Tsuyoshi Kosaka

Pride Fighting Championships: You're 35 years old? Tsuyoshi Kosaka: Yes, 35.

Pride:	What's your weight?
Kosaka:	107 kg.
Pride:	What club are you with?
Kosaka:	Team Alliance.
Pride:	Ok, let me check your record here. 17 wins, 8 losses and 1 draw? Is that close?
Kosaka:	I'm not sure but I've already fought over 40 fights.
Pride:	You just beat Ron Waterman to become the Pancrase Super Heavyweight Champion.
Kosaka:	Yes.
Pride:	You're the first Japanese fighter to be a regular in the UFC, correct?
Kosaka:	Yes.
Pride:	You were there 6 times?
Kosaka:	Yes, 6 times.
Pride:	You have your own gym, G-SQUARE, right?
Kosaka:	Yes but now it's called A-SQUARE. It means ALLIANCE SQUARE.
Pride:	What did G-SQUARE mean?
Kosaka:	GRAPPING SQUARE.
Pride:	You work with guys like Yoshida, Fujita, Nakamura, Chonan and Takahashi.
Kosaka:	Yes.
Pride:	You fought in RINGS, bringing us where we are today, beating Emelianenko with that cut. You've also fought Nogueira to a draw and fought Randy Couture in RINGS. You also beat Ricardo Morais recently, right?
Kosaka:	Yeah. In 2003.
Pride:	You seem like you're very prepared. Some people regard you as the great Japanese hope against Emelianenko. How do you feel going in to the fight? I heard that you feel you can beat him on the ground 100%. What makes you say that?
Kosaka:	Basically, Fedor has a lot of confidence in his standing. He doesn't care about the ground.
Pride:	What makes you feel more confident on the ground? You've seen something on the ground that you can take advantage of?
Kosaka:	Yes. He has too much confidence in his striking, so I don't think he really wants to go to the ground. I, on the other hand, am confident in my groundwork so that's where I focus on.
Pride:	Having said that, he does have submission knowledge from sambo and judo. You just feel that you are stronger on the ground?
Kosaka:	Yeah.
Pride:	Are you will to stand with him? How is your striking game?
Kosaka:	I can fight standing and I can make a game plan with both standing and grappling. Fedor concentrates on standing though and doesn't put much effort into ground fighting. Basically, I can do both and he can't. He submitted Mark Coleman with an arm-bar but that wasn't because he was aiming for it. The arm just happened to be in front of him.
Pride:	So, it was just luck.
Kosaka:	Yes.
Pride:	Do you feel any additional pressure because of the media push on this fight? Do you feel that you are the underdog in this fight?
Kosaka:	I just want to fight strong guys. I don't care about the hype.
Pride:	Why did it take so long for you to come to PRIDE?
Kosaka:	The time was right. That's one reason. Another reason is that the world's top heavyweights are concentrated in PRIDE now. Since I want to fight with the top heavyweights, this is where I need to be. Whether it's Fedor or Nogueira or Mirko, I want to fight the top heavyweights. This is where I have to be to fight them.
Pride:	Why didn't you fight earlier? Why now?
Kosaka:	Actually, I needed time to adjust and for training.
Pride:	Have you been approached by PRIDE before? I've seen you working the corner of other fighters. You were already a well-known name in American from the UFC when you came back to Japan.
Kosaka:	I've never received an official offer before. I just want to fight strong guys, whether it's in PRIDE or Pancrase or the UFC. It's not that I'm fighting because it's PRIDE. I'm fighting because I have the opportunity to fight a strong guy. It just happens to be in PRIDE.
Pride:	Does it make you feel good to represent your country against the top heavyweight, or is this just another fight for you? Any extra motivation from that?
Kosaka:	Sorry, I keep repeating myself but I've wanted to fight Fedor, Nogueira and Mirko for a long time. This time is Fedor so it's important for me. He's the strongest of the three. I'm really excited about this.
Pride:	Do you feel that you are the great Japanese hope? Like, this is the last heavyweight we've got to throw at him?
Kosaka:	PRIDE is a Japanese organization. Since we're going to fight in Japan, of course I feel that I, as a Japanese, must win. In that sense, I've got more motivation than for other fights.
Pride:	What's your prediction for the fight? How are you going to beat Fedor Emelianenko?
Kosaka:	I'll do anything...as long as it's not against the rules. (laughing)