Jackson, convicted of felony assault several years past, violated his parole by failing to apply for authorization to leave the United States. After spending most of the day behind bars, King of the Cage promoter Terry Trebilcock was able to post bail for Jackson and secure his release. Jackson was then granted permission to travel to Pride 15 and departed on Thursday morning.

The Gladiator Challenge Light Heavyweight champion’s dilemmas continued upon his belated arrival in Tokyo. Mark Davidson–who is representing Jackson’s interests in place of Trebilcock–acknowledges that the contract required his fighter to weigh in at 193.8 lbs. However, after tipping the scales at 208.6 lbs. when he arrived on Friday evening, it was clear that Jackson would not be able to make that weight. Pride officials also informed Jackson that he would be required to weigh in on the day of the fight, a mandate that the fighter vociferously refused.

Thus, Davidson engaged in a series of tense negotiations with Pride officials regarding both the official weigh-in time and weight. It was finally decided that Jackson would weigh in on Saturday and ultimately did so at approximately 1:00 PM when, exhausted from cutting weight, he was lifted onto to the scale weighing 89.25 kilos. Of interest is the fact that because Pride does not have weight classes, Jackson is believed to be the only fighter on the card with such a mandate.

To add to his woes, Jackson was besieged by a horde of Japanese media anxious to paint him as something of a violent, street hardened criminal. Already it had been reported in Japanese newspapers that Jackson lives in a bus and communicates with homing pigeons in place of a telephone. Instructed by Pride officials to play the heel, Jackson added fuel to the media frenzy by blatantly and comically perpetuating these stereotypes during the course of an impromptu press conference.

In other Pride news, it has been confirmed that the September event will not take place in Hawaii, as once expected…Mark Coleman is present and reports that an MRI on his injured knee was negative, a relief for nervous Pride officials who desperately want him to face Fujita in November…Vanderlei Silva is here with Chute Boxe teammate Assuerio Silva, looking extremely bulked up…Ryan Gracie arrived late after experiencing some difficulty obtaining his visa in Brazil.

Revised Judging Criteria

Judges will keep a running tally of points throughout the fight, rather than scoring each round on a ten-point system. Points will be awarded whenever one fighter shows superiority according to the following five criteria:

1. The attitude toward working for a KO or submission (attempting to finish the opponent)–aggression with purpose
2. Damage to opponent through the near finish of a submission, effectively throwing the opponent to the ground or effective striking
3. Technique-based on good standup fighting combinations, good takedowns, good ground control skills, submission attempts and ring generalship
4. Aggressiveness in general
5. When there is a weight difference of 10 kilos or more, the lighter fighter will automatically be awarded one advantage point in each round;

Negative points

• Stalling or illegal actions–any occurrence when a referee issues a yellow card will result in one-point deduction

Other Changes

• Knees and kicks to an opponent on four points are now allowed in all fights, regardless of any weight difference

Pride 15 Bout Order

Fight One
Valentijn Overeem vs. Assuerio Silva

Fight Two
Shungo Oyama vs. Wallid Ismael

Fight Three
Daijiro Matsui vs. Ebenezer Fontes Braga

Fight Four
Masaaki Satake vs. Igor Vovchanchyn

Fight Five
Heath Herring vs. Mark Kerr

Intermission

Fight Six
Gary Goodridge vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira

Fight Seven
Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Quinton Jackson

• Gary Goodridge arrived in Tokyo late Saturday afternoon, looking somewhat the worse for wear from his travels. In Japan just last week, Goodridge flew to Canada last Sunday to tend to some personal affairs and then returned to Tokyo today. Meanwhile, his opponent, 2001 King of Kings Champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, looks relaxed and ready. Is Goodridge ready for the submission expert? Only time will tell.
• The Hilton Tokyo has been surprisingly subdued this weekend, most likely due to the influx of new fighters whose camps share neither animosity nor friendships. The exception is the rivalry between Ryan Gracie and Wallid Ismael. However, Pride curtailed any chance of a flare-up by housing Ismael in the Keio Plaza Inter-Continental Tokyo, several blocks removed from the host hotel. Also, Gracie did not receive his visa in Brazil until Wednesday and thus only arrived in Japan on late Friday evening–hardly enough time to resume the Ismael-Gracie family feud.
• It is rumored that Kazuyuki Fujita and Frank Shamrock will both fight on a K-1 card in Tokyo in mid-August. Shamrock is also confirmed on the August 11^th K-1 show in Las Vegas.
• Ricardo Almeida said that he is scheduled to fight in UFC 33 on September 28, though his opponent is yet to be determined.
• Another new Pride rule is that should the fighters get too close to the ropes, they will no longer be moved to the center of the ring by a small army of ringside assistants. Instead, both combatants will get up, move to the center of the ring, return to the original position and then resume fighting when instructed by the referee.

