Days before his bout with Korean fighter Dae Won Kim at Bushido 10, Sherdog.com had the opportunity to head down to the GRABAKA dojo in central Tokyo to chew the fat with the always candid Akihiro Gono (Pictures).
Despite having a translator on hand, the GRABAKA member seemingly had little problems understanding what we were saying and answered a good number of questions during the interview in English.
This interview is fairly lengthy, but often times the foreign fans don’t really get the opportunity to see what the top Japanese fighters think about the industry, their careers and their plans for the future. Hopefully this will provide some insight as to the views of one of the most exciting and brutally honest fighters in Japan today.
Sherdog.com: First of all, thanks for taking the time out to talk with us.
Akihiro Gono (Pictures): No problem
Sherdog.com: How are you feeling?
Gono: Good, but not top physical condition. Whenever people ask, I always say that I’m fine. But this is my first time having a serious interview with foreign reporters, so this time I’m going to take the interview very seriously.
Sherdog.com: Well we’re very serious reporters here at Sherdog (laughing).
Gono: And I’m a serious fighter, so serious interview (laughing).
Sherdog.com: Can you tell us where you’re from and a little about your background?
Gono: I’m from Tokyo.
Sherdog.com: How did you get started in martial arts?
Gono: I wanted to be a professional baseball player and till high school I was playing baseball. I was also doing a lot of weight training at the time, so I had good muscles and stamina. Then a high school friend, who was doing martial arts at the time, said to me, “Well, you seem to be in good physical shape, so you should give mixed martial arts a try. You’ll get really strong really quick.” And that’s how I started martial arts.
Sherdog.com: We’re you ever on the judo club at your high school?
Gono: No. My base was baseball. During this time, all the guys who had a good sports sense and were natural athletes, all were into baseball. All the top athletes were baseball players. I thought that I was pretty good because I was in the top level at my school for baseball.
Sherdog.com: When did you find out that baseball wasn’t going to be your career?
Gono: I was in a baseball game and the pitcher from the other team was throwing the ball too fast for me to hit. But now I think that I shouldn’t have given up so easily. I should have taken my time and thought about it. At that time I didn’t have the desire to overcome obstacles because of MMA like I do now.
Sherdog.com: What position did you play?
Gono: I was a pitcher, but during the games, when I had butterflies in my stomach and no strikes, I was sent to left field (laughs).
Sherdog.com: Recently Japan won the World Baseball Classic. Did you watch any of the games?
Gono: Of course. When I was watching it I was thinking man, if I hadn’t have given up baseball I would have been there.
Sherdog.com: What do you think about Major League Baseball in America?
Gono: Difficult! I went to see Matsui in New York last year.
Sherdog.com: What’s your favorite team?
Gono: No favorite team. But my favorite player is Hideki Matsui; he’s the same age as me.
Sherdog.com: Do you think that the American teams will try to recruit Shunsuke Watanabe?
Gono: Well, his pitches aren’t that fast, but he has a good technique of throwing the ball and fooling the batter. I apply the same thing to myself. Compared to foreigners, such as the American and Brazilians, maybe I lack the strength and power, but I’m finding my own technique and strategy that will overcome them, just like Shunsuke Watanabe.
Sherdog.com: If you had to compare your fighting style to a baseball player, which one would you pick?
Gono: My idol is Ichiro and Hideki Matsui, but my type is maybe Hasegawa. He retired last year from Seattle. I read his book. He had many injuries. He was on the disabled list once, but he made a comeback and he has his own style of pitching.
Sherdog.com: So when you started training in martial arts, how did you decide that you were going to become a pro fighter?
Gono: I just wanted to be a professional right from the beginning, so I said to myself “If baseball doesn’t work out, then I’m going to be a professional MMA fighter.”