We had the chance to speak to Andy Murasaki in the very first edition of JitsCast, and he opened up about missing out on the long-awaited rematch with Tainan Dalpra recently. The interview took place just a matter of days after Murasaki hit one of the highest points of his career so far, as he won the middleweight division at The Crown 2024. He won his first two matches in phenomenal fashion and booked a place in the final opposite Dalpra, but unfortunately Dalpra was unable to compete due to a broken hand. He missed out on the chance for a third match with Dalpra, so we wanted to find out how he felt about the situation:
“I’ve had two matches against Tainan, I lost twice so it’s 0-2 for him. It’s a match I was looking forward to at The Crown but it’s like, I want to be able to win against his best version, does that makes sense?”
It’s certainly a noble thought in fairness, and you can tell that Andy Murasaki genuinely wants to beat the best version of Tainan Dalpra when he eventually does get that rematch. He went on to explain that in a little more detail too:
“Let’s say we fought and he wasn’t at his best, it’s not in my hands. It’s not on me, right? I did everything I could to be my best and things happened to me in my preperation, but I was still there. We can’t really control those outside factors, I would say… I would still be happy if we fought and I won, I would still be happy obviously… I would rather have a win when we’re both on our best versions. I think that would be better for myself, that would be better for the public who’s watching, that would be better for everyone.”
JitsCast #1 with Andy Murasaki, including his thoughts on a third match with Tainan Dalpra, is now available to watch on the official JitsMagazine YouTube channel, click here to subscribe for more or check out the interview below:
