Enson Inoue has some impressive accomplishments, such as being the 1st Heavyweight World Shooto Champion and submitting UFC legend Randy Couture. However, he will always be remembered for his warrior spirit. Win or lose, Enson never gives up. It’s been five years since his last match but MMA fans still remember him like he just fought yesterday.

Today, Enson trains fighters in Japan, has several schools around the world and a clothing line at Pure Bred USA. We were fortunate enough to catch up with Enson and discussed topics ranging from MMA to music. In this first part of the interview, we talk about his fighting philosophy and the politics behind Pride FC:

Nerdsociety(NS): How did you get involved in MMA?
Enson Inoue(EI): In Hawaii I used to get into a lot of street fights, so in order to properly defend myself, I found Gracie Jiu-Jitsu. Then when I came to Japan to practice controlling my nerves, I thought of getting into the ring once… just once. That’s when I found Shooto and the rest is history.

NS: What’s your mindset going into a fight?
EI: For me it’s not a sport. I am going in there giving 110% even if it might result in my death.

NS: Have you ever disliked a fighter?
EI: No, never. My opponents were all class acts!

NS: I know you’re excellent on the ground, you armbarred Randy Couture in 1998, but it seems like you also like to throw down. Which one do you prefer, grappling or striking?
EI: I suck at striking but it’s what I like the best.
NS: Haha, I totally see that everytime you fight.

Inoue with the armbar against Couture

NS: Even though Pride FC went bankrupt, it’s still my favorite organization. How did Pride discover you?
EI: I guess because I was the 1st Heavyweight World Shooto Champion, they wanted me. So instead of me finding them, they found me.

NS: What’s your most memorable moment in Pride FC?
EI: Being able to test my heart against Igor in Pride 10
NS: I remember that fight, you still wanted to continue after the first round and the ref stopped it. You were yelling at the ref when it was stopped.

Inoue dodging a punch against Vovchanchyn.

NS: Who’s the toughest opponent you’ve fought?
EI: Mark Kerr in the opening round of Pride Grand Prix 2000. He was the best fighter at the time and I wanted to test my skills. I asked Pride to fight him in the first round.
NS: That’s why fans still remember you, because you fought the top fighters, including former Pride Heavyweight champion Antonio Nogueira.
EI: Thanks (laughing). Mark Kerr was the toughest because he was really strong and the most skilled at the time, he had enough technique to defend submissions. Plus he outweighed me by about 50 lbs.

NS: Can you share some of your interesting backstage experiences from Pride?
EI: There’s a couple I’d like to share. The most memorable backstage experience for me was when my brother, Egan (also a Pride veteran), fought Guy Mezger from the Lions Den at Pride 13. My brother lost the fight and as I go into the ring to check on my brother, Guy Mezger whispered in my ear “It’s nothing personal.” So I told him, “Of course it’s not, it’s a professional fight and you beat my brother fair and square.” Then Mezger apologized again and told me that he didn’t want to do it but he had no choice. So I told him that if he didn’t want to do it, don’t fucking do it. Then he spoke on the microphone and challenged me in front of the crowd.

NS: Oh yeah, I remember this debacle. I always wondered what happened.
EI: I was mad because it was pretty unprofessional of Pride to try and set up the fight before telling me about it. Once we were backstage, Mezger apologized again. He told me that Pride told him to challenge me or else he wouldn’t fight in the organization anymore. Mezger was put in a hard place and I don’t hate him. Today, we’re friends and I’d do anything to help him out. We’ve become good friends over time.

NS: I’m glad that you guys are good friends now. I’ve met Guy a couple of time and he’s a good guy. Did anything happen after that incident?
EI: So back to the story….I was still enraged in the locker room, Igor and Renzo were in there with us. I told two Pride employees, I wanted to see the current president at that time. Then Kawasaki, a higher Pride official came in. As he came in, I grabbed him and threw him to the ground. I got him in a full mount and Egan had to intervene and stop me from hitting him. Then Sakakibara, the president when Pride was sold to the UFC, came in and apologized. He said they didn’t know anything about the challenge. Two days later I had a meeting with the president and they gave me a five figure compensation for the trouble.

NS: I’ve always heard that a lot of fighters wanted to fight for Pride.
EI: Pride paid well and gave you the red carpet treatment but they made decisions based on what Japanese media wanted. Like Rampage, he’d only get a two week notice, so of course he couldn’t train properly. Another example are the decisions for some of the fights. Ricco beat Nogueira when they fought in Pride but since they wanted to protect their name, Nogueira got the decision.

NS: Another one that comes to mind was the Sakuraba vs Mezger match fiasco.
EI: Was that the one where Ken Shamrock told Mezger to walk out of the ring and stop fighting?
NS: Yes, the fight was suppose to end after the first round.
EI: Exactly! And since Mezger was winning against Sakuraba and would have gotten the decision, they decided to have another round to determine the winner. Pride wanted Sakuraba to go to the next round to sell more tickets and get more media attention.

EI: Another story involves Pride official and fighter Nobuhiko Takada. This wasn’t backstage though. It was at some club. So I noticed that him (Takada) and his friend were getting punk’d around by 18-20 guys. I was leaving the club when the pussy, Takada, screamed like a bitch “Ensooooooooon”. I come over and see that Takada’s friend was already getting beat up. Since I knew some of the guys that wanted to kick Takada’s ass, I told them that I knew Takada. After a bit of negotiating, they leave him alone. What surprised me about Takada was that he didn’t even try to help his friend out. He just stood there and watched while his friend was getting fucked up. He knew that if he stepped in, he would also get fucked up. With me, I’d die for my friends without a second thought. Takada just stands in front of his friend, and doesn’t do anything. What’s even worse is that I see Takada a couple of days later and he doesn’t even thank me for saving his ass. He acts like it never happened.

NS: That’s cold..
IE: Yeah, isn’t it? At least show some kind of gratitude. And this is the fucker that tells Sakuraba and Fedor after each fight how brave they are and acknowledges their fighting spirit. Fuck that, I wouldn’t want to hear those words coming from a coward’s mouth. Takada should enter a beauty pageant contest instead of being involved in MMA.

NS: I know you’re retired but if the opportunity comes, would you come out of retirement and fight one more time?
EI: Hell yeah. If the money is right. It’s all about the money now. I plan to come back especially after getting in trouble for marijuana.

Stay tuned for next week’s interview as Enson talks about his legal trouble in Japan, the current state of MMA, his Hollywood experience, the fans, and more!

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