DEEP: Fighter Interview, Tomoya Miyashita

Tomoya Miyashita
Age: 28
Height: 5'5"
Weight: 63kg/138lbs

Q: You had dreamed of participating in the October DREAM tournament. How did it feel to actually compete?
A: "The scale of the tournament was completely different than anything I had done before. The venue was big, and it felt like a different world. It made me want to fight in DREAM again."

Q: What do you like about the big events?
A: "The reason I do MMA is to get recognized by a lot of people. What I like about fighting in the big events is that so many people can see me. Although since my fight got cut from the broadcast, it's not like I'm living that much better. Hopefully next time I can make my 'real' television debut."

Q: How did you feel when the fight with Atsushi Yamamoto was decided?
A: "Since we are in the same weight class, I knew I would fight him eventually. But since he just fought in November, I didn't expect this timing for the fight."

Q: Since the start of this year, you have said that you have wanted to fight a well-known fighter -- is Yamamoto this fighter?
A: "Yes, I think so. I thought I needed to say it though."

Q: What have you been training for this fight?
A: "Yamamoto has really good take-downs, so I'm trying to be prepared for what to do when we go to the ground. In the last fight, I was aggressive with take-downs, but we are training for the exact opposite this time."

Q: Yamamoto has said he has been training his neck in preparation for the guillotine.
A: "Really?! It doesn't matter though -- when I can't get the guillotine I can go to other moves."

Q: There are other good lightweight fights on the card this time. How do you think you stand out?
A: "I think that the fighters are about the same from a technique standpoint. That's why you have to have a top-class mindset let's say. I want to have a fight where the audience feels, 'wow, he's really different from the other fighters.'"

Q: Do you think you're up to it?
A "Haha, yes I think so."

(Source: www.gbring.com)