The wild man from Brazil returns to the ring on American soil once again. Marcelo Tigre [Tigre is the Portuguese spelling of Tiger] has not been as active as he would like to have been, but then again, he would be happy if he could fight every other day. Tigre takes on Egan Inoue's number one student in an event that is titled, "The Road to Egan/Tiger 2." Egan Inoue will fight Tigre's top student on the same card. These fights are meant to serve as "tune up" fights before their much anticipated rematch. I caught up with Tigre at the Team Tiger gym, which has expanded its offerings and grown since I last went there.

FCF: The last time you fought was in Japan at Deep 2001. Tell us about your fight there.
Marcelo Tigre: For this event I was in good shape and ready to fight, but people always say that I don't care about the rules, that I want to make my own rules. But this time, they [Deep 2001 organizers] put rules and nobody followed them. I tried to follow the rules, but he [Tigre's opponent] didn't. Now I know what rules I am going to follow. I tried to follow the rules and do good in Japan because Japan is the best place for fight. I had a little problem before my fight, but all my fights are like that. As the fight goes on, all my opponents know that they cannot beat me because my heart is big. Then it becomes to easy for me and I always finish them, like in Japan. I have a good name in Japan. I am going to fight there again in Deep 2001 and Pancrase after the fight at Super Brawl in Hawaii.

FCF: Do you have any dates when those fights are?
MT: June 21st, I have a fight in Super Brawl. On the 28th of the same month, I fight in Pancrase. I fly straight to Japan after Super Brawl. And then after that fight, I come back to Hawaii because of my students. I have a big team here and I have to take care of my students. Then I go back to Japan to fight in Deep 2001 for my belt. I think it is on August 15th.

FCF: Do you know who your opponent is for the Pancrase fight?
MT: I don't know who my opponent is yet. The next Super Brawl event in October, I am going to fight again with Egan Inoue. I am also going to fight with Kimo [Leopoldo] at the Blaisdell [arena in Hawaii]. I think it is October 21st. That is my schedule for now.

FCF: You're fighting Egan and Kimo in the same month? When is the fight with Egan?
MT: I think October 12th. I have a paper with the date on it. We signed the contract already.

FCF: You don't mind fighting two big fights so close together?
MT: No, this is good for me, it will make me in shape. Like I told you, I have a big team that takes care of me. I have my personal trainer who stretches me. She came from Brazil, her name is Patricia. She came to help me with my flexibility because I have no flexibility. But I am better now, before it was "no train, just fight." But now, I got to change everything to make me more stronger because there is always someone big for me to fight. I fight any weight, I don't care about the weight. I don't care when I am going to fight. I can fight today. I can fight tomorrow. It doesn't matter because I am a fighter. I am like an animal. An animal fights to survive, that is my way.

FCF: What kind of training are you doing?
MT: I am training all day long. I make my freestyle class in the morning, all my students help me. My teacher is going to come here this month on the 10th. My teacher, Banni Calvancanti, is going to come to help me. In the afternoon, I box with Dave and then after Dave, I lift weights and train Jiu-Jitsu, just positions. I do this every day, every day! I have someone who helps me with my mind because that is very important. Sometimes I want to fight all the time, but now I have managers. They set the schedule with me. They did not want me to fight four fights right after each other, but I wanted to do this. I wanted to see how I do. I have students who fight freestyle too, but I don't know how to stay in their corner. I want to stay inside the ring. I think I am too young to stay out in the corner. I want to be in the ring, no matter what. This is what I want to do.

FCF: How has Patricia helped you with your training?
MT: She makes a schedule for me. For cardio, she makes me swim. She helps me to run. She really helps me stretch and works on my flexibility. If I had to work on my flexibility by myself, I'm never going to do it. I do a lot of cardio. I think that I feel a lot stronger now. I think that is why I lost a lot of weight. I feel in better shape. Now I have a personal trainer, everything is important. Before, I did not care about flexibility. I didn't care about anything. I just wanted to get in the ring and kill somebody. But I know that people learn every day and I got to grow up too. I got to see something new every day. All the biggest fighters in the world right now are training like I am training right now. That's why I can be on the top too and I can challenge everybody, like I always did and I will always do.

