 
Hayato
"Mach" Sakurai, Kazuo Misaki, Takanori Gomi, the three
Japanese fighters scheduled to fight at the upcoming PRIDE.33
event in Las Vegas, appeared in front of an excited public on
February 21, 2007 for a training exhibition by the Roman Plaza
at Caesars Palace.
"Mach"
Sakurai was the first to make his appearance in front of a heated
crowd, greeting the audience in English to express his enthusiasm
for the match against Mac Danzig. After demonstrating his ground
techniques against his corner man, he impressed the audience with
his swift moves working mitts with special guest, Matt Hume.
 
Next
to take the ring was Kazuo Misaki, who will be fighting Frank
Trigg at the upcoming event. He began with a few judo techniques
(harai-goshi, ippon-zeoi, etc.), followed by several ground technique
demonstrations, and finishing off with punching mitts. At the
end of his workout, he asserted that he is "not only here
to overwhelm his opponent, Frank Trigg, but to overwhelm the crowd
with his Samurai spirit."
Current
light-weight champion, Takanori Gomi, made his entrance amidst
loud cheers from the audience. He greeted the crowd in Japanese,
claiming that his purpose here is to win at the upcoming match
against Nick Diaz and make a great show. Gomi immediately grabbed
the fan's attention with a bit of humor as he mounted the ring
with his gloves and said, "I can't fight with two right-handed
gloves." Despite his rather short workout punching mitts,
his appearance left the crowd satisfied. Gomi was pursued by a
herd of fans asking for autographs and photo opportunities as
he stepped down from the ring.
The
bouts lined up for Saturday's big event are sure to be top-class.
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