Enson Inoue Interview by Jay Cisco      In the fight world, when the name Enson Inoue is called out across the arena, everyone knows what kind of fight they are in for. Inoue’s name is associated with words such as courage, bravery, willpower, and the phrase, "never surrender". Enson’s warrior spirit, Yamato Damashii, is why I chose him for the first interview here at IronLife. No one in the fight game more personifies a will of iron like Enson Inoue. I had a chance to talk with Enson the other day and see just what he is up to. Jay: What is Enson Inoue up to these days? Enson: Well, I’m trying to get back in shape and running my gyms. Jay: What are you doing now that you are retired besides training and running your gyms? Enson: I am still playing Racquetball. I will be in the All Japan Doubles Tournament on February 8th.I also got a new line of Yamato Damashii fighting equipment. I also recently got an offer from All Japan Pro Wrestling. They want me to come wrestle but I don’t know. I was in Josh Barnett’s corner at the New Japan Pro Wrestling show January 4th at the Tokyo Dome. And let me tell you, Josh is sooooo good. I wouldn’t even know what to do. I was in his corner just hiding my face. Everyone keeps telling me to take the offer because it will raise my stock. But I don’t know if I can do as good as Josh did. Jay: I want to ask your opinion of some other fighters now and you just say whatever is on your mind, ok. I wanted to start with Yoshida because he is a hot topic right now. Enson: Yoshida looks too good to be true. I wouldn’t be able to say if the Yoshida and Don Frye fight was a work. I train with Yoshida now and then. I just don’t know about him. I have never had a chance to approach him personally and ask him what he is really about. He just looks too good to be true at this point. Jay: Ok, what about his fight with Satake? Work or not? A lot of people say it is. Your opinion? Enson: I was there at the BomBaYe. Satake is just an idiot. I don’t think it was a work because Satake is just that dumb. Satake is like a big baby. He goes in there and gets his head caught in thirty seconds and then can’t get out of the submission. But it was his retirement fight and he said that he would never come back even if the fans wanted him to. I have to show respect for a man’s retirement. Jay: Ok, another hot topic as of late. You were at the BomBaYe, tell me what you thought of Mike Bernardo’s "actions". Enson: I was pretty upset about what Bernardo did to Gary (Goodridge). Gary is a good friend and it was just wrong what happened. Thank god Josh (Barnett) wasn’t there when it happened. Josh would’ve not been held back and he would have killed Bernardo. He is even lucky Coleman didn’t get a hold of him because he would’ve destroyed him too. I know if I was in that situation and he had done that to somebody close to me like my brother, he would have not got out of that ring alive. Jay: So do you think Gary should get another shot at Bernardo? Enson: Definitely, but this time it should be under full PRIDE rules. Bernardo would not even be able to defend a takedown. The sad thing is, I don’t think he will agree to the match. Jay: Ok, next name, Quinton "Rampage" Jackson. Enson: Rampage is awesome!! The first fight with Abidi, I kind of shorted him. I was saying things like, "Oh, he got a lucky punch", and stuff like that. But he proved that he was better than Abidi by going the distance in the second fight and totally dominating. People like Rampage are good for Mixed Martial Arts in general. He has a lot of charisma and that is what the sport needs to get off the ground. Jay: Next name, Phil Baroni. Enson: Phil is an exciting fighter. He always comes out and goes ballstothewall. He is a charismatic fighter just like Rampage and is good for Mixed Martial Arts. His knockout against Menne was exciting. His first fight with Lindland, he showed great fighting spirit and I respect that. I think he can win the rematch with Lindland. He is so explosive and he has improved immensely. Jay: You know that he and Frank Shamrock have recently exchanged words here in the States? Enson: Really? I didn’t know that. Baroni shouldn’t mess with Frank. Baroni is way out of his league on that one. Frank is the best there is in my opinion. He has beaten everybody and his abilities are unquestioned. But you know, all it would take is one right cross from Baroni and it would be lights out. On any given day, any fighter can win. Jay: Ok, another opinion I would like to hear from you, Tito Ortiz and Chuck Lidell, who wins? Enson: Oh, I don’t know. Tito’s standup looked great against Ken Shamrock but I think Chuck is a natural wrestler and he also has great standup. I can’t really make a prediction because Tito is a close friend, but I can definitely say that Chuck has all the tools to defend the takedown and defeat Tito. It is a definite possibility. Jay: Ok, another interesting name, Igor Vovchanchyn. Enson: He has the hardest punches I have ever felt. I felt like he punched THROUGH my head and not just on it. It felt like the whole arena was shaking when he hit me. But I had him out of his element, don’t you think? I don’t think he expected me to come out and trade with him Jay: Yes, I definitely expected him to get the better of that standup encounter but you astonished me with all the shots you landed. Enson: Yeah you think he would have gotten the better of me. I think I kind of threw him out of his element and kind of caught him off guard. I surprised him so much it was like he couldn’t stand with me because he was so caught off guard. Jay: The question everyone wants to know, the big one: Are you ever going to come back? Enson: You know, it’s really not up to me. It is really up to the promoters like DreamStage. If they want me to fight in PRIDE, then I will fight. I am retired at this point but I am getting back in shape so I am ready to go at a moment’s notice. Jay: What is your current weight? Enson: I am at about 225 lbs. at this point. I am trying to get down to 205 lbs. I am done with the heavyweight division. All of the challenges are at light heavyweight with guys like Vanderlei Silva and Tito Ortiz. I would like nothing more than to close out my career by throwing down with Silva. Jay: What does a normal day of training consist of for Enson Inoue? Enson: Nothing that serious right now. Just a real light workout. I only train for a couple hours a day at this point. Hit the weights and a little sparring. But if PRIDE gives me a fight, I will be back to three a day workouts. Jay: If you had a chance to avenge one loss in your career, which one would it be and why? Enson: Igor Zinoviev, no question. I didn’t even really get started in that fight. I would definitely like that one back. Jay: Now I understand that you have a six-year-old son, Erson. Is he going to follow in his father’s footsteps? Enson: Oh yeah!! He thinks life is all about fighting. He tells me his dream is to be in PRIDE one day. Jay: Now, on a lighter note, tell me the truth. How many more tattoos? Is it ever going to stop or are you permanently addicted? Enson: I’m asking myself that same question. It is like an addiction. I get started on one and then I want to start another one before that one is even done. I recently got some work done on my back. I think I might stop once I finish my arms ... maybe. Jay: And finally, I wanted to close by allowing you a chance to send a message to your fans. What would you like to say to them right now? Enson: I would like to tell the fans, especially the ones out on the Internet, that we as fighters appreciate them. I would like to tell the Internet warriors, such as IronLife and other Mixed Martial Arts sites that you mean a lot to us. You guys are what make us fighters what we are. Without you guys, we wouldn’t have this sport and we wouldn’t be getting paid to do what we love. Jay: Well, I thank you for you time, Enson. Hopefully we can do this again sometime. Enson: Definitely. Thank you for allowing me this opportunity. [back]