M-1 Challenge 30 title challenger Yasubey Enomoto better prepared for rematch

On Thursday, on the eve of his title fight and rematch with M-1 welterweight champ Shamil Zavurov (18-1), Yasubey Enomoto (8-3) was as cool as a naked Eskimo sitting on a block of ice eating a Popsicle.

After all, in the days before a fight, his nerves aren't easily rattled.

But get the Swiss fighter to the arena on fight night, as officials will do tonight for the Showtime-televised M-1 Challenge 30 headliner, and the switch is thrown.

Once at the venue, Enomoto puts on his game face, and his fight can't come soon enough.

On Thursday, though, when talking to MMAjunkie.com Radio (www.mmajunkie.com/radio) Enomoto sounded anything but nervous over what's arguably the biggest fight of his career. Why?

"Because I'm at the pool right now," said Enomoto, who was enjoying the sunny weather in Costa Mesa, Calif., which plays host to tonight's event at The Hangar at the OC Fair & Event Center. "Usually I get nervous right at the entrance of my fight when I see the other fighters fight. I get nervous because I want to perform and don't want to watch other people fighting.

"But usually the days before, I'm not really nervous."

Enomoto, a six-year pro who was the runner-up in World Victory Road/Sengoku's 2010 welterweight grand prix, has won both his M-1 fights (over Rafal Moks and Josh Thorpe) since his initial loss to Zavurov back in April.

But Enomoto, who first got turned onto martial arts after watching Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee movies, doesn't expect a repeat performance. As an injury replacement for Rashid Magomedov, he dropped that first five-round fight via close decision with 48-47 judges' scores.

However, his pre-fight preparations were largely limited to the sauna.

"I had only eight days to prepare," he said. "I had eight days' notice. It was a little bit hard. All I did for the fight was cut weight because I was really heavy."

This time, he expects a different outcome.

"I could prepare the right way this time," he said. "This time I'm ready."

http://mmajunkie.com/news/26462/m-1-challenge-30-title-challenger-yasubey-enomoto-better-prepared-for-rematch.mma

Yeah you could tell Enomoto was not himself in that fight. He was gassed on the ground and not very active. Was very unusual.