This week when families get together to celebrate Thanksgiving, New York's Chris Kwiatkowski will be 4,000 plus miles away from his family. He will be representing America on November 26th at the WKN Big 8 World Tournament in Belarus. The tournament will feature some top fighters from around the world, including Andrei Kulebin and Samkor Keatmontep who are considered the favorites to make it the tournament finals.
Despite this being the toughest test of his career and coming in as an under dog, he knows this is his opportunity to make a statement and he is ready to seize it. In the tournament format anything can happen, Chris will be looking to make that "anything" happen. Despite being busy making his final preparations before he left to Belarus, Chris took some time to address a few questions about the upcoming tournament for Muay Thai Authority.
MTA: You are representing America in the Big-8 Belarus tourney, what were your first thoughts when asked to be in the tournament?
Chris: My first thoughts were of excitement & honor. This is a huge fight for me & my first chance to represent the USA as a professional. I’ve had the honor of representing the US as an amateur in the IFMA World Championships in Busan, South Korea & the WKA World Championships Huelva, Spain & both of those experiences were amazing.
MTA: Since you are representing the USA do you feel any added pressure going into this fight?
Chris: I do feel a little added pressure for representing the USA. I’m a fighter that tends to do better with added pressure. All my fights in NYC, where I am the home town guy always have a lot of pressure associated with them. I get up for those fights. I want to continue to prove that USA Muay Thai can compete on an international level. Hollenbeck, Adanza, Schilling, & Ross have been ripping it up against international competition & I just want to continue with that trend.
MTA: It is safe to say this will be the toughest test of your career. Some great fighters in the tournament including Andrei Kulebin, how do you prepare for what is your biggest test not only physically but mentally?
Chris: Yes, this will definitely be the toughest test of my career. I just train like I do for any fight. I always train hard. I’ve been working extremely hard on my cardio. I figure my best defense is a good offense. I’ve been eating really healthy, with the help of my nutritionist. So, I’m getting the most out of each of my training sessions. My boxing has come along a lot the past few months with the help of my trainer Jason Strout. I know I’m cracking hard, so I’m looking to let my hands fly. I’m a pretty mentally strong person, so as far as prep, I’m not sure what you can do for that. My past life experiences have made me pretty strong mentally. So I’m not really worried about the mental game. At the end of the day, it’s two fighters in a ring competing, & the better one will come out with his hand raised.
MTA: You are considered an underdog in this tournament, does that ease the pressure a bit?
Chris: It’s funny, I actually thought about that. I was like, “Wow, I no longer have the pressure of fighting in front of my friends, family, & local fans.” So I felt that feeling for a few minutes. It was kinda nice. But in reality, I have a lot of pressure. The pressure is representing USA Muay Thai & I enjoy that pressure. In NYC, everything you do is high pressure, & to be honest, that is generally the climate at which I excel, so I welcome it.
MTA: It is a one night tournament, have you ever competed in a one night tournament before?
Chris: I’ve had multiple fights in one day in a 2-day tournament, never lumped all together in such a short time span. This will be new territory for me. I’m going in one fight at a time. I’m not going to fight for the championship or the semi’s if I don’t win the first fight. So my mindset is that I have one fight. Then when I win that, I have one more fight, with the goal of obviously getting to the championship bout.
MTA: Knowing that it is a one night tournament, did you change your training at all and does that change your game plan as well?
Chris: My game plan has not really changed. I’m not in a position to be tactical or take it easy for the first fight, because I am the underdog. I did work a little extra harder on conditioning though. We worked multiple pad sessions in one training session to assimilate multiple fights. I know I did the work in the gym & on the track, so when I do need to dig deep, I will be able to grit it out.
MTA: What are you looking forward to the most from being part of this tournament?
Chris: I just love world competitions. I love everything from the Olympics to the World Cup. There is nothing better than different countries battling it out to see who is the best at any given sport. Everyone competing comes from a different background, but has the same love. In this case it’s Muay Thai. Being part of a true World Championship tournament is a huge honor & opportunity. These opportunities do not happen that often. So it is up to me to make the most of those opportunities when they do pop up.
You cant watch the WKN Big 8 Belarus tournament by ordering the on-line PPV stream at GFL.TV.
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