Jofeljoh!
12th May 2006, 05:46 PM
So, back from the heavy traffic on the way home.
Today there was a pressconference with all the fighters from tomorrow. The first thing is, everyone was there and everyone is ready to fight!
After some fighting highlights there were some words from Tanikawa, an important representant from FujiTV (sorry forgot his name) and ofcourse Simon Rutz. Main thing is they were all very proud to organize this event in Holland and are looking forward to a terriffic show.
After all this all the fighters 1 by 1 came from the stairs up front to take pictures. After a face2face fighting stance they sat down to their chair. After another highlight-video of the tournament and superfight-fighters there was room for the press to ask questions. There weren't really very good ones worth mentioning, but some of them (out of my memory) were;
Q:To Bob Sapp/Tanikawa: 'I liked the K-1 Pride Shockwave show in 2002 very much. Is there any chance that in the future there will be another one?'
A: For no apparent reason they had to call to Japan, threw some translators on it and after some time (a bit goofy situation) they came to the conclusion: 'no, there aren't any plans for it'
Q: To Lloyd van Dams: 'In the last years you haven't fought any real high level top K-1 fighters. Yet you have to fight the K-1 Champion Semmy Schilt. How does this affect your chances for tomorrow?'
A: 'Allthough I have fought a few fights recently, you're right. All I will do is to give all I got and go 100% for it and give Sem a hard fight'.
Q: To Hoost: 'Ernesto, in Japan the popularity of K-1 and their fighters is so much bigger than in Holland. How do you explain that difference?'
A: 'Well, Japan is a country with a much longer fighting culture. That's why it's much more accepted than it is in Holland and more popular'.
Q: for Tanikawa: 'K-1 is Japanese, so why is there only one Japanese fighter on the card?'
A: (by the way, this was a question of a Dutch television company Talpa, so for us this is pretty a nobrainer, but allright). 'We have two other Grand Prixs in South Korea and Japan. The Japanese fighters will fight there, while here the European fighters will have to compete for the title'
Q: For Tanikawa/Simon Rutz: 'If Van Dams beats Schilt tomorrow, will he be given a real chance in K-1 again?'
A: Rutz: 'This IS his chance for K-1 tomorrow. If he beats Schilt there should be a rematch and if he beats him, than yes. This is his chance to get noticed by K-1 again.
Q: for Rutz: 'Wouldn't it be even more fantastic if Peter Aerts was also to fight here in the Arena?'
A: 'Well, ofcourse I would love to have Peter fight here, but, as they say, you cannot have everything at the same time. I also can say that we (K-1 and It's Showtime Promotions) have signed a contract for multiple years so we probably have another Grand Prix next year, so who knows he'll be fighting then...'
And one question for Fikri Tijarti and Mourad Direcki, about the match and what they expect from it. Well, standard answers, they will go for it and hope to give a great fight.
After all this, the 6 superfighters all had the opportunity to say something in the mic:
Schilt: 'I'm happy to be here as a champion and I hope to show a great fight.'
Le Banner: 'Happy to be here, I hope I can show my strength, give Remy a hard fight, and give a 120%'
Hoost: 'This is probably my last fight in Holland, so I'm glad that I can fight Bob Sapp here, to set the score straight and give him war'.
Sapp:' I'm very happy to be here, and all I wanna say is that after this I fought the 4 time K-1 chump and win with 3 KOs!' *Evil laugh*
Bonjasky: 'I've not fought in Holland for a long time and I hope to have a good fight. I wish everybody good luck.'
Van Dams: 'I want to thank Simon Rutz for giving me this chance, and also Sem Schilt for accepting the fight. I will give it all tomorrow. '
Some other sidenotes:
- Bob Sapp is HUGE
- The Japanese girl from Fuji TV is HOT
- JLB is very well mannered. He provided Schilt and Hoost some water from his bottle lol
- Aerts has the most loudest laugh and voice I've ever heard. He was silencing the whole pressconference while standing in the back of the crowd lol
- I heard that Manhoef has a fracture in his hand somewhere (varied from: a broken hand to a fracture in his thumb only)
- I have no idea what to expect from Sapp. He looked a bit quiet, bored and somewhat uninterested during the press conference. While I believed he was showing some sort of respect to Ernesto, until Ernesto was the one who gave him the 'oke you can be the bully now if you want!'-sign when staring him down until their faces touched eachother (Hari vs Leko-1 style). The rest of the time when everyone got a chance to interview the fighters, he was constantly in the 'I will give Hoost his third KO loss and I'm a real animal look at me BUHAHAH-showoff-mode'. Oh well, it will give some great television in Japan I guess. Personally it's not my cup of tea, we all know the monkey tricks by now.
