Andy Wang's Pancrase Experience

Friends,

Thanks again for all your support and kind words and even though we
didn't get the win in Pancrase this past weekend, we did gain a couple
of very important things:

1) For the first time in the history of Pancrase, which is the second
oldest MMA league in Japan, by virtue of me being in the main event
they had a TAIWAN flag hoisted on the rafters of the arena next to the
Japan flag. When I saw that, I almost cried because I knew this was a
huge event not only for me, but for all of us as well.

2) Most fighters go through their whole careers hoping for a chance to
be a main event, let alone one in Japan on a legitimate promotion. A
dream came true for me last weekend when I showed up and saw my name
and picture plastered everywhere, including: Samurai TV, several
websites and magazines, and the cherry-topper, on a daily newspaper
with my picture and article right under an article about Hidehiko
Yoshida, the biggest MMA star in Japan right now. The publicity
gained for Taiwan, Wang BJJ, Andy Wang and all my friends and team was
enourmous and will open doors for us down the line.

3) The fight event is being shown on TV in Japan!!! If any of your
friends live in Japan they can tape it off their TV soon so tell them
to keep their eye out for it.

4) I proved to many, many people in Japan, Taiwan and the USA and that
I can hang with the best that Japan has to offer and that Chinese MMA
will be a force to reckon with in the very near future. My opponent
Ito was talking a lot of garbage about how he was going to KO me and
all that; after I knocked his ass backwards on two separate
occassions, once with a left hook and another with a straight right,
he didn't smile so much anymore and all of a sudden he didn't want to
try and KO me anymore either!!! You don't know HOW GOOD IT FELT when
the fight was over and the Japanese crowd clapped for me on my way out
the ring; I earned their respect and even though the judges said I had
lost, the respect I earned was more than enough.

The fight was a very good one and even though I lost a split decision
(two judges scored it 2 rounds to 1 in favor of Ito, one judge felt I
won 2 rounds), I feel it was the correct decision and Ito was a very
deserving winner. I gave it all I had, but it wasn't enough on this
night but I PROMISE AND SWEAR I will only continue to get stronger and
better. I lost this fight quite simply, due to a particular mental
breakdown that has plagued me my whole career: I tried too hard for
the KO. After I had success early on with punches, I forgot about the
rest of the game and just concentrated on trying to get a spectacular
knockout. Two occassions stand out in my memory; once I had his back
and instead of putting my hooks in and going for the choke, I spun him
around and tried kicking him in the face. The second time was the
crucial mistake that cost me the fight. It was the third and final
round and whoever won round 3 would win the fight. I got on top right
away and if I had just used my BJJ skills right there and then, it
would have been very difficult for Ito to get back up, but instead, I
stepped back and let him stand up and once again tried kicking him in
the face on his way up. I did kick him in the face, but he recovered,
took me down, and held me down for the last 3 minutes and that was the
fight.

I feel proud of myself in the sense that most people could not imagine
me putting up that kind of fight against Ito after two years away from
MMA and coming off a loss in Colorado, but I am also upset at myself
because I let a victory slip away due to my streetfighting instincts,
once again. Frank Trigg was in my corner and cursing me in between
every round because I was not using all my skills. He's a great coach
and because I didn't listen to him, I had to watch in agony as my
opponent had his arm raised instead of mine.

I have a long way to go still. Right now, I feel like I am at about
50-60% of my ability. My physical preparation is there (I weighed in
at 164 lbs.!!!), but my mental preparation and sticking to the
gameplan have a long way to go.

But the best part of all this was how I felt in my heart during the
fight. All fighters will tell you that they aren't scared or nervous
or worried; I was all the above and more as I walked down the aisle to
the ring and saw thousands of Japanese faces, dozens of news cameras,
the PRIDE and K-1 scouts, etc. But not once did I doubt myself or
feel intimidated or unsure; I fought with all the passion and heart I
could muster and one thing for damn sure, Ito will never, ever forget
my name or face again.

All my love,
Andy Wang

http://www.pancrase.co.jp/tourarchive/2005/1204/review/002.html

http://www.pancrase.co.jp/tourarchive/2005/1204/rls/1202.html

http://www.pancrase.co.jp/tourarchive/2005/1204/itv/wang.html

http://sportsnavi.yahoo.co.jp/fight/other/photo/200512/04/a08/index.html

http://news.adcombat.com/article.html?id=10289

http://www.gbring.com/sokuho/news/2005_12/1202_pancrase.htm

http://www.gbring.com/sokuho/result/result2005_12/1204_pancrase.htm

http://www.boutreview.com/data/news05/051204pancrase.html

http://sportsnavi.yahoo.co.jp/fight/other/live/200512/04/index.html