to celebrate the New Year. I don’t know whether the mood of the Brazilians was not that great or whether the Russians simply like to party a little more, but they left the restaurant much earlier than we did, while taking some of our things with them…
After ringing in the New Year (according to Japanese time) Fedor had to give the interview to the Japanese TV. The reporters would not let our fighters go during the whole first day of 2006 as well.

Out of all the fighters, I especially remember Bennet. I could not understand if he ever slept: at all times during the day you could see him with the CD player, in different snickers, and with that “gold� smile that he has. Bennet was the only fighter that waited for the New Year in Moscow time. He had his own way to celebrate the New Year, with a glass of wine and with a special “uplifting� cigarette.

Ossie
10-01-2006, 22:57
Echt een cool interview.

TommySoprano
10-01-2006, 23:03
yep vet interview!
tis een coole dude :)

p diddy
11-01-2006, 10:39
vette shit!!! thx, bennet is echt grappig

Jay Hoov
11-01-2006, 10:39
Vet!

cactusdre
11-01-2006, 14:01
Ik snap alleen niet waarom iedereen op "snickers" loopt. Een Brosreep is volgens mij comfortabeler. :lol: