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Kimo Leopoldo will take on Bob Sapp in the K-1 USA event taking place in Vegas on August 15th. Micheal Aframowitz did the following interview with Kimo for the K-1 USA website:


K-1: How do you feel about your upcoming fight with Bob?

Kimo: I just think this is a good opportunity to show a part of me that no one's really seen in a while. I've been working stand-up for a while and I'm the kind of guy – usually, I have to be forced to do something to bring the best out of me. Pressure brings the best out of me.

K-1: As far as your improvement in stand-up fighting, I know you recently started training with Eddy Millis of The Shark Tank. How is that going?

Kimo: It's going good because, first of all, for me to train with somebody I have to have enough respect for him to humble myself to let them instill their philosophy. Fighting is philosophy, more than actual technique because you have to believe in something. He's pulling that out of me – the confidence to believe in what I'm doing.

K-1: How do you feel training with Eddy has improved your stand-up fighting game?

Kimo: We'll see on August 15th. It's gotten me to the point that I'm gonna fight a K-1 fight.

K-1: From what you've seen of Bob, how do you feel you will match up with him?

Kimo: I feel I have a very good chance against Bob. He has some weaknesses and I have some too, so we're gonna see what happens. But, I feel that I'm gonna come out on top.

K-1: What kind of strengths, as a fighter, do you feel you bring to the sport of K-1?

Kimo: I bring that question mark in there where you don't know what's gonna happen. That excitement. I bring in charisma. I bring in my beliefs and I bring in a look.

As far as my fighting technique, I really don't want to talk too much about it because I don't want to give up what I'm gonna do in this fight. But, I have some strengths in my stand-up that are just natural abilities that I haven't used yet.

K-1: A lot of fans on the internet have been talking about the fight and have been questioning or even doubting your ability to succeed in a fight that involves all striking from a stand-up position. How would you respond to this criticism?

Kimo: I'm steppin' in there to show them what's up. I'm steppin' in there, not necessarily for their questions to be answered, but I'm steppin' in there for me to complete myself. I welcome the doubters because those are the people paying money to see me. They want to see their doubts come true. I like that because that's bringing them to the fight.

K-1: At this point, are you looking to stay with K-1 for the long-run?

Kimo: We've signed a six-fight deal with them so they're looking out for me. They're not just trying to take advantage of me with one fight. They're trying to build something around me, so I feel positive with that organization or else I wouldn't have just taken a chance like this.

The Tank (Abbott) fight (on June 6th) was a one fight deal for me. And that was a chance that I took because I knew that all kinds of things would happen from that. I knew I was gonna be able to win the fight and show myself. I feel good with my stand-up to the point where I feel I could make a career out of it.

K-1: What excites you about this sport?

Kimo: I'm starting to have fun doing kickboxing. I'm liking it and I'm pretty good at it, even though I haven't shown anyone yet. In the training room, I'm pretty good and I have certain combinations that I play off of that just came naturally to me.

If I could just go into the ring and pull the trigger when it's time to pull the trigger by throwing those combinations how I do in practice, everything should come out good. I don't want to say stand-up is new to me because I've been doing stand-up pretty much all through my MMA career, but I hadn't focused on it like I am right now. And now that I'm focused on it, it's like when I first learned Jiu-Jitsu. It's like a sponge – I'm soaking it all up. And the more you learn, the more exciting it gets. I'm learning a bunch.

K-1: A big part of fighting is mental. How would you say your experiences during your younger years made you the fighter that you are today?

Kimo: From my very first fight, it was all about mental because I didn't train and I didn't know what to expect. I just went in there with the faith of God, believing God would take care of everything. My belief in him is what got me into the ring to have the guts to step to the level where I would perform against professional athletes.

From there, I just carried it over by learning. When in the actual ring, you learn. I didn't have prior experience at all. All the experience that I got was actual fighting experience so I learned what works and what doesn't work and I learned that everyone's basically the same physically. One person may have a better right hand, one person may have a better left hand, one person may have a chin. But, a human is a human. The difference is what you said – the mental. So when you step into the ring, there can't be doubts or questions. You're there on a job and bring it on.

K-1: Back in 1995, you actually fought in a K-1 rules fight in Japan against Masaaki Satake.

Kimo: That was nothing about nothing. That was the first time I put gloves on. I never even trained with gloves prior to that fight. I had signed a four-fight deal with K-1. The first fight was (against) Patrick Smith (Leopoldo was victorious by way of submission under MMA rules on December 10, 1994) and the second fight they threw gloves on me. Joe Son was my manager and he didn't prepare me for that fight. That was basically my last fight with Joe Son as my manager because he put me into a situation where I had no clue of what was going on. Prior to that fight, I didn't even know it was a kickboxing match until I stepped into the locker room and they put gloves on me and I was like ‘What are these things (laughs)?' If you've never put gloves on, it's like having big pillows on your hands. You don't even really know how to punch with them on.

K-1: Is there anything else you would like to tell people?

Kimo: Yea, there is one thing. I beat Sakuraba (at the S-Cup in Japan). Everyone thinks it was a fake fight. No one has given me the credit for that. It's not even that I want credit for the win, I just want to know what's up with these organizations that won't even step up to the plate and give that win to me. Whoever prints up my record, none of them credit me with a win over Sakuraba. Sakuraba was a good victory for me because, even though when I fought him it was his first fight, I didn't know the potential he had.