FCF: Tell us how your gym has grown from only being open solely for you to now being a full fledged school?
MT: When my academy began, it was just for me, just for my sparring and to help me. After that, people said that there is a crazy guy in the ring with good technique and they want to see me. People come to see me and talk to me. My manager saw this and saw that we could make this into a business in Hawaii. People want to learn freestyle, they want to learn Jiu-Jitsu, they want to do exercise. They want to do anything to make them in shape. They also want good self-defense because you don't get attacked everyday. You don't want to [have to] kill a guy. You just want to protect yourself. My academy grew fast. I have 100 students, that's why I brought a lot of Brazilian guys to help me in Hawaii. I cannot fight and do this at the same time.

FCF: You even have a World Champion and Olympian at your academy.
MT: Brian Villoria came here to train because we have a good ring. He is the champion of the world [in boxing, and also a 2000 Olympian] and everyone wants to see him do good. He is a Hawaiian guy and made his name big. His father helps me a lot with boxing. I have a big team to support me. I try to put everybody together and make a big team. I help them on the ground with Jiu-Jitsu and they help me with boxing and everything else. Now I can punch really hard. Before I could not punch, but now that is different. Can you imagine an animal with training? It is now going to be too easy. I respect all of my opponents but I don't care about them. Whoever is going to fight with me, I have to break their bones. I don't care. I have to do my job. This is my job, to survive. I eat everyday. I go out shopping. Whatever I do, it is because I make money fighting. I am a professional fighter. When I am inside the ring, the rules don't matter, they have to kill me. To kill me, they have to fight. This is my number one power. This is my secret.

FCF: In this next fight you are fighting one of Egan's [Inoue] top students and Egan is fighting one of your top students. Why don't you talk about this fight and are you looking forward to fighting Egan again?
MT: I don't know why they put two students to fight against me and him. I disagree with this. I want to fight with Egan Inoue because I know that I am going to finish him. The last time, I was sick and this time I have a big team and I am fine. Egan knows about this and I think this is why he doesn't want to fight with me. I think that my student is better [than Egan]. I think that my student is going to kill him. I am sad about that, but I have to keep my student strong. I know my student is going to be the winner. I don't think this is going to be a good idea because after fighting my student, Egan Inoue is not going to want to fight with me anymore. This guy I am going to fight, Tali Kuliha'apai, I don't know him. I don't know what he is thinking. But here is a message for him. I am a fighter. I am an animal. If he wants to do that, let's do it, but he is going to have a big problem in his life. He is never going to forget Marcelo Tigre.

FCF: In your first fight with Egan, you took a lot of blows. Basically, you absorbed all those blows and he spent all his energy trying to knock you out. He was exhausted by the second round. How do you expect this fight to be different from the first?
MT: Like I told you, I was sick in the first fight. Egan is in good condition, he has good training, but he doesn't have the same heart as I have. You were there, everybody seen, they tried to make their own rules. Enson wanted to slap the referee and the referee was their student [Note: For the record, the referee Matt Hume is not a student of Egan or Enson Inoue]. When I came here, I could not speak any English, I could not talk to anybody. Now I have a team, if there is something is wrong, now I am ready. If something goes wrong and I have to beat up everybody in the ring, I don't care. I am not going to follow the rules if my opponent doesn't. The last time, Egan Inoue and me was a good fight. He became tired, I don't know what happened. He knew that he could not beat me with punches and kicks. I am too much for him. It is better that he tries and fights with my student and not with me because he already knows who was the winner [of the first fight].

FCF: Obviously, he is going to learn from your first fight. He is probably going to come out differently. What do you expect from his this time?
MT: I don't expect nothing. However he comes out to fight me, I am going to beat him anyway. Whatever he does is nothing for me. I am ready to fight with him. I am ready to fight anybody, anytime. I want to fight and I am going to beat everybody inside the ring, including him.

FCF: Thanks Tiger.
MT: No problem. Thank you.