FCF:   Heath, before we talk about tomorrow’s fight, a quick question–after the rules meeting yesterday, do you feel any kind of vindication? Pride has made some rules changes that seem to be a direct result of the fight that you had with Vitor Belfort?
HH:     Yeah, I guess it’s just too late for me to make any difference, of course. But they changed the 10-kilo rule, I think. I think that’s not even around anymore. So, it’s a little bit disappointing to say the least, but I live and learn and go on. There’s nothing you can do about it.

FCF:   Looking ahead now to your fight with Mark Kerr, you’ve beaten a high level wrestler in Tom Erikson.
HH:     Right.

FCF:   He’s someone that has probably had even more success than Kerr on the wrestling mat. Does that give you more confidence?
HH:     I’m not worry about being overwhelmed, as much. I think Kerr is probably a better fighter on the ground than I think Erikson is. Erikson relies a lot more on his strength and his size. I think Kerr has been around a little bit more and he has fought a lot of really good fighters. So, I think the experience that Erikson lacked I think Kerr makes up for. But, we’ll wait for the fight–we’re ready to go, we’re excited about it. I feel good, I feel really good about the fight.

FCF:   Did you choose to do any extra preparation in terms of your sprawl?
HH:     Well of course, of course. I’d be stupid to think that Kerr is not going to come in and try to take me down. That would just be really ridiculous to expect that. I think that in comparison between the two fights, Erikson is more of a guy who is going to come in and overwhelm you with sheer size whereas Kerr uses a lot more technique and things like that. In the back of my head, I know with Erikson I was still able kind of hold him down. I realize that Kerr is a good fighter, I don’t think that he’s going to have quite the ability to control me like Erikson did, and he wasn’t really that effective on the ground with me as far as his ground and pound.

FCF:   I imagine that you are as in tune as I am with the different rumors going around. One of them happens to be that Pride would like to encourage Kerr to open up and have more exciting fights. That’s something that could really play into your strengths.
HH:     I’m hoping so. But not just to push that at Kerr–Pride is pushing that toward everybody, and I think the UFC also. They want to see a full, intense, action-packed fight, which is great. Fans like it, and I agree. Being a fighter myself and watching fights, that’s what I want to watch, too. I don’t want to watch two guys laying on each other for 20 minutes and then the guy who got the most takedowns wins it. That’s not fun to watch.

FCF:   If fighters were forced to open up a little more, it would really appeal to your strengths.
HH:     I’m hoping so. That’s what we’re counting on. It [presents] a conditioning factor, and that’s more my style of fighting as of late. Especially with Vitor, when we were on the ground I’d stand up and tell him to get up. That’s more my style. I like to go and stand up; if we’re on the ground, do some stuff; if it’s not working, get back up. That’s not Kerr’s style, that’s my style. So, I think in that situation I’m going to have an advantage.

FCF:   Speaking of conditioning, your conditioning seemed very strong in your last fight. You were active throughout, it seemed like you were really pushing the fight and you were the aggressor. Kerr is coming in a little heavier than normal, which could portend fatigue.
HH:     We’re hoping, that’s what we’re hoping. We’re actually a little bit heavier also, which is good, but conditioning-wise we’re great, we’re good to go.

FCF:   What are you coming in weighing?
HH:     I think about five pounds heavier than last fight, 113 kilos (248.6 lbs.).

FCF:   Is that a result of strength training?
HH:     Some strength training, but my body is really weird. When I went to Holland I was weighing a lot–I was weighing like 275 lbs. and then I just lost a ton of weight. Then I’ve slowly gained weight, maybe five pounds…or two or three pounds at a time.

FCF:   It seems as though you’re building a lot more muscle mass.
HH:     Yeah, a lot more. But lean mass–I don’t want to get bulky. You’ve seen the guys who use a lot of steroids that can’t keep their hands up. What we do with Thai boxing, you’ve got to be able to move and kick. If you’re too tight you can’t do that stuff.

FCF:   So you want to maintain your flexibility.
HH:     Maintain my flexibility, maintain my conditioning. I think conditioning is the most important thing, actually. I’ll trade off a little bit of pure strength for my conditioning.

FCF:   Now that MMA is sanctioned in Nevada, Pride has been talking about having a show in Las Vegas. How excited would you be to fight in the United States again?
HH:     I’d be on the first plane, man. Plus, it’s a free trip back to America for me, so you know, it’s great. But yeah, I’m really excited. I love fighting in Japan, I like it, but the chance to fight in Vegas and be two hours by plane to home, that’s great.

FCF:   What do you think that means for the sport to have two competing organizations on U.S. soil?
HH:     I think there are going to be more than two, actually, from what I’ve been hearing. I hope its not overkill–I hope it doesn’t over-saturate the market to where people are sick of it. It’s good for the fighters, of course, because it’s going to make the prices go up higher. Being a fighter, I like that. I think now that the sport is finally getting in; I hope they just don’t kill it by everyone getting in there competing and making fans sick of it. I’m hoping that doesn’t happen. Because I think this is really one of the true international sports, there are truly people from every country that are good in this sport and can compete. I’m hoping in five to ten years it’s kicking everything else’s butt–I hope it’s just the biggest thing on earth. I’m really looking forward to that.

FCF:   Pride is running deep with heavyweight talent and Americans have proven time and time again that they are big fans of heavyweight fighters. It seems like Pride would be a good fit for the U.S.
HH:     I think so, I think it’s true. Pride does have the best heavyweights right now, and that’s why I’m really happy to be fighting in Pride. I’d like to see something come out like they have in boxing where the organizations come together to have unification fights and things like that, instead of one organization saying ‘No, you can only fight for us.’ Then you get into these arguments about who is the better heavyweight fighter–is it him or him? Being a fighter, I like to know this guy is the best.

FCF:   A consistent ranking system?
HH:     Right, a consistent ranking system. I think the sport will eventually come to that. I think it will for it to survive. But that leads to a whole a lot other questions. Is it going to be in a cage or a ring? But now the rules are becoming fairly centralized. Elbows and that stuff they are taking out, the knees on the ground they’re allowing back, which I like, of course. I like seeing that there is a unified rules system–it’s slow, but it’s coming.

FCF:   That’s a good point–particularly when Pride goes to Las Vegas. They are going to share a uniform set of rules with the UFC, the only difference being that Pride can remain in a ring while the UFC is held in a cage. Do you have any preferences between a ring and a cage?
HH:     I like the ring better. I think the cage is more for the fans’ point of view. I fought in both and I think the ring is better since we are now having rounds. Now that we are having rounds you need your cornermen in the corner to help you with cuts. The cornermen can’t come into the cage between rounds to help you out, so I think it’s more beneficial to have a ring because of the ease of access for your cornermen and things like that.

To clarify some of Jackson’s comments, I also spoke with Mark Davidson, who accompanied the fighter to Japan on behalf of King of the Cage promoter Terry Trebilcock.

FCF:   Talk to us a little bit about the situation that occurred at the Los Angeles International airport.
QJ:     Well, it’s kind of odd that when I get to the airport the police know my business. They know how many people I’m with, they know I’m a pro fighter and they said that I’ve beat up police and stuff before and they knew I was fleeing the country and I had a warrant out for my arrest. It was just kind of weird that they knew all this and one of the police told me that somebody ratted me out–but I don’t know who did.

FCF:   Who did you go to the airport with?
QJ:     I went to the airport with Next Generation–Chris Brennan and a few of my other teammates. I went to Korean Air and as soon as I got to the gate they slammed the door like ‘Get down, get down,’ pointing big guns at me and shit.

FCF:   Was it the LAPD?
QJ:     It was the airport police.

FCF:   And they ended up arresting you?
QJ:     Yeah, I was arrested and charged. They took pictures of me, stripped me down, degraded me and everything, man. Fuckin’ searched me…

FCF:   What did they charge you with? Violating probation?
QJ:     Yes, violating probation.

FCF:   What were you on probation for? Was it assault?
QJ:     Yeah, something that happened in college. I did my time and everything but they gave me a very big fine and I couldn’t pay it. They put a felony on my record so I couldn’t get a regular job and pay it. So I was trying to fight and pay it, but you know, black people don’t [make] that much money in mixed martial arts anyway [smiles]. So, you know, I just barely made enough money to pay my bills with the fighting money.

FCF:   There are rumors swirling that everybody there got handcuffed.
QJ:     Yeah, everybody got handcuffed and I think they patted them down to make sure they didn’t have anything on them. But yeah, everybody there except for Stephen Quadros and Bas Rutten–they got on the plane first, they got away.

FCF:   So, you ended up missing your flight?
QJ:     I missed my flight and I spent like eight hours in jail.

FCF:   Did you get arraigned that day?
QJ:     Yeah, I got bailed out. Terry Trebilcock–you know, he got trouble with his cock but he bailed me right out [laughs].

