We also caught up with the champ ... and he sees things going a bit differently than his challenger.
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00:00Yeah, Michael, I'm still amazed, you know, now much more, many events in Las Vegas, you
00:06know.
00:07I did many events in Rio, Brazil, that's huge for me, fighting in my town, bringing the
00:12title for UFC title to fight in my town, for my mom, for my first master, and now go to
00:19Las Vegas.
00:20That's a huge gift, you know, God give to me, you know, fighting Las Vegas.
00:24I think that's, you know, big arena for shows, and then I'm the fight of the night, I'm the
00:31main event, you know, that's huge, that's huge, and I'm excited to have this opportunity,
00:36and I'm gonna take this opportunity to show all the world how good I am.
00:42Could you ever have imagined, you know, six years ago or so when you come into the UFC
00:47that, you know, one day, you know, not just on a card, you're not just on a pay-per-view,
00:51but yeah, this whole event is built around you?
00:54Huge, yeah.
00:55I think one of the teasers I have found is like, I see my name in the banner, you know,
01:01see my picture in the banner, that's huge for all UFC fighters, you know, for MMA dreams,
01:07you know.
01:08That's what I want.
01:09You want to go to the UFC, the big league of the world, you know, win the belt, you
01:14have your name in the banner, you go to Las Vegas, that's great.
01:18I fight in Las Vegas before, but not for main event, you know.
01:23I think something different, you know, and something we're thinking about is how people
01:29love Anderson Silva, because the moment he fights for the belt, everybody watch, he did
01:35phenomenal, you know, he finished the fight, and that's what I want.
01:39I want to be phenomenal, I want to be something very special on December 7th.
01:44Talk to me about Kai Asakura, he obviously has a fantastic resume, but first fight in
01:50the UFC.
01:52I guess first things first, do you feel like he's deserving of getting an opportunity to
01:56fight you for a UFC title, or do you believe that he has skipped a line here?
02:02No, I think it's combinations, you know, I'm red beat the number one, the number two, in
02:09the division twice, both.
02:11And these guys win the victories about the contenders, you know, and then he block, and
02:17then UFC thinking about that, and bring Asakura, a former champ for rising, and someone like,
02:24he's a big star in Japan, you know.
02:27I think it's huge, and I like a lot that challenge for me right now, you know, fight with Asakura,
02:34the great opportunity for me, show myself to Japan, a huge country, a huge business.
02:44I want to go, you know, I want to fight in Saitama Arena, that's definitely what I want
02:49to do, you know, because in Japan, MMA fights, people see MMA fights like heroes, you know,
02:56super heroes, you know, and I think about that when I kid, and right now I have the
03:02opportunity to be a star, a big star in Japan.
03:04I love the country, I love the opportunity to fight with that guy, you know, he's a very
03:10good fighter, he's a very good fighter, and that's a very good opportunity for me to show myself.
03:16That's interesting, I didn't even think of that, but yeah, you're going to have this
03:20huge audience in Japan who is going to tune in and watch you fight, and potentially a
03:24lot of fans to be gained there.
03:27That's what I want, I want to be huge in Japan, you know, I want to bring that, you know,
03:31I have a huge connection about the culture of Japanese, you know, because my first lesson
03:37is Jiu-Jitsu, you know, and Jiu-Jitsu comes from Japan, you know, and then the culture,
03:42the philosophy is all connected, you know, about respect, about you go to the match and
03:47then you respect your master, you respect your teammates, everybody learns together,
03:53you know, the weakness can beat the strong man, you know, that's something you start
03:59to learn in Jiu-Jitsu, you know, and this comes from the Japanese culture about the
04:04samurai and everything, and then I had the dragon, the Oriental dragon in my arm, that's
04:10perfect, you know, I'm still very glad, and because my last fight, I fought with the Mexican,
04:17I fought with the American, I fought with the Australian, and now Japanese, I feel like
04:20I'm the street fighter, you know, and I go to all the places, that's huge for me, I'm
04:26enjoying it a lot.
04:28And the fans are enjoying watching it, it's almost like you've been too good, it's like
04:33they've got nobody left for you to fight, like you said, you've beat Brandon Moreno
04:37twice, I mean, you've beaten all the guys at the top of the division, haven't you?
04:43And now I have the opportunity to fight with Takaya Sakurada, it's a new name, you know,
04:48what I want from myself, I want to be like Anderson Silva, I want to be phenomenal, you
04:52know, the opportunity to see on the main event, all the lights wait for my fight at the end
04:58of the night, I want to enjoy it, I want to take that, you know, I want to take over
05:03and show myself for the world, show my skills for everyone, that's what makes me more excited
05:09for that night.
05:10Alexander, what's the goal?
05:13Is the goal, like we said, this is going to be your third title defense, is the goal to
05:17remain in the flyweight division and keep defending?
05:21I think there's certainly an argument to make, and you're on the way, greatest flyweight
05:25of all time at this rate, or like a lot of champions wish to go up in a different division,
05:31what do you see for your future here?
05:34My future is December 7th, Michael, after December 7th I can see more clearly, you know,
05:42but I have like, I looked at my calendar in my head, December 7th I have a black, and
05:51then after that, my family and I just, we're going to start to celebrate and think about
05:56the Christmas after the fight, you know, we can like, think about the, they make the tree,
06:03you know, you're just thinking about the fight, after the fight, December 8th, okay, we're
06:07back to home, you make all the things, but like, I think my future is that, you know,
06:13my goal is that, December 7th, I'm super excited, I'm training a lot, I make a very good things
06:19in the gym, you know, I have very good partners, and like you said, that's a perfect night,
06:25that's a dream, that's a dream, Michael, I know when I go to the octagon, I like to say
06:29that because people need to understand, it's 50-50, you know, but I have the opportunity,
06:35if I have 1%, that's good, I have 50, you know, and that's too much for me, I want to
06:40enjoy all the time, I want to enjoy the week, and enjoy much more the fight, you know, I'm
06:45preparing a lot, I'm very ready for that, I'm too complete.