K-1: Nikkan Sports Masato Interview Part 3 (Final)

Masato during a sparring session

Following is my translation of Masato's comments from the third and final part of the exclusive interview in the Japanese sports newspaper Nikkan Sports, posted yesterday on their website. Masato, one of Japan's most accomplished stand-up fighters, will fight his farewell bout against Andy Souwer Dec 31 at the Fields Dynamite!! tournament in Saitama, Japan.

His decision to pursue combat sports

Since I was in kindergarten, I thought being strong would make me cool and popular. And then I just became a fighter. I don't really feel that way anymore though (laughingly). My father picked my first gym for me. He said Yonekura (Yonekura Boxing Gym) was the best.

On his ring name, "Masato"

While his given name is Masato Kobayashi, at 17 when he began kickboxing, he was given new kanji for "Masato" as his ring name, changing their meaning from "elegant one," to something much more imposing -- the first character for "Ma" is close in meaning to "devilish" or "fiendish". It was also given to him because the kanji have the same number of strokes as one of the generals that began the Edo Shogunate, which lasted 264 years.

"At first I hated it. It made me sound like I was in a gang. I was like, 'what the hell is this?' The first ring name they tried to give me was Fuji Sankaizan, and since I turned that one down, I couldn't turn down the second one. But everyone was like 'that's an awesome name,' so I agreed. It has the same number of strokes (38) as Ieyasu Tokugawa. I like it now though -- it has impact."

In his 10 years as one of K-1's top fighters, he sometimes wanted to quit

"There were many times I wanted to quit. There seemed like there was no end to it, and that I had to make a decision. Even if I became champion, it wouldn't be over then. I felt like that since 2002, so I felt I had to draw the line somewhere. Age-wise I could probably fight for another two or three years, but I'm not confident I would have the concentration necessary. I thought continuing to fight and getting worse would just look bad, and decided I wanted to go out at my best. I still regret the decision to quit some now, and feel it might be a waste, but that's exactly the reason I have to quit."

No plans after retirement

"Nothing is decided. Right now, I'm only thinking about the fight. I think K-1 will be just fine after I retire, though. I'm just one fighter. It's not like I'm a promoter or something. I couldn't fight now if I were thinking about what to do after retiring."

On his history with K-1

"It really helped me grow up. But from next year, I won't need to be strong anymore. There's no need for that as a regular member of society. If I had a choice I would have been a pro baseball player, making tens of millions of dollars and playing until I was 40 and all beat up."

Source: www.nikkansports.com