| VISIT THE REST OF OUR SITE BY CLICKING THESE LINKS | |||||
| SUBSCRIBE | FCF SHOP | HOME | PICTURES | VIDEOS | FCF TV SHOW |
|
Looking to Take Over K-1! Text & Photos by Eduardo Alonso 
With the huge success achieved by the Chute Boxe Academy athletes in NHB over the years, with Vanderlei Silva, Pele Landi, Murilo Ninja, Anderson Silva, among others winning fights and titles in the world's most important events, many could have wondered why a Chute Boxe fighter was yet to step into the K-1 ring. The Chute Boxe team is originally a Muay Thai team, and K-1 is the biggest stand-up fighting event in the martial arts world, so it was natural that many Chute Boxe fighters would have the desire to compete and test their skills in K-1. Finally the chance has materialized, and just one week before PRIDE 20, K-1 will host the debut of a Chute Boxe fighter in the event. The man selected for the job is Nilson de Castro [pictured]. A Chute Boxe fighter who got his black belt on the same day that Vanderlei Silva got his, and has already fought some tough NHB battles. Nilson is an IVC veteran, and he was away from the ring for a while. However, after some incentive from his teammates Nilson decided to come back to the hardcore training at the academy, and resume his fighting career! The decision proved to be the right one, and Nilson de Castro came back with an impressive win at MECA 6 in January, and he is now welcoming his chance in K-1, hoping to open the doors to his teammates at the event and possibly start an NHB career in Japan as well, much like his long-time friend Vanderlei Silva. FCF had the chance to catch-up with Chute Boxe coach Rudimar Fedrigo, and the man himself, Nilson de Castro, just before they left for Japan!FCF: You have been dedicating yourself to NHB again, and even won at the last MECA. Did this opportunity to fight in K-1 surprise you? Nilson: To tell you the truth I was expecting an invitation from PRIDE, but since the K-1 invitation appeared, it was great! It's every Muay Thai fighter's dream to fight in K-1! I welcomed this opportunity very much, and it was a surprise -- a very good surprise. I was expecting an invitation, but it was a surprise that it came from K-1! FCF: Since you have been dedicating yourself to NHB, how long have you been away from stand-up only fights? Nilson: Well, to be honest with you I fight standing up every day! [Laughs] FCF: [Laughs] Of course, but I meant not counting the Chute Boxe academy training! Nilson: [Laughs] I know! In terms of official fights, well, I believe I haven't competed in Muay Thai since 1998, or 1999. I have been doing only NHB lately. FCF: Finally a Chute Boxe fighter will be fighting in K-1. This could be considered the realization of another Chute Boxe academy's dream… Rudimar: Without a doubt, Nilson's fight will be very important to us! This is something that we have been waiting for a long time and he's very happy to be fighting at the biggest "Muay Thai" event in the world. FCF: Considering that the Chute Boxe team is originally a Muay Thai team, was it an old dream for the academy to have someone fighting in K-1? Rudimar: Yes, this was an old dream of the academy! FCF: How did this invitation for Nilson to fight in K-1 come about? Was Nilson the first fighter that the promoters invited to fight at the event? Rudimar: Well, what happened was the product of a group of things: The success of the Chute Boxe fighters in Japan, Vanderlei Silva's good performances there, and also Nilson's excellent fight at the last MECA. All those things lead to the invitation for Nilson to fight in K-1, and I think it's going to be excellent! FCF: But Nilson, how did you get the news about this fight? Do you remember how it was? Nilson: Oh Yeah! I was training and the master came up to me and said, "You were invited to fight in K-1!" Man! It was really something you know. It was a huge happiness! I mean, I got very happy! FCF: Was it tough to prepare a fighter to compete in K-1, and at the same time prepare other fighters to fight at PRIDE? Rudimar: No, we didn't have any extra difficulty because of it. We were always working a more specific Muay Thai training with Nilson, and he is feeling very well. He is prepared for this fight, and I'm sure it'll be a great fight! FCF: How was the preparation for this fight? Did you train only Muay Thai? Nilson: Of course, I train exclusively Muay Thai for this fight. FCF: And how was the physical preparation? How much will you have to weigh for this fight? Nilson: The fight is under 90kg, and I'll fight at around 88, or 87kg. The physical preparation was just my regular preparation, nothing unusual. But the Muay Thai training, I mean, the technical part of the training was very strong. We trained a lot! FCF: Whom did you train more with this time? Nilson: I trained a lot with everyone here. I trained with Anderson, with Vanderlei, with Ninja, Pele, Rafael, Cunha... all the guys helped a lot! I would have a different guy to fight every day, and sometimes I would have to fight them all in one day! [Laughs] Nobody would take it easy on me! [Laughs] FCF: Nilson, do you think that being a Chute Boxe fighter, and having the opportunity to train with fighters with very different styles, like Anderson and Vanderlei, helps you to be an even more complete fighter? Nilson: A lot! It's a complete training. There's no way you won't end up being good. It's impossible [not to] learn something. There's no other way! 
Nilson: Man! It's annoying! It's still terrible! [Laughs] With those little "mosquito's" arms of his! Man! And a stronger mosquito now! Because he's gaining some weight [Laughs] His jabs are very strong! His reach is very long! It's always horrible to train with him! [Laughs] FCF: Do you expect that this opportunity will open the doors for other team members, such as Anderson Silva, who has this desire, to fight in K-1 in the future? Rudimar: Without a doubt. It's very important that Nilson will have a good showing, because we have other athletes, such as Anderson, who can and will fight in K-1 in the future! Nilson: I want to be the guy that opened the doors for our team there! I want all the guys to fight in K-1 too! Because everybody on the Chute Boxe team wants to fight at least one fight in K-1, so I want to open the doors in the best possible way! I'll grab this opportunity with everything I've got! FCF: What do you expect from Nilson's fight? How do you see the fight unfolding? Rudimar: I think that Nilson will look for the knockout from the start. He will look for the knockout in all the rounds. And we are expecting him to win by knockout! Nilson: Look, honestly speaking I don't like to comment on how a fight will go or things like that. My only perspective is that I want to knock him out! I don't have any strategy; I'll go after him and look for the knockout. I'll look for the knockout from the start. FCF: Do you know anything about your opponent? Nilson: I know that he is Japanese, and he weighs 88kg, nothing more. FCF: and you don't care about knowing more… Nilson: I want to fight my game there! This thing of analyzing your opponent in the end will only prevent you from fighting your game. I'll go there and do my game, and see what happens. FCF: Do you believe that Nilson's future will be on K-1 from now on, or will he come back to NHB? Rudimar: Well, as of now he has this fight in K-1, and maybe a fight in the next MECA. But everything will depend on his fight in K-1, because only after this fight we'll see what will happen. Nilson: Well, I want to fight! Anywhere they invite me to fight I'll fight! If I can continue doing both things, K-1 and NHB, I'll do both things. FCF: Does the fact that Vanderlei Silva will be in your corner for this fight, and that he helped a lot in your training, motivate you even more for your fight? Nilson: Of course! Without a doubt! When you train with Vanderlei, you know that you're training with the best fighter in the world today, so it's always an amazing training session. FCF: The fact that Vanderlei will face a K-1 fighter at the next PRIDE helped his, and Nilson's, preparation in some way? Rudimar: It helped for sure! They trained a lot together. Nilson: Of course, for sure! We're going to fight different fights, but the training ended up being good for both of us in fact. But Vanderlei always trains a lot of Muay Thai anyway. FCF: Speaking of Vanderlei, what do you expect from his fight against Cro Cop? Nilson: Honestly speaking, Cro Cop will go down! Sincerely. He will be knocked out. If he will trade with Vanderlei, he won't end up standing. I'm sorry to say it [Laughs], but the man is hitting very hard! There's no way! The guy always enters in Vanderlei's game! When he comes right at you and start to trade, he dictates the rhythm of the fight. He is really a very complete fighter. Besides being technical he knows how to impose his rhythm. FCF: Will you stay in Japan to be in Vanderlei and Ninja's corner for their fights in PRIDE, or will you come back to Brazil after your fight? Nilson: I'll stay and help Vanderlei and Ninja. FCF: By the way Nilson, what are you expecting from Ninja's fight against Sperry? Nilson: Man, Ninja is sincerely impressive! His ground game is very strong, his Muay Thai is great and he is hitting very hard! I wouldn't want to be in his opponent's place, he is going to face hell in the form of a fighter. FCF: What can the K-1 fans -- who maybe don't know the Chute Boxe Academy work that well yet --expect from the team in K-1? Rudimar: They can expect that our fighters will give their best in the ring, and all three athletes from the team that will be fighting in Japan, Nilson in K-1 and Ninja and Vanderlei at PRIDE, will fight very hard. They can expect a lot of dedication and heart for sure! All the fighters know the meaning of these fights in their lives and careers, and what they can represent to them. So, they'll put their heart in the ring. I also believe that there's a big chance of seeing other Chute Boxe fighters in K-1 in the future. FCF: Nilson, this will be your first fight in Japan, how are you facing this experience, and what do you expect from fighting there? Nilson: I'm facing it as my golden opportunity. This is my big chance, and I want to establish my name there and sign a big deal to fight there. I want to become Japanese! [Laughs] I expect to be welcomed there like my friends, but I want to write my own history there too! FCF: Any final message for the Chute Boxe fans? Rudimar: They can count that those three fights will be three really memorable fights! Fights that the fans will remember for a long time. The guys are going to really make an impact. They are going to Japan to win. Nilson: I want to say that I'll try to trade from the beginning and I want to knock him out very fast! I'll try to do a great fight, a fight that the fans will enjoy watching. So I'll mark my presence and please the fans. I want to show my value to the fans and I hope they'll appreciate my fighting style. You can bet that I'll always fight my heart out on the ring. This will be my trademark. FCF: Thanks a lot for the interview, and the best of luck for the team. Rudimar: Thank you very much. Nilson: Thanks a lot. |
| © All materials contained in the Full Contact Fighter web site are protected by copyright and to be used only for personal and noncommercial uses. Public display or copying for sale or public distribution of any of these materials is strictly prohibited. |