Kawajiri

By FCF Staff

Tatsuya Kawajiri may be 37 years-old and has over 40 bouts under his belt, but the renowned Japanese fighter still has his sights set on becoming the sport’s best featherweight.

Kawajiri is scheduled to fight Dennis Siver this Saturday at UFC Fight Night 69, in what will mark his first bout since last April, when the “Crusher” was decisioned by Clay Guida. The PRIDE vet, who had won six straight prior to the loss, was sidelined for months due to a detached retina.

Recently the noted grappler spoke to UFC.com about this Saturday’s fight, and while discussing his future, Kawajiri relayed:

“I want to be number one in the featherweight division,” Kawajiri said. “Until the day I couldn’t fight and retire, I would continue to think about being number one. That is my motivation.”

The 33-8-2 fighter also admitted that he thinks about retiring “every fight”, but that he’s just not ready to give up the sport.

UFC FN 69 will be hosted by the O2 World arena in Berlin, Germany. Siver (22-10), meanwhile, will be fighting for the first time since January, when he was stopped by Conor McGregor.