TOKYO, March 12 – The day after PRIDE officially announced Murilo Bustamante would fight Ryuta Sakurai, I found Sakurai at Korakuen Hall for the SHOOTO-headlined 143-pound championship fight.
Sherdog: So outside of Japan you’re not that famous yet. Could you introduce yourself?
Sakurai: Self-introduction?
Sherdog: Yes. Like where are you from, which ring you mainly fighting. Or your height, weight etc.
Sakurai: OK, my name is Ryuta Sakurai. I’m mainly fighting in SHOOTO. Also, I have a belt from a fight promotion called DEEP.
Sherdog: How about your body size?
Sakurai: I’m 178-cm tall. I weigh 85-kg.
Sherdog: What is your favorite technique?
Sakurai: Punch, takedown, punch, punch … ground-and-pound.
Sherdog: So basically ground-and-pound is your strategy, like fight fan oversea likes to watch?
Sakurai: Yes that is.
Sherdog: What brought you to this sport? What is your fighting background?
Sakurai: I learned Karate in high school. And I trained wrestling a lot.
Sherdog: And. Why are you into MMA?
Sakurai: I liked pro-wrestling. But I found out real fighting is much better, much more fun. Yeah, it’s more like, if I train, real fighting is more useful than pro-wrestling. Then I started practicing MMA.
Sherdog: You have a long career. You’ve been fighting a lot, and last year, you finally—I mean I don’t want to be rude—but finally, you became a champion of DEEP. And now you’re scheduled to fight in BUSHIDO. You’re fighting against Bustamante. How do you feel now?
Sakurai: Yeah, you can say “finally.” Yes, it is finally. And yes, I’ve been doing well recently. So I think this year will be the year for me. It’s like now or never.
Sherdog: Now or never, eh?
Sakurai: Yeah, now or never.
Sherdog: How old are you?
Sakurai: Thirty-three.
Sherdog: Thirty-three. OK, so what do you think about your fight career. Compared to other fighters, your age is a bit high, but there’s still a fighter like Randy Couture.
Sakurai: Umm, I’d like to fight as much as I can. I think now I’m finally in the zone. And still I’m getting better and better.
Sherdog: Sure you are getting better. Especially now. You’re about to fly high up in the air.
Sakurai: Yes, so I got to be very careful not to stumble on something.
Sherdog: Let me ask about your teammate. Can I say “teammate” about him? SHOOTO champion Kawajiri?
Sakurai: Yeah you can say he’s on the same team. We’re all training together. He gives me good motivation for the fight. Also, actually we sometimes train with Hayato “Mach” Sakurai, too.
Sherdog: Really?
Sakurai: We’re all Ibaraki-prefecture family. We train together. Yeah, because we have “Mach” in our area. So we are all into SHOOTO. He influenced us.
Sherdog: Yeah? I didn’t know that he lead you guys to SHOOTO. OK, let me ask this question. If I look at the fighter from your team, guys from R-gym or Team Tops, everybody is in great shape. Looks almost like bodybuilders to me. They don’t look like Japanese fighters. Why is that? Do you guys train any special method? Like Sato, who fought today, he looks so muscular compared to other Japanese fighter.
Sakurai: Well, about building up the muscle, I just like to train those basic power training. Then other people followed my training. Then everybody kinda ended up developing some muscle.
Sherdog: OK, let’s move on. What do you think about Bustamante?
Sakurai: Bustamante came to PRIDE as UFC middleweight champion, and I think he’s still the champion. He’s the man I wanted to be like, and have a big respect. Then I heard his name somewhere, so I raised my hand. Now here I am. I’m very happy to have this opportunity to rate my skill against a fighter like him because to step in the Octagon is one of my final dreams.
Sherdog: What do you think about his strategy? He fights a very clever style in the ring.
Sakurai: Yes. His newaza (ground game) is one of the best in the world, or more like he’s the best. So I’ll try not to be trapped in his game. Or I’ll try to not even think about his game. I more like focusing on executing my game in this fight.
Sherdog: As you told me before, Bustamante was a champion of UFC, and fought in PRIDE with great performances so far. And he sure has a lot of fans here and there. Now when you face him, do you have any pressure?
Sakurai: Well, I feel pressure for any fight. But about this fight, I don’t think I have pressure as much as he does because, like, I’m an underdog, and he doesn’t want to lose against a no-name fighter. I don’t know if he took this fight super-serious or underestimated me. But either way, I’m gonna take everything out from him (his honor, status etc). I think this is a good match up for me. Good chance for me. And I’m very excited for this fight.
Sherdog: OK, if foreign MMA fans hear the name Sakurai, it reminds everybody of Hayato “Mach” Sakurai. And I think this Bushido will be shown on pay-per-view in America. Would you like to say something?
Sakurai: Yes, “Mach” is famous. But, yeah, as we both have the same last name, I try to be big name, too. Yes. He is Lil’ Sakurai. So I want to be called Big Sakurai. That’ll be easy. So I’ll fight from my guts so everybody can recognize me as Big Sakurai.
Sherdog: Is that all?
Sakurai: Yes.
Sherdog: Are you married?
Sakurai: No. (laughs)
Sherdog: Do you have a girl?
Sakurai: No. …
Sherdog: Looking for one?
Sakurai: Yeah.
Sherdog: OK, then I’ll help you worldwide and write about it.
Sakurai: Yes, please.
Sherdog: Thank you for your time. I’m looking forward to see your fight in April.
Sakurai: Thank you too.