FCF:   You stayed in L.A. Wednesday night?
QJ:     Yeah, me and him stayed in the hotel.

FCF:   The rumor had it that they were already signing another guy to fight.
QJ:     Who were they signing to fight?

FCF:   I heard Alex Andrade and I heard Brennan.
QJ:     I heard Brennan, too.

FCF:   One of the Pride people told me that Brennan offered to take the fight when he got here.
QJ:     You serious?

FCF:   Yeah, that’s what I was told.
QJ:     That’s what I’ve been dealing with. That’s why I left Chris Brennan’s school. To be honest–I’m not talking shit about Chris Brennan–that’s why I left his school. When he found out I was fighting Sakuraba instead of fighting Ken [Shamrock], like, my training stopped and you know, shit happened. Everybody was telling me that Chris Brennan was fighting Sakuraba–I got all these people I don’t even know telling me ‘You’re not fighting Sakuraba, Chris Brennan’s fighting Sakuraba.’ So, I went to start back training with Fabiano [Iha] so I could train for the fight.

FCF:   Chris is here working as your second and you asked him if he was the one who made the anonymous phone call.
QJ:     Yeah, he denied to the fullest. I don’t have 100 percent proof, but I just know about what somebody told me two days before I got arrested, that Chris Brennan was going to get me arrested because he trains undercover cops. He trains a whole police department out there. I’ve seen him do it–I’ve seen him train them. So, somebody told me, ‘Chris Brennan is going to get you arrested,’ but then other people told me that they don’t think Chris Brennan did it because he was worried about me on the plane and he wanted to bail me out real bad and stuff, no matter what my bail was.

FCF:   But he went on the plane without you?
QJ:     Yeah.

FCF:   As of right know, he’s going to second for you?
QJ:     Yeah, because the simple fact is, like, if he wasn’t in my corner then the other guys wouldn’t even be able to make it to Pride and they spent their own money to fly out here. So, you know, I don’t have anything against Next Generation, nothing against them. So, you know, I don’t care who’s in my corner because the only person I want in my corner couldn’t even make it–the only person I’m used to having in my corner.

FCF:   Who is that?
QJ:     David Roberts. He’s the only one who knows how I fight. Chris Brennan doesn’t know how I fight. No one here knows what I know except David Roberts. We’ve been competing against each other and with each other since high school.

FCF:   How come Dave wasn’t able to make it?
QJ:     Because Pride only gave me two tickets–one to Terry and one to Chris. Terry pulled out the last day and David didn’t have any itinerary to get his passport, so he couldn’t make it.

FCF:   Switching gears to your arrival in Japan, you were accompanied by Pride officials on the plane. There was some controversy when you got off the plane about cutting weight and weigh-ins.
QJ:     Man, yeah, they tried to fuck me, man. They wanted me to lose fuckin’ damn near fifteen, sixteen pounds the day of the fight. I told them ‘Hell, no,’ because I was told by Terry Trebilcock that I had weigh-ins two days before, which I thought was cool. I thought they were trying to help me out. Then, they wanted me to weigh in the day of the fight, and I said ‘Hell, no.’ They want me to weigh in the day of the fight, I’m not fighting. If anybody ever wants me to weigh in the day of the fight and they only give me three weeks to lose 27 pounds, I will give you a verbal ‘Fuck you.’

FCF:   Coming over, what weight were you under the impression you needed to make?
QJ:     I knew they wanted me at 194 but I told them, I told Yukino [Kanda] on the phone, ‘They did not talk to me, they talked to Terry and Terry told them I could make that weight.’ But it’s not on my contract. I told Yukino, ‘With my body style, with my body fat, it would be hard to make 194–it would be dangerous for me to make it.’ I said, ‘I’ll get down under 200 for sure, but 194 I cannot promise you. If I cannot promise you, how can somebody else that doesn’t know my body promise you how much I weigh?’

FCF:   So, in terms of the weight issue, that was an agreement that Terry made with Pride? It wasn’t written into your contract?
QJ:     Yeah. It isn’t on my contract. They’re just trying to fuck me because I’m a nigger. That’s what they’re trying to do. Already they’re trying to pay me nigger money. Yeah.

FCF:   At this point now they did at least agree to let weigh in on Saturday. What particular time?
QJ:     I weigh in at 6:00 PM. They think because I live in a bus and I’m poor, that they can push me around.

FCF:   There seem to be a lot of rumors swirling around about you in the Japanese media. You mentioned living in a bus.
QJ:     Is this [interview] going to be in Japan or America?

FCF:   America.
QJ:     Then Japan won’t see this?

