Yoshiyuki Yoshida recently took some time out of his training schedule to talk to Spike.com. He'll be fighting Josh Koscheck in the main event at Fight for the Troops, to be broadcast live on SpikeTV December 10 at 9 p.m. EST. A special thanks to Yoshiyuki's manager Shu Hirata for translating. Hit the jump to check out his thoughts on Fighting for the Troops, taking on the weathered Koscheck and more. And DON'T forget to donate to the Fallen Heroes Fund.
SP: Will it be weird for you, fighting as the main event on this very special card dedicated to an American cause?
YY: Actually, I am only feeling honored to be in the headliner of the show, it doesn't matter if it's a very Americanized show, if it's Fight for the Troops, it really doesn't matter. It's just a very honorable thing to fight as the main event guy.
SP: This crowd is expected to be particularly raucous, and that can have an effect on people, so have you done anything different to prepare for this card mentally?
YY: I am expecting to hear very loud cheering from Koscheck's corner, from the American troops, but what's important during my mental preparation is to treat this like any other fight. Once I step into the Octagon, it's only going to be Koscheck and me, so that's all I'm going to worry about.
SP: How has your background in Judo affected your MMA career?
YY: There are a lot of techniques I can use from judo that I can incorporate into MMA, techniques that are very common. In that sense, I think what learned from judo has been very helpful to me in MMA at this point.
SP: It's been a while, just over a half year I think, since your last fight, whereas Koscheck just fought a few weeks ago. Do you foresee either of those issues being a factor here?
YY: Yes, it's been almost six months since I fought Jon Koppenhaver, but before that fight when I fought in Japan, it was it about six months earlier. So it's almost the same and I'm feeling okay about it. Also, I feel like I have gain a lot of strength. I think I'm a much stronger fighter than I was six months ago. Sure, Koscheck is fighting more often but I'm not worried about it. I don't think I'm going to be rusty or anything like that, I think I'm just going to be much stronger.
SP: Koscheck has turned into a pretty big star in the UFC, so what are your thoughts on fighting him, and what do you hope a win over him can do for your career?
YY: I would like to hope for a lot of things after winning this fight, but at this point, I can only think about trying to win this fight. If I don't win this fight, nothing is going to happen after that. I realize that. I believe this is a fight that I must win, so right now I'm only concentrated on winning.
SP: Are there any particular parts of him game that you feel you match up well with?
YY: I understand that Koscheck has a wrestling background and very good wrestling skills, but I have a judo background and very good judo skills. So, to answer your question honestly, I think I can dominate him in the throw part of the takedowns and once I get the takedown I think I'm superior in the ground-n-pound. You might not think so with my judo background, but ground-n-pound is a department I think I'm superior in.
SP: That's all I have, thank you both very much.
YY: No problem. Thank you.
