(Video courtesy YouTube/Kimura.se)

PRIDE veteran Enson Inoue sat down with Kimura.se recently for a candid interview and discussed everything from his fighting career and marijuana possession charges to his relationships with all of the Japanese Yakuza mafia families.

Inoue was asked about his tumultuous relationship with former brother-in-law Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto and expounded on why their friendship went south.


Here’s Enson’s explanation in a nutshell:

Inoue, who got a Yakuza family off of Yamamoto’s back after Kid accidentally shot one of them in the face with an air pistol, turned Norifumi onto MMA after taking his wife’s younger brother in to live with the family so he could look out for him after the incident.

Norifumi was a talented wrestler with Olympic aspirations, but was expelled from school and put on one year probation by the heads of his wrestling program due to the administrators’ fear of Yakuza retribution and the knowledge of the incident becoming public. According to Inoue, he negotiated Kid’s contract with K-1, only to see Yamamoto breach the contract in favor of a more lucrative payday eight months later, which made Enson look foolish for vouching for him.

He says that until Kid removes himself from his current entourage of "viruses," which includes his father who is the biggