FCF:   With a few days left before the event, are you anxious to get in there and fight?
VS:     I’m training a lot, so I don’t have time even to get anxious now. Since I’m training a lot, all of my body is hurting, so I’m training and resting more than I think about the fight. I’ll start to think about the fight a day before it.

FCF:   You’ll be defending your PRIDE belt in this fight for the first time. Does the fact that you’ll be putting your title on the line on this fight increase your responsibility?
VS:     I think so. Since I’m the champion I have to try to stay the champion for as much time as I can, so I think the responsibility increased, but the training increased in the same proportion.

FCF:   Inclusively because in your last fight the belt wasn’t on the line…
VS:     This time the responsibility is a lot bigger.

FCF:   What do you know about your opponent, Kyoshi Tamura?
VS:     Gee, I only know his name! (Laughs) I don’t even know his weight, or his height! I don’t know a thing! But I like it better this way!

FCF:   A lot of fighters like to develop a tactic and study their opponents. But you don’t! Do you like to fight only out of your instincts?
VS:     For me it’s better, because if a guy knows a lot from his opponent he tends to neutralize his own game. He gets locked, because there’s no way for you to guess what the other is going to do, and watching his fights you’ll tend to only look at the things that he does well! So I believe that this will hinder you more than will help you.

FCF:   How was your training for this fight?
VS:     In the past I wasn’t doing much weight lifting, but now I entered the best gym of Curitiba! The gym owner didn’t want to let me train there for free, so I ended up having to pay to be able to train there! (Laughs) I’m doing a lot of weight lifting; I’m running a lot and swimming a lot! And in this past weeks I started to brawl in the academy once again. I have been brawling a lot with the guys! I’m brawling with Pele, with Anderson! Inclusively tomorrow morning the thing is going to get hot again!

FCF:   So your training rhythm continues the same until the date of your departure?
VS:     For sure! It continues this way until Monday, when I left for Japan. But in Japan things changes a bit. Because the day before I was about to fight Guy Mezger at PRIDE 10, on a Saturday, Pele and I started to do some training, and the thing got real hard! So in the middle of our hardcore training I blew my knee! I blew my knee and I couldn’t walk! At the same night I was limping! On the fighting day at the breakfast I was limping! And I had to fight with my knee hurt, and thank God I was able to win! So, nowadays once we get to Japan we ease the training a bit in terms of intensity, but the running and swimming part of the training stays the same.

FCF:   How about sparring with Anderson Vanderlei? How’s the experience?
VS:     Man, yesterday I did 16 minutes of Boxing with Anderson! Gee, my chin is all scratched up because of the training helmet! (Laughs)

FCF:   Did you eat a lot of his jabs? (Laughs)
VS:     Gee man! (Laughs) The guys has the arm of a monkey, like those monkey with long arms (Laughs) His arm goes beyond his knee! (Laughs) His punches were connecting, and I threw mine and they weren’t getting even close! It’s tough man! His jab is horrible to deal with!

FCF:   Tamura said in a recent interview that he hasn’t being able to get much sleep lately, because of PRIDE’s rules. He also went on to say that he didn’t like this rules very much. What do you think of those statements?
VS:     Man, I just got married and I’m sleeping like an angel! (Laughs) My lady gives me a somniferous here that I’m sleeping a lot! (Laughs) But as for the Tamura, this is just talk! No fighter thinks like that. I don’t buy that, this thing of the guy acting like he’s a poor-thing don’t convince me. So for me there’s no such as thing as this. I’ll face this with a lot of seriousness! I’ll face it like a brawl! It doesn’t matter to me what the guy says or doesn’t says! Things are different with me.

FCF:   How do you believe this fight will unfold?
VS:     I would like very much to really trade blows! I would like to trade punches, hit him with knees, I don’t know! I would like to make him fall! The intension is to score a knockout! And most of all do a good showing to my public! But I’m prepared to fight all the 20 minutes if I need to.

FCF:   You recently got married. Your new life of a married man changed your training routine for this fight?
VS:     It changed that now I have my wife along with me, and she’s my allied. She takes care of me, and she’s giving me all the support in the world so I can only worry about training. When I get home everything is ready, she’s really a great companion. So now I believe that I’m getting to a level, if not the maximum, very close to the maximum of professionalism as a fighter.

