Post-PRIDE BUSHIDO SURVIVAL 2nd ROUND Interviews
08/28/2006
Hiroyuki Abe & Naoki Matsushita

Pride Fighting Championships: It's been a while since you've been in BUSHIDO. How was it?
Abe: I love the BUSHIDO ring. It's fun, although my fight was bad.
Pride: Which part of it was bad?
Abe: I felt good physically. Mentally, though, I felt like I didn't want to lose and didn't punch enough.
Pride: You were doing some tricky moves.
Abe: I practiced a lot of moves in training but my mind and body weren't in sync (in the ring).
Pride: Why weren't you able to get yourself mentally in the game?
Abe: Having my first BUSHIDO match in a long time, and having it in Nagoya, was a bad combination for me.
Pride: Specifically, what is your next goal?
Abe: I don't have anything planned yet but I will do my best to fight in this ring again.

Pride: How do you feel now that the fight is over?
Matsushita: This event is so much more different than I thought it would be compared to the ones I've been in before. That's what I felt when I climbed into the ring.
Pride: Were you nervous?
Matsushita: Not exactly nervous. When I'm in the ring, I get caught up in the atmosphere along with the fans. My brother was cornering me. I could hear what my corner was saying to me and I was standing there, I was really aware that I was standing in a ring.
Pride: What was your game plan?
Matsushita: Grab him, throw him and pound him. He was really good at preventing that, though. Suddenly I felt a strong urge to knock him out and I went with striking (rather than my game plan).