Kimo Leopoldo Interview

[Bill_C]

KIMO LEOPOLDO INTERVIEW:

A conversation held with the intention of clearing up old rumors concerning some fights in Japan

Over the decades I’ve heard Kimo speak a few times on the circumstances surrounding his fight with Kazushi Sakuraba (the first of the bouts to be discussed here). There seemed to be a bit of variance to the details, but a large part of the issue may have been that these were quick comments, as he wasn’t interviewed at any length about the situation. I reached out to see if I could get some additional insight.

Interview conducted by William Colosimo on August 21st, 2026.

William Colosimo: There was an article in Fighting Sports Newsletter–this was an old mixed martial arts (MMA) newsletter that was coming out in 1996. They reported back then about the three matches you had coming up–or, it was allegedly three–that you had coming up in Japan. They may have mentioned Kazushi Sakuraba and Yoshihiro Takayama by name. But what they were reporting–the reason I wanted to call you, to see if we can clear this up–is they were saying that you were going to go to Japan, have those two fights–win–and then, the whole point was for you to have a third fight, with Yoji Anjo. That’s the guy that fought Rickson (Gracie) in his dojo in '94. So, you were supposed to have a third fight with Yoji Anjo, and you were supposed to lose that one. And this was basically a build up to get Yoji Anjo over with the fans.

Kimo Leopoldo: Okay. That guy was kind of a punk. I would never… I was supposed to have fought him. But then he ended up fighting “Tank” (David Abbott); and Tank beat his ass, I think.

Colosimo: Tank did fight him in December of '97 in the first Japanese UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship). So, do you remember…

Kimo: I totally remember all that. I remember all of that stuff. Yeah (laughter).

Colosimo: When you got the Sakuraba fight–he was obviously an unknown; he had his first MMA fight like, a month before, in UWFi (Note: Union of Wrestling Forces International, which was a strong-style pro wrestling company in Japan that held at least several real fights in their time. In my opinion, Sakuraba most likely had what was his first MMA fight in that organization–a victory against Dutch kickboxer Rene Rooze on their June 26th, 1996 event titled “Scramble Wars.” Sakuraba then went on to fight Kimo on July 14th, 1996). All these fights seem to be through UWFi. Do you remember who the promoter was, or how you got contacted for the Sakuraba fight–that first fight?

Kimo: Yeah, I just know that… for one, I don’t pick my fights; whoever they offer me to fight–I take the fight. I never did film, or looked up my fighters. There’s many a times that I don’t even know the guy I’m fighting until I get to the event, just a couple days before–then, I know who I’m fighting. I didn’t know nothing about Sakuraba, until after Sakuraba. You know?

[Bill_C]

Colosimo: Oh, yeah–there was nothing out there on him at the time. And this would have been pretty much even before the internet.

Kimo: So, I think… to me, that was a set up. They tried to set me up with Sakuraba–to kick my ass, and make a name. I don’t think they would put me over easy, so that way Anjo would get his glory back.

Colosimo: Well, when you fought Sakuraba–I just rewatched these two fights–it was very clear you were fighting to win. And he looked like he was in some pain; it didn’t look like he was faking anything. But, how did you get contacted for that Sakuraba fight?

Kimo: My manager–I can’t remember who it was at the time. So, they contacted me. And then a lot of times the Japanese want to do fights where I can’t punch them in the face. Which, is what it was with Sakuraba and Takayama. They wouldn’t let me punch 'em in the face. But, I know that they stall. What they do is they have a technique–they stall, so that way… foreigners tend to run their juice quick, and run out of gas towards the later rounds, so… I make it so they can’t stall. I say “Okay–I can head butt.” Because if somebody holds both of my hands, I can still head butt them if they’re stalling. So, that’s it. I head butted him in the fight, and he started moving again, because he was starting to stall.

Colosimo: Oh! So–this was a little point of confusion–you’re saying that you negotiated for head butts in the fight?

Kimo: Oh yeah, always. Because when they tell me I can’t punch 'em in the face, that’s a way that they can stall, and make the fight go longer and progress it. 'Cause they know foreigners kind of blow their wad. We were learning at that time. We didn’t know as much as we do now, so we would tend to blow our wad in situations where they just kind of go the same pace, and they’d win at the end.