FCF:   No.
QJ:     Hell no, I don’t live in no motherfuckin’ bus (laughs). Terry Trebilcock told that shit to try promote me as a–I don’t know what he’s trying to do. I guess if Japanese people like me living in a bus, goddammit call me the Busboy. Fuck it. If they’re going to pay me for living in a bus, goddamn, I’m not lying, I’ll take pictures in a bus next time.

FCF:   Pride asked you to play up that angle, didn’t they?
QJ:     Yeah, they want me to be a bad guy, they want me to be a heel. It’s okay, wait until you all see me walk out tomorrow, they shouldn’t have asked me to do that shit.

FCF:   Because you might carry that attitude into the ring?
QJ:     Oh, fuck yeah–it’s all good. I’m going to be breaking laws. I don’t give a fuck about no damn yellow card.

FCF:   I really appreciate your time, Quinton.
QJ:     No problem.

Mark Davidson

FCF:   Mark, there has been a little confusion in terms of the weigh-ins with Quinton and the particular weight that they want him to weigh in at. Could you just backtrack and tell us about your experience with Pride and what they asked for and what you’ve been able to negotiate?
MD:     I have not [previously] had any dealings personally with Pride. I came over here as a representative of Terry Trebilcock and to help manage and oversee Quinton to make sure that everything went smoothly. There’s been an issue as to the weight that he was supposed to make that was agreed upon, when he [was] supposed to be at that weight and how much that weight was. My understanding is that Pride historically has not had weight classes. I believe that after the Silva fight there was a motivation to instill that weight class and not put Sakuraba against someone who was considerably heavier than him. That was the motivation. It was agreed upon with Pride and Terry Trebilcock that Quinton Jackson would fight at 193.8 lbs. In the contract that was in a kilo measurement and it [converted to] 193.8 lbs. Upon his arrival over here he weighed 208.6 lbs. Pride very compassionately and in good faith allowed him to come in at 10 lbs. under that and agreed for him to fight Sakuraba at 198.6 lbs. There was further discussion as to whether or not the weigh-in was to occur on Saturday or Sunday. In multiple conversations with Terry it was agreed with Pride that the weigh-in would be held on Saturday, allowing Quinton basically a day and a half to recuperate. Pride’s interpretation of the agreement was that at fight time he was supposed to be 198.6 lbs. After many discussions and deliberations, most of which were very polite, but very tense, I would say, we have agreed that he would weigh in on Saturday at 6:00 PM at 198.6 lbs.

FCF:   So, from what you understand and in your conversations with Terry, there was a weight limit written into the contract?
MD:     Absolutely.

FCF:   There was just some ambiguity as to when the weigh-in was going to occur?
MD:     Yes, whether it was going to be Saturday and whether or not it was going to be Sunday.

FCF:   You started to get noticed in NHB fighting at MECA, and soon after you went to the Chute Boxe team. How did you get into the Chute Boxe team?
AS:    I’m from the Northeast of Brazil [Editor’s note: the Northeast of Brazil is a very poor region of the country], and I already fought there a lot. So, I came to Curitiba to fight at MECA 2, where I fought Mamute. I came to Curitiba, and I liked the city a lot, it’s very different from where I lived at the Northeast! As I liked the city very much, I decided to stay here, so I talked to Rafael Cordeiro after the fight and he told me to come to the academy to train. So I did! And then I talked to Vanderlei and Pelé, and both were very friendly with me, so I started to train with Vanderlei for his fight against Guy Mezger, and after that, Rudimar told me that I could stay, and I was adopted by the team!

FCF:   Was it difficult to adapt your fighting style to the training at the Chute Boxe academy in the beginning?
AS:    Back in Northeast I didn’t have the same people to train with. So, the adaptation was a bit difficult because I wasn’t used to this hard training, however I knew that I should stay here. I should stay here with Chute Boxe because it’s the right school for my style of fighting! And nowadays I’m already used to the training, and I’m friends to everybody here.

FCF:   Back in your days in the Northeast from Brazil, did you already practice Muay Thai? Or did you only begin to train it at the Chute Boxe academy?
AS:    Back at the Northeast I already practiced kickboxing, and before that I trained a bit of Muay Thai there, but it wasn’t a Muay Thai like we have here, it was a weaker technique. I learned some basics of Muay Thai and Kickboxing there, and I also trained Boxing, a lot of Boxing. I also did Jiu Jitsu at Natal (a city from the Northeast of Brazil), and then I went to Fortaleza (another city from Northeast of Brazil), where I met Feitosa, at the second Bad Boy Vale Tudo cup. He asked me if I would like to train there, so I moved from my city, Moss

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