http://news.adcombat.com/article.shtml?id=4595 INTERVIEW: PRIDE Champion VANDERLEI SILVA! Submitted by: Team TATAME Posted On 08/07/2003 I will Kick asses! Text by Alexandre Lobo photo by Marcelo Alonso. It is a few days from the Pride GP Middleweight first round, scheduled for August 10th, and everybody is especulating who will win the three fights and become PRIDE's 'grand' champion. In theory, the _title_ will be in good hands with anyone who comes thru this rugged field of eight elite fighter. However, one fighter goes to this competition with a deeper responsibility to maintain his image: the 'Axe Murderer' Wanderlei Silva. As the Pride Middleweight champion, Silva is the man to beat for the other seven, and he knows this will make it a tough tournament. After almost a half year without fighting as he recover from knee scopes, the brazilian fighter returns to Japan with the same old hunger to fight and he announces: I'm training hard, and I will come back by kicking everybody's ass . Why did you, the Pride Middleweight champion, decided to participate in this Pride GP? Aren't you afraid that your standing may be affected if you lose the tournament? This was my fans desire, they always want more from their idol. I'm a real fighter and I want to show everybody that I'm not a legend. I'm real and I don't choose my opponents. I'll show to all of the world that it's my time. I know that if I win, I'll become greater. I want to be respected for what I do as a MMA fighter. Being the Pride Middleweight champion - do you feel more pressure to win this GP? Sure, it gives me more responsibility, but it also lets me be more confident. Truly, anyone of these guys have the skills to be the champion. There are just top fighters in this GP, so I want to bring my mental game as well. And how do you intend to win this championship? I'm preparing myself like a madman and I'll be ready to kick asses. It will be the Chute Boxe way: a lot of agression. Anyone who will fight me, will ha ve to be more cautious. To win a tournament format like this, the thing is not to hurt yourself a lot in the first bout. After that, you need to be well-prepared and of course, a little luck helps. However, I won't get too conservative in the ring and I'll fight looking for a knock out. My punching is much better now! What do you think about this third meeting with Sakuraba in a Pride ring? People in Japan think that it was just a lucky thing my other two victories. What can I do? Just fight again. I respect Sakuraba a lot, he is a great fighter and I'm sure that he will be there to put on a good show. You went half a year without fighting due to a knee injury after the Pride 23 bout with Kanehara. How are you now? Although I'm still doing the physiotherapy work, now I'm 100%. I had a spectacular recovery after the surgery, so I spent just a month away from thehard training routine and now I'm getting the rhythm back again. What about your training routine for this tournament? All my teammates helped me. I did some great Muay Thai training with Anderson Silva. It was tough - I almost broke my nose! (laughs). Besides, I trained Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu with Cristiano Marcelo (Royler Gracie black belt) and MMA with a lot of tough guys like Murilo Ninja and Shogun. You could see in the fight against Cyborg (Meca 9) how tough this Shogun guy is getting. I can tell you by the way He is improving soon He will be a big star in the Vale-Tudo world. Besides you, of course, who do you think will pass to the second round? I think Liddell will beat Overeem and Yoshida will submit Tamura. However, anything can happen in Jackson´s fight. He has a hammer in his hand! After that little confusion between you and Jackson in Pride 23 and hearing you now, I think that you prefer Jackson. If I have to fight him, no problem. I want to kick his ass. Leaving the Pride GP aside, everytime Dana White, the UFC promoter, says that his dream is to make a match between the UFC Middleweight champion and the Pride Middleweight champion, you. Would you like to fight in this scenario? I think it would be great. I'm a fighter and a fight like that is always interesting. I want to fight. What would you like to say to your fans? I appreciate that they support me, because I need all the good vibes. In Japan, I'll be fighting for Brazil, and every bit of support helps!