Colosimo: Makes sense. So, were they trying to sell you… 'cause that UWFi style–they would throw shots to the face, but they were open hand palm strikes; they never threw closed fists. Is that what they were trying to get you to do?

Kimo: Yes. Yes, but completely, the whole fight–no part of the fight could I close the fist. If you watch my fight with Sakuraba–I almost punched him in the face. And I opened my palm, just in time to catch his mouth. And, that moment actually, made me change my whole way of fighting. From just being a brawler, I got… just, a light went on. And then I started doing technique, and started thinking while I was fighting, instead of just aggro.

[Bill_C]

Colosimo: Awesome. This was July of '96; so going back like five months before, your last fight would have been versus Ken (Shamrock) in UFC 8, and I think Matt Hume was your trainer for that one. Was he also managing you at that time? For Ken Shamrock?

Kimo: No, I had a manager that was in Seattle. So, I went to Seattle to train, and get out of California for a while, and try to get a good camp going.

Colosimo: Okay, fair enough. With the Sakuraba fight–you won that in four minutes and 20 seconds; you got an arm triangle choke, or a side choke.

Kimo: My jiu-jitsu was just jammin’ in that fight. That guy, he goes from one thing to another thing, so constantly I went from a favorable position, to now I was in an opposite position. It was a back and forth constantly, in that fight.

Colosimo: So, you felt he was–even at that young age–he was pretty dangerous at that point.

Kimo: I thought he was dangerous, but as the fight progressed… he wasn’t getting caught in my submissions because I wasn’t really at the black belt level yet–so, they weren’t really tight submissions, but I can usually strengthen and cheat my way to it. But I couldn’t with him, because his technique was so flawless. I had no clue who he was. So, I didn’t know anything about him–like I said–until after the fight.

Colosimo: He was a UWFi pro wrestler–and your next fight would be on a UWFi card–but you fought Sakuraba in Shootboxing on one of their events called the “S-Cup.” Why it was in Shootboxing?

Kimo: 'Cause they had like, a whole bunch of different styles. Maybe it’s 'cause I couldn’t punch him in the face? I’m not sure, but… it was a weird promotion, where there was a whole bunch of different style types of fights. I mean, there was even wrestling, and there was I think karate–a whole bunch of different things on there.

Colosimo: When you got to Japan, the lead up to that fight–was there any kind of funny business, where you thought they were trying to set you up? Or you guys were just debating the rules, and that was the main thing you were concerned about?

Kimo: Everything was negotiated prior, so I wasn’t worried about the rules. I don’t worry about anything when I’m fighting. It’s just that before the fight, they came in, they go “Hey, kinda make him look good–don’t beat him too quick.” So, they were trying to tell me to take it easy in the beginning. That right there makes me go “Pssh. Hell no.” You give somebody an opportunity–it’s when they take the opportunity, and then they win! I don’t ever do that kind of stuff.

[Bill_C]

Colosimo: That’s interesting they did that. Would those have been the promoters of that event, who came in and asked you to go easy on him?

Kimo: I’m not sure exactly. I don’t know if it was the promoters, because they weren’t all dressed too nice. So, I almost want to say it was just somebody who was part of the company or something, it wasn’t no… everybody didn’t bow when the person showed up, you know?

Colosimo: Okay. And then, after the Sakuraba fight, just a month later, you fought Takayama. And just by coincidence, that fight was almost 30 years ago to the day–it happened August 17th, 1996.

Kimo: Oh, wow. Wow.

Colosimo: I know, we’re getting old (laughter). But anyways, that one was in the UWFi. It was on an outdoors show. It’s not on your Sherdog (www.sherdog.com) record, but it’s obviously a real fight. You won in a minute and 16 seconds; you got a rear naked choke. It was pretty brutal; once again–there was some hair… he had some kind of beads, or dreadlocks, and you were pulling on them–

Kimo: Yep. After my hair got pulled–anybody that’s gonna wear long hair against me–man, you’re gonna learn. You’re gonna learn.

Colosimo: Ahh, okay, I got it–after the Royce (Gracie) fight (Note: In UFC 3, Kimo’s first MMA fight). Makes sense. Now, with that match in UWFi–that was another guy that would go on to be famous from his fight with Don Frye, in PRIDE (PRIDE Fighting Championships). How did you feel about that match? Everything that surrounded that match.

