Interview: Cyrille "Snake Bite" Diabate

By Rohit Verma

Pride veteran Cyrille "The Snake" Diabate talks to MMA Universe about his upcoming fight with Ryan Robinson.

Hi Cyrille, thanks for taking the time to do this interview. How do you feel about returning to the Cage Rage Ring on April 21st?
I am happy to be back. My first two fights there were at a very bad moment of my life and I m really sorry I didn’t give a better showing. Hopefully I’ll have a good fight with Ryan!

You will be facing Ryan Robinson at Cage Rage 21: Judgement Day. What do you know about your opponent?
Nothing much! I saw him in Cage Rage before but can’t remember what kind of fighter he is. Judging by his record he’ll try and take it to the ground.

Ryan is moving down from Heavyweight to Light-Heavyweight for this bout. What threats does this pose?
Well he’ll probably be cutting allot of weight to be under the 93kg mark but I’m used to fighting heavier opponents....so it shouldn’t be different from usual.

How are you preparing for this fight?
I m working allot on the things that I need to improve the most. I wasn’t able to train enough on wrestling and grappling last year because of a bad injury but everything’s back to normal again so I’ve been focusing on those.

Melvin Manhoef relinquished his Cage Rage World title after joining the K1 HEROS promotion. Do you hope to fight for the title in the future?
Well for now I m just getting ready for Ryan.....we’ll see after that.

Your last fight was at Pride: Final Conflict 2006 Openweight. Do you know when your next fight in Pride will be?
I really don’t know! I’ve asked them to make sure that the next time I get time to train properly so that I can fight a better fight. We’ll see after Cage Rage what happens.

How many fights are you contracted to with PRIDE FC?
Two more fights contracted. There’s been a few changes with my management but I hope it wont change the deal with Pride...it shouldn’t but you never know.

Are you disappointed that the UFC is hosting their UK show on the same day as your fight at Cage Rage?
No! Frankly I really don’t care! I m just happy to be back there fighting....and also happy that the Big Shows are just next door to France! Hopefully French fighters will be getting more and more media coverage with Cage Rage getting bigger and bigger and the UFC coming to the UK.

Do you have any parting words for the readers of MMA Universe?
Hope they will be looking out for all the Snake Team fighters and that they will continue to support us!

Take care

(Source)