K-1: This year’s world Grad Prix final is now approaching. As you decided  to advance to the final at the Melbourne competition, you had about half a year to this stage.

Hoost: It’s been a long time (laughs)

K-1: I was impressed when you said “I don’t care who the competitor is” immediately before the Melbourne competition.

Hoost: I don’t look down on competitors. I don’t want to be a bigmouth player who says “I am number one” however, to be the champion, I have to be ready to fight any competitor. Saying “I don’t care who the competitor is” is a matter of my attitude.

K-1: I see. With an attitude like that, I believe you could have achieved consecutive wins at the Grand Prix. May I ask you one thing? Have you ever met someone who you think is stronger than you?

Hoost: I have never met anyone who I thought I could never beat. You have lost the moment you think you cannot win. I don’t want to brag, but I am confident in myself and have the belief in my ability to beat anyone. I think I have proven this by winning the Grand Prix three times so far.

K-1: You have been regarded as one of the top fighters up until now, but there is now a new upcoming generation of fighters. I have heard comments that Hoosts time is almost over.

Hoost: (laughs) It’s natural that people may think this, as I grow older. The younger generation is no doubt growing. If I lose a match the media always wants to attribute it to my age (laughs). However, I have never felt that my power was fading. That’s why I’m fighting at the Tokyo dome this year.

K-1: You don’t think you have reached the limit?

Hoost: No, I don’t. Actually, I think I am stronger than I was in my twenties, because now I have more experience. If I were to fight against myself in my high-spirited twenties, I would definitely win.

K-1: I have one more question, though it is a difficult question to ask. People say that you have fewer wins by knockout recently. What is your comment on that?

Hoost: There is nothing I can do about that. The most important thing is to win the match.  Of course I am happy if I can win by knockout, and always intend to inflict on the opponent during the fight, but I don’t necessarily think I have to knock him out. It is natural that I should fight differently with different opponents if I want to win the match. If I place priority on a knockout, I could lose a match that I should have won.

K-1: I guess you are never to lose, however well you fight a match.

Hoost: When I win by knockout, it’s usually when my counter hit was successful. I may not be able to beat an opponent without an effective counter. There were few opponents that fought against me decisively in last years final, so I had fewer chances to use my counter. That’s why I was able to win one match after the other so easily. However, it’s a shame if people think the match was boring because I didn’t win it by knockout. I believe Japanese fans understand that.

K-1: This resulted in a competition in which there were no Japanese fighters in the final tournament for the first time in K-1 history. Musashi was beaten by Nicholas Pettas in the Japan Grand Prix. Did you see the match?

Hoost: Yes, I did.

K-1: Why do you think Musashi was beaten?

Hoost: I think Musashi was overconfident of his ability. My impression is that Musashi had the slight advantage until the final end of the first round. He then dropped his arms and behaved like Mohamed Ali, you know. He is not Mohamed Ali, though. That’s why he got punched and was beaten. If that were me, I would never make such mistake. Furthermore, I believe that it is not good to be too confident. Being confident is good, of course; however being overconfident has a negative effect.

K-1: I agree.

Hoost: He is not a bad fighter, and in fact, has talent to grow stronger in the future. But, he was nevertheless beaten. I think maybe the problem lies in his training method. I don’t know what kind of training he does, but I would advise him it is important to concentrate even for short periods of time.

K-1: By the way, you chose the first match without hesitation in the tournament drawing for the final competition. Stefan Leko was already waiting there as you know.

Hoost: It was exactly the same as last year.

K-1: Yes, it was. You drew the second ball last year and chose the first match where Mirko Crocop was waiting. The main reason for that was that you could have the longest break before the next match wasn’t it?

Hoost: I was lucky to draw the second ball again this year.

K-1: You beat Leko by a knockout in 1997 once, didn’t you?

Hoost: He has been rapidly improving recently, though. He is a good fighter with a rapid right straight and back blow burst, so a moment’s carelessness is fatal. He fought a good match with Jerome. As with Mirko last year, it is definitely easier psychologically to fight an opponent I have beaten before.

K-1: If you beat Leko, you will fight either Jerome LeBanner (or) Mark Hunt. You have beaten both of them. It seems very likely you will win the tournament three times in a row.