Dec-7-2008

Yoshiyuki Yoshida - Tokyo's Positive Thinker Readies for ‘Kos’

By Thomas Gerbasi

You can’t rattle Yoshiyuki Yoshida too easily. Case in point, the October 25th bout between Josh Koscheck and Thiago Alves. Yoshida, scheduled to fight Koscheck in the main event of this Wednesday’s “UFC Fight for The Troops” event, was faced with the possibility of losing his opponent if Koscheck was knocked out, cut, or otherwise injured against Alves. That could be kind of stressful.

Not for “Zenko”

“Believe or not, I didn't think much of it,” Yoshida told UFC.com through translator / manager Shu Hirata. “I was just watching to study Koscheck's moves and his habits. So I was just thinking, "Hey I am fighting this guy in December" that's all.”

Well, we’ve all heard about the power of positive thinking; consider Yoshida the Norman Vincent Peale of Japan.

“Sure there were possibilities that he might have gotten injured and all, but even if that happened I would never know who the replacement was going to be (that night) so from my perspective, it made no sense to even worry about it,” he said. “I just concentrated on fighting Koscheck and that is what I have been doing for the past two months.”

Even after Alves-Koscheck ended, many wondered whether the hard-fought three round loss was going to render the American Kickboxing Academy standout unable to get ready for another bout so soon. Yoshida simply kept working and kept training. If there was going to be a switch in opponents, he’d hear about it soon enough.

“Basically I tried not to think about that possibility at all,” he said of fighting someone else on December 10th. “I know Alves is a tough striker, and when you fight a striker there is always a possibility of getting injured, but I feel Koscheck has got this natural physical strength, and somehow I felt Koscheck would get himself ready in little over a month regardless of what happened in that fight.”

Yoshida was right, and Koscheck jumped right back into the gym to get ready for Wednesday’s bout. It was finally some good news for the 34-year old from Tokyo, who wasn’t so lucky in September, when his second UFC bout was scrapped during fight week when Karo Parisyan injured his back and was unable to compete.

“I was disappointed with what happened in Atlanta, but when I got back to Japan I just left everything behind and concentrated on just fighting,” he said. “My manager told me that I will be fighting before the year is over so I just planned myself on fighting again in November or December.”

And here he is, in an even better spot for him career-wise, as he is headlining a free Spike TV event against a highly-regarded opponent that will be seen by millions. A win will do wonders for his Stateside profile, but Yoshida is unconcerned with such surface matters. He just hopes a win over Koscheck will propel him up the welterweight ladder.

“Hopefully the win would put me among the top ten in the world, and on the course to fight other top UFC fighters,” he said. “If possible I would love to fight Diego Sanchez after this fight.”

First things first though, and that’s Koscheck, a world-class wrestler with improved striking who’s a tough out for anyone at 170-pounds. Yoshida (10-2), a fourth degree black belt in judo who is on a nine fight winning streak, is no slouch either.

“Obviously he has got a great wrestling skill and he is physically very strong,” said Yoshida of Koscheck. “So he would be a better fighter than me in these two departments, but I believe I am more superior in throws and ground and pound.”

It’s an intriguing matchup anyway you slice it, and one that should get the troops at the Crown Coliseum in Fayetteville, North Carolina cheering. But if you think Yoshida’s in a no-win situation fighting an American in front of a crowd full of US servicemen and women, think again. In fact, some of the loudest cheers at the UFC’s last event for the military – at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in December of 2006 – were for Japan’s Keita Nakamura, who gave a gutsy effort in losing a decision to Brock Larson and was mobbed by appreciative Marines following the bout. Call it the power of sport to break down cultural barriers.

“Actually in any sport, if the athletes gave their heart and soul into the competition, I believe it would reach to the fans' heart,” agreed Yoshida. “And MMA, as you know, is probably one of the toughest sports, both physically and mentally, so it’s like taking things to the human limitation, so to speak, and I think that is something almost magical.”

It’s magical for the athletes as well as the fans, and for Yoshida – a former Physical Education teacher at Seijo High School in Tokyo – something he didn’t get to truly experience until he left his education career behind. So does he miss teaching at all?

“Yes and No,” he said. “I like teaching, but when I was a teacher, for two years I was always thinking about starting MMA. But I do feel like I also have something left to do in the field of teaching, so someday after I retire from MMA I might go back to teaching.”

Yoshida might have stopped teaching, but he certainly hasn’t stopped learning, and to get ready for what will undoubtedly be the stiffest test of his three year pro career, he was given the green light from his trainer, Shooto legend Noburo Asahi, to venture from the Tokyo Yellow Mans team to work with the standouts at Yoshida Dojo as well as to what he says is a secret location in Portland, Oregon.

“MMA is a sport that requires a variety of fighting techniques so it’s actually a must for me, or any fighter, I believe, to train at different gyms, especially because of the sparring partner situation,” said Yoshida. “It’s hard to get proper sparring partners to prepare for the world class competition at one gym. That is why I go and spar with bigger and stronger fighters at Yoshida Dojo, improve my hands at the boxing dojo, and build a tougher and more flexible physical power at the fitness gym.”

It’s all part of the master plan to one day reach the top of the UFC welterweight division, a plan that includes more wins like his 56 second destruction of Jon Koppenhaver at UFC 84, one that killed two birds with one stone as Yoshida was victorious and exciting at the same time.

“I am in the UFC, where the world's best MMA competition is being held, so right now I believe the most important thing for me is to keep on winning,” he said. “But if I fight to win, and if I fight to finish the opponent, then I believe the fight itself is going to be an exciting one for the fans.”

And it doesn’t matter where the fans are – Japan, Las Vegas, or in North Carolina.

“I really don't mind fighting anywhere,” he said. “The US, Europe or even on the US military base like this next fight, because once I step into the Octagon, there are only two fighters. Me and my opponent. That is it. Nobody else.”

UFC Fight for The Troops airs on Spike TV on Wednesday, December 10th at 9pm ET / PT.

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