Kimo: Once again, I didn’t know, didn’t have a clue who I was fighting, until the day before the fight–weigh-ins, and all that stuff. Then I saw him, and I was like, “Oh, homeboy is kinda big.” I thought he was just a (professional) wrestler, I didn’t know he had any kickboxing skills. I thought he was just one of the wrestlers. So, I really didn’t think too much of him. My game plan was just to get underneath him, and hold him on the ground. And basically, that’s what I did.

Colosimo: Did anyone come up to you before the match and ask you “Hey, can you go easy on him?” Or not in this case?

Kimo: No. Actually, to tell you the truth, at the weigh-ins, he said some stuff. And I asked the guy who was my translator, “So, what’s he saying?” He goes, “Oh, he’s saying ‘Now that I see Kimo, everybody thinks he’s all this, but–he ain’t nothing.’” And so, I kind of took it personal. I was going to take it to him right off the bat. Even after that fight–I’m choking him–I hold that choke; they have to pull me off of him. He was sleeping in his own blood. I didn’t let go of that choke right away; I held it on purpose.

[Bill_C]

Colosimo: Sakuraba was part of the UWFi, too–so, did you deal with the same promoter for both fights?

Kimo: I’m not sure, because all I did was sign at the bottom line; it didn’t matter who I was fighting, or what they knew, or if this came or that came. Then I would fight. Like I said, I didn’t even know who any of these guys were. I didn’t know none of them. And the promoters, they weren’t PRIDE, and they weren’t K-1–so I knew they were probably just “fly-by-night” kind of guys, not consistent people that are gonna be there for years, or anything.

Colosimo: After that, your next fight–you never fought Anjo, obviously–your next fight would have been like four months later, that would have been against Scott Bigelow in U-Japan, another Japan show. When we were talking earlier about Anjo, you were saying that you were maybe tentatively lined up to fight him. Was it around the time you were fighting Sakuraba and Takayama? Was that fight being brought up there?

Kimo: I want to say yes; I want to say yes, because he had some guys, and his presence was like… I don’t know if he was trying to irritate me, or if he was trying to just provoke me. He was being like a Tank of Japan, is what I think he was trying to be (laughter). He was pissing me off.

Colosimo: So, he was most likely at both of your fights, then?

Kimo: Yes. In fact, when I fought Bigelow, I think he fought on that card, too; I’m not sure who he fought.

Colosimo: Let me see, I’ve got it pulled up here. He fought Sean Alvarez, it went like 35 minutes; he lost eventually, in a long fight. So with Anjo, when you saw him at those two matches with Sakuraba and Takayama, was there anything going on, where in front of the cameras–he was trying to agitate, to promote a potential fight with you? That type of thing?

Kimo: Yeah, he was. I didn’t know if… I didn’t really know that about him through the fight, I thought he was just being how he is. That’s how he is. He’s a punk, and he’s trying to provoke me, and trying to make me look bad, or whatever, I don’t know. That’s… I took it personal; I didn’t take it as an act, or anything.

[Bill_C]

S-Cup program front cover:

[Bill_C]

S-Cup program back cover:

[Bill_C]

S-Cup program interior page with Kimo vs Sakuraba:

[Bill_C]

This one was conducted within a few days of Mike getting his interview with Kimo

[Tongue]

Ahh someone else that the Fighting Sports Newsletter! It was very Informative for us back then

Love the interview

[Tongue]

I didn’t know Yoji Anjoh was a bit of an asshole

I remember FSN said that Kimo was supposed to fight at ufc 10 in the tournament with Coleman, Igor Vovchanchin, Tank and Keith Hackney .. that would have been a great bracket but seems it all fell apart

Byw a fresh Kimo vs Frye at ultimate ultimate 96 would have been interesting

[Canooke]

I think Frye would have beaten him.

[Bill_C]

I regret tossing most of my Full Contact Fighter newspapers and Fighting Sports Newsletters while moving over the last couple decades. I only kept key pages of interest from both, and somehow the issue mentioned at the beginning of this interview got tossed years ago (although I kept other Sakuraba-related pieces of info).

[Rabid_Bunyip]

Was this interview conducted via seance or ouija board?