FCF:   So, can we expect an even better Vanderlei as a fighter now?
VS:     For sure! Now that I got married I’m with a lot more fuel to burn!

FCF:   Your long-time teammate Pele Landi is also coming back to PRIDE, facing the former UFC Champion Carlos Newton. How was Pele’s preparation for this fight?
VS:     The same as I did! We train together, and he’s really very tough! I’m with two black eyes now since two days ago because of him! The guy is an animal! He was weighting 92kg and he dropped to 84kg now! He will drop one more kilo to fight at 83kg, because they asked him to fight at 83kg.

FCF:   What do you believe will happen in this fight between Pele and Newton?
VS:     Gee, I think it’ll end with a kick to the face. Or maybe with a knee, because his knee is also very strong! I believe that Carlos Newton won’t last three minutes. Gee, there’s no way he will last that much.

FCF:   What are your plans for the year of 2002, after PRIDE 19?
VS:     This year we will have 7 PRIDE events. I would like to fight them all! I want to fight in all of them! No matter where! It can be in Hawaii, Japan, Sao Jose dos Pinhais [Where Vanderlei lives in Curitiba] (Laughs) it doesn’t matter, where PRIDE appears I’ll fight!

FCF:   Man, what about your honeymoon? (Laughs)
VS:     Well, the honeymoon will be on our first anniversary! (Laughs) I already told my baby (Laughs), no I’m kidding. To tell you the truth if find it difficult to get a honeymoon better than we’re having! (Laughs)

FCF:   Any final message for your fans?
VS:     I want to say that I’m training a lot, and I expect to do what they expect me to do! I want to say that I’m a young fighter, so I’m in touch with all the things that the guys that follow my work are doing! I have the same life of all of my fans; I do the same things that all my fans do! I want to say for the guys to enjoy life, the nights and the girls! And most of all to enjoy a lot of NHB and start to train in some fight, because this is the way! Let’s train something, and most of all let’s believe a lot in God! We’re nothing without him, and I know how much he helped in my life! There’s no such thing as luck, nothing happen out of the blue, you got to train hard and believe in God.

FCF:   Do you have any message for those that are after your belt?
VS:     Come in and try to get it. The more people that are after my belt, the better for me! I want to tell anyone that wants my title that it’s there, and I’m welcoming challenges. If anyone is weighting 205lbs, I’ll fight anyone! And for the people that are talking about me all the time, I hope they’ll back up what they’re talking! Because I don’t want anyone talking about me, and then coming near me like a girl trying to kiss my ass. I want the guy to be a man! Anyone that is talking about me will have to back it up when they’re in front of me! This thing of talking about me from my back, and then coming in my face trying to be all nice and acting like a poor-thing doesn’t exists with me! I’ll punch their mouths on the spot!

Middleweight Title Fight:
Ted Govola Jr. (Dog Pound) vs. Ron Kieltyka (Rickson Gracie)

Welterweight Title Fight:
Zack Wakeman (Tai-Kai/Machado) vs. Mike Littlefield (Boneyard/BostonBJJ)

Light Heavyweight Title Fight:
Jorge Rivera (Milford, MA) vs. TBD (Possibly Marco DeLima)

Originally Kipp was trying to hold some closed-fist matches as he explains:

"As you all know, we have been working very closely with the State of Massachusetts Boxing Commission to first get MMA legalized in the State, which obviously was a success. The 2nd step is to get closed fist matches legalized. The date for this has been a moving target and we have been trying to work with the commission to pinpoint a date using our Mass Destruction events. Originally we had hoped to have all fights closed fist for MD6, then just a few. While the commission has given the thumbs up to ‘Exhibition Closed Fist Matches’ for the purpose of demonstrating to the public that Closed Fist matches are not dangerous. The only problem with this definition is that none of our fighters are interested in demonstrating how not to hurt their opponents. It’s a catch-22 and we are working with the commission to clarify what we can and can’t do that evening. For know, all of the above matches will be open hand. We will attempt to have a closed fist match that meets their requirements and still be a fight.
Again we wanted to inform you all in case this was the only reason you were coming to the show. We expect to see closed fists in all our fights, unfortunately [this will] not happen at this show."