Hisaki Kato is not like a box of chocolates. You know exactly what the hell you’re getting with him.
And his fans have another opportunity to get it Saturday, when the Japanese-French knockout sensation faces jiu-jitsu palace court member Ralek Gracie at Bellator 170.
“It’s easy to understand,” Kato said in an exclusive interview with Bleacher Report. “It’s a striker versus grappler matchup. I’m expecting him to try to put me down, and he expects me to strike him out.”
They are both reasonable expectations. Kato (7-2) has seven knockouts to his name. That’s some good symmetry there. Gracie is 3-0 as a pro with two submissions, but hasn’t competed in pro MMA for nearly seven years.
To his credit, Kato doesn’t pretend to view things as besides what they are. He doesn’t extol all the grappling work he’s been doing in the gym to prepare for Gracie. He doesn’t play coy with his game plan. As they say in baseball, he’s throwing his best pitch; we’ll all see together if Gracie can hit it.
Or rather, in this case, whether he can avoid being hit by it.
“I have nothing to hide,” Kato said. “My record is in knockouts, so it’s evident that we’re going to try to do what we’re good at. This is MMA, so I’m doing a lot of grappling and jiu-jitsu. But I enjoy more to strike. …I’d be lying if I said I’m better on the ground.”
When striking, Kato, a left-hander, carries a lot of power. He’s a bit of a berserker in there, a dervish of violence. His stance makes him that much harder to read.
“I’m a natural southpaw, so my left straight I’m confident in,” he said. “I would say I’m really effective and really unorthodox because I’m a southpaw and become of karate background. I think I have a different timing and different movements.”
Against Gracie, he’ll have a chance to redeem his last Bellator bout, a TKO loss to Melvin Manhoef, one of the hardest hitters in MMA history.
“He hits hard, and his hands are quick, but I wouldn’t say I was surprised [by Manhoef’s power],” Kato said. “But I have a lot of experience in karate fighting a lot of Russian and Ukrainian fighters, and they hit hard. I know what it means to be hit.”
As for MMA idols, Kato seems to have himself a bit of an Alpha Male fixation. He likes the kicks, quickness and movement of smaller fighters, including contender T.J. Dillashaw, formerly of Team Alpha Male, and current Team Alpha Male member and UFC bantamweight champ Cody Garbrandt.
“I like Urijah Faber [for his] incredible kicks and round kicks, movement,” Kato said. “I like T.J. Dillashaw. The new champ, Garbrandt, or however you say his name, for his quickness and the speed. Demetrious Johnson. I like a lot of different guys.”
On Friday, Kato’s prediction is clear. No one can say they were misled.
“It’s either going to be a boring fight on the ground, or it’s going to be on the feet striking and I will knock him out,” Kato said.
Unless otherwise noted, all quotes in this article were obtained by the author firsthand.
Scott Harris writes about MMA for Bleacher Report. For more, follow Scott on Twitter.
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