Murilo Bustamante

Pride Fighting Championships: You're 36, right? Murilo Bustamante: 37. Getting better, like wine.

Pride:	I read that you said that you are as good now as you've ever been. How long do you want to keep fighting?
Bustamante:	More. Maybe 3, 4, 5 years. I don't know. I'm going to keep fighting until I don't want to fight.
Pride:	How did you get into martial arts?
Bustamante:	I started martial arts, jiu-jitsu, because of my brothers.
Pride:	What music have you been listening to?
Bustamante:	All kinds of music. Brazilian pop, rock and roll, Rush, Live and I like Brazilian sounds a lot. Techno. I like everything. I like good music. Dean Martin. Frank Sinatra.
Pride:	Arona, you like Frank Sinatra?
Mario Sperry:	He likes Dr. Dre.
Ricardo Arona:	Yeah, I like Dre. Eminem.
Pride:	50 cent?
Arona:	Fitty.
Pride:	Yeah, when you're "in" you call him fitty. Bustamante, do you have any tattoos?
Bustamante:	No tattoos.
Sperry:	(pointing to Arona) He got tattoos for everybody.
Bustamante:	When I was young, I almost got one.
Pride:	What hurts worse, tattoos or a right hook?
Arona:	The tattoos. I'd prefer to fight 10 times.
Pride:	Do you feel that you are not at 100%?
Bustamante:	No, I'm not at 100% but I keep training. At this time, I was just working with the guys, like Arona, to put them on the top. I waited for the card for a long time but when Arona was put on the card, I just stopped training.
Sperry:	I had an injury so he stopped to train the guys once Arona was decided to be in the GP.
Bustamante:	It's a good opportunity and a big challenge. Something pushes me towards difficult things, like this fight. I know Jackson is in shape and I know he's one of the best guys in the world. I think he's a tough guy in the tournament but I want to fight. And, I believe that I can win. God gave me this opportunity.
Pride:	You sound like you have a lot of faith. What causes you the most fear?
Bustamante:	No, listen. I have fear. Everybody has fear but the thing is how can I put the fear in my pocket, control the fear. That's the challenge, not Jackson.
Pride:	Is there something that you do before the fights to control the fear?
Bustamante:	I do a lot of yoga. I pray a lot. I talk with God. I pray before the fight but when the fight comes, I just have fun. I don't care if I win or lose.
Pride:	Arona, what are you learning from this situation?
Arona:	I learn a lot from Murilo. He has a lot of experience. He wants to fight and he got the opportunity. Murilo doing what he's doing and saying what he just said, gives me a lot of influence for the future. It gives me a good example of how honorable a fighter can be. Not just getting into the ring and kicking the shit out of the other guy. Facing the fight as a challenge, a spiritual thing. Whether we lose or we win, the most important thing is to test ourselves.