Dream 10 Quoteworthy

TOKYO -- Below are some choice quotes post-Dream 10 that were not included in the notebook on the front page:

“I respect Aoki very much. I like his style of eliminating his opponent’s strengths while asserting his own to get submissions. I’d like to face him -- my striking techniques against his grappling techniques. It’ll be one-hit kill meets certain death grappling. If the fight happens, it’ll be very exciting. I think that the next goal is to participate in the New Year’s Eve event. If I need to fight one more fight before New Year’s Eve, I’ll do it. I think it might be rude of me to challenge him, so maybe I should fight and win a few more fights before I face him. But if this fight is indeed offered to me, I would certainly take it.” -- Katsunori Kikuno on the prospect of fighting Shinya Aoki

“Well, I think the fight was held between two great fighters, whether they fought on the feet or on the ground. I expected a deadlock to happen because they were so good. But from Aoki’s viewpoint, as a fighter, I can understand him not wanting to have back-to-back losses. People expected Aoki to perform well, so he must have felt something after hearing the boos today. I hope that he can learn from this experience.” -- Dream Event Producer Keiichi Sasahara on Aoki’s performance against Vitor Ribeiro

“Well, I’m not him, so it’s just my guess, but I was confident that he couldn’t pass my guard, and I thought I was leading on points. So, I thought I could spend some time to work ground technique. If that was under North American [Unified] rules, it would have been stood up, but this is Japanese MMA, Dream rules. So the zombie from the rubber guard is meant to capture [the opponent’s arm] with the overhook. That I was able to do that was a mistake on Shaolin’s part.” -- Aoki discussing what he believed to be Ribeiro’s mistakes on the ground

“I think it’s OK to use elbows. It’s not like we have any feelings against it. As long as we have good rules as a sport, I’m OK with it. If the fighting becomes more exciting, then I think elbows are OK.” -- Aoki talking about elbows in MMA

“I think I had a very good fight. I’ve always fought muay Thai, and when the kick comes in muay Thai, you use your elbow. That’s what I was taught, and that’s what I’ve been doing all my life. I really do not understand why I lost points doing that. I was blocking it, but I lost points, so I’m not really convinced of that.” -- Ribeiro expressing his feeling that his muay Thai technique was not appreciated

“He tried to use his grappling on other fighters, but he didn’t do that this time. I don’t know why. What I have been training is not at Aoki’s level. He did not fight with me on the ground, so I am not satisfied. The press talked Aoki up a lot, but he’s just a normal guy -- just two arms, two legs. He’s not that good a fighter. He shouldn’t be put on a pedestal like that. If he’d engaged me on the ground, it would have been a better fight. So should I change my fighting style? Can you get points just by kicking like Aoki did?” -- A frustrated Ribeiro discussing his encounter with Aoki, the world’s No. 2-ranked lightweight

“Yeah, I got a few punches, but my mind was clear. However, I also knew that if I got more punches, it would be too dangerous, so I defended myself and was very happy that I was able to use my favorite technique to finish the fight.” -- Former World Extreme Cagefighting middleweight champion Paulo Filho, who admitted earlier that he was not entirely sure what happened during his fight with Melvin Manhoef, only that it ended in an armbar

“The fight went pretty good. As you know, I’m a stand-up fighter and I like to bang. I was hitting him pretty good, and in one moment, I lost my distance a little bit. I wanted to turn out of the armbar, but it was stuck. It was a little bit of a shame, you know, because I really wanted to win. Everybody was talking good about him, that he’s one of the greatest ground fighters. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen. My takedown defense is good because he couldn’t get me to the ground. I do both things -- I do K-1, and I do Dream MMA -- so it’s very difficult for me to focus myself on one thing. Maybe if I focus on one thing, it’ll be much better. But I like to fight, so I want to fight both. I think if we do it again, I think he cannot win.” -- Manhoef on his loss to Filho

“The UFC kind of labeled me with that [bad boy image], and I don’t know if I’m really like that or not. I just want to show the fans that I’m actually a pretty good guy. Obviously, from my past, I’ve got a lot to prove now. I got two boys, two sons, and this provides a means to an end, and I really like fighting here. Tell you the truth, I really like fighting here than fighting in the states.” -- “The Ultimate Fighter” alum Jesse Taylor clearing the air and picking his preference in fighting location