I have no photos myself, but I went with my friend Robbie from Fighttalk who promised me to post the pictures as soon he gets behind his computer (and no downloading first! ;) )
Today there was a pressconference with all the fighters from tomorrow. The first thing is, everyone was there and everyone is ready to fight!
After some fighting highlights there were some words from Tanikawa, an important representant from FujiTV (sorry forgot his name) and ofcourse Simon Rutz. Main thing is they were all very proud to organize this event in Holland and are looking forward to a terriffic show.
After all this all the fighters 1 by 1 came from the stairs up front to take pictures. After a face2face fighting stance they sat down to their chair. After another highlight-video of the tournament and superfight-fighters there was room for the press to ask questions. There weren't really very good ones worth mentioning, but some of them (out of my memory) were;
Q:To Bob Sapp/Tanikawa: 'I liked the K-1 Pride Shockwave show in 2002 very much. Is there any chance that in the future there will be another one?'
A: For no apparent reason they had to call to Japan, threw some translators on it and after some time (a bit goofy situation) they came to the conclusion: 'no, there aren't any plans for it'
Q: To Lloyd van Dams: 'In the last years you haven't fought any real high level top K-1 fighters. Yet you have to fight the K-1 Champion Semmy Schilt. How does this affect your chances for tomorrow?'
A: 'Allthough I have fought a few fights recently, you're right. All I will do is to give all I got and go 100% for it and give Sem a hard fight'.
Q: To Hoost: 'Ernesto, in Japan the popularity of K-1 and their fighters is so much bigger than in Holland. How do you explain that difference?'
A: 'Well, Japan is a country with a much longer fighting culture. That's why it's much more accepted than it is in Holland and more popular'.
Q: for Tanikawa: 'K-1 is Japanese, so why is there only one Japanese fighter on the card?'
A: (by the way, this was a question of a Dutch television company Talpa, so for us this is pretty a nobrainer, but allright). 'We have two other Grand Prixs in South Korea and Japan. The Japanese fighters will fight there, while here the European fighters will have to compete for the title'
Q: For Tanikawa/Simon Rutz: 'If Van Dams beats Schilt tomorrow, will he be given a real chance in K-1 again?'
A: Rutz: 'This IS his chance for K-1 tomorrow. If he beats Schilt there should be a rematch and if he beats him, than yes. This is his chance to get noticed by K-1 again.
Q: for Rutz: 'Wouldn't it be even more fantastic if Peter Aerts was also to fight here in the Arena?'
A: 'Well, ofcourse I would love to have Peter fight here, but, as they say, you cannot have everything at the same time. I also can say that we (K-1 and It's Showtime Promotions) have signed a contract for multiple years so we probably have another Grand Prix next year, so who knows he'll be fighting then...'
And one question for Fikri Tijarti and Mourad Direcki, about the match and what they expect from it. Well, standard answers, they will go for it and hope to give a great fight.
After all this, the 6 superfighters all had the opportunity to say something in the mic:
Schilt: 'I'm happy to be here as a champion and I hope to show a great fight.'
Le Banner: 'Happy to be here, I hope I can show my strength, give Remy a hard fight, and give a 120%'
Hoost: 'This is probably my last fight in Holland, so I'm glad that I can fight Bob Sapp here, to set the score straight and give him war'.
Sapp:' I'm very happy to be here, and all I wanna say is that after this I fought the 4 time K-1 chump and win with 3 KOs!' *Evil laugh*
Bonjasky: 'I've not fought in Holland for a long time and I hope to have a good fight. I wish everybody good luck.'
Van Dams: 'I want to thank Simon Rutz for giving me this chance, and also Sem Schilt for accepting the fight. I will give it all tomorrow. '
Some other sidenotes:
- Bob Sapp is HUGE
- The Japanese girl from Fuji TV is HOT
- JLB is very well mannered. He provided Schilt and Hoost some water from his bottle lol
- Aerts has the most loudest laugh and voice I've ever heard. He was silencing the whole pressconference while standing in the back of the crowd lol
- I heard that Manhoef has a fracture in his hand somewhere (varied from: a broken hand to a fracture in his thumb only)
- I have no idea what to expect from Sapp. He looked a bit quiet, bored and somewhat uninterested during the press conference. While I believed he was showing some sort of respect to Ernesto, until Ernesto was the one who gave him the 'oke you can be the bully now if you want!'-sign when staring him down until their faces touched eachother (Hari vs Leko-1 style). The rest of the time when everyone got a chance to interview the fighters, he was constantly in the 'I will give Hoost his third KO loss and I'm a real animal look at me BUHAHAH-showoff-mode'. Oh well, it will give some great television in Japan I guess. Personally it's not my cup of tea, we all know the monkey tricks by now.
I have no photos myself, but I went with my friend Robbie from Fighttalk who promised me to post the pictures as soon he gets behind his computer (and no downloading first! ;) )