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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief Yushiyuki Yoshida was fully prepared for a fight in September. He had trained, he was focused and he had cut weight to face Karo Parisyan at UFC 88. The day of the weigh-ins Parisyan went down with an injury and was forced out of the event. Yoshida's since been waiting to get back to action, and he'll finally get back into the Octagon this Wednesday against Josh Koscheck at UFC Fight Night 16: Fight for the Troops. Yoshida was interviewed by MMAweekly.com about the upcoming fight.
He was disappointed in not getting to fight at UFC 88, saying "[i]t was really hard. I trained very hard for that fight and of course I cut weight for that fight... but since I am not the one who pulled out of that fight, I believe I had a right to fight first (before Karo), and UFC did make a fight for me, so I really appreciate that." He understands how it goes in the sport, though, and said "[it] does happen a lot in an intense sport like MMA, so I am not thinking too much about it anymore. I just wait for UFC to decide my opponent and I train hard to win that fight. That's all now."
So now he's set to face Koscheck, who he thanked for taking this fight after also stepping in to face Thiago Alves in October. Yoshida said "[e]ver since I was told that my next opponent is Koscheck, for the past two months or so, I have been training thinking about just fighting Koscheck." He said he believes that Koscheck was ahead of him in terms of physical strength, boxing and of course wrestling, so that's what he's been training for.
On his strategy for this fight, the judo practitioner said "I would like to use my brain to fight. By utilizing (my) opponent's strength to win the fight, that is the magical formula of judo." And as for Koscheck, Yoshida says "he is one of the Top 10 welterweights in the world, and I am sure most people won't even think about me winning this fight. But I am telling you this now, you are going to be surprised by the outcome of fight!" His hope for the fight: "I would like to finish the fight with a judo move."
It's Koscheck vs. Yoshida in a welterweight clash this Wednesday at UFC Fight Night 16: Fight for the Troops, live and free on Spike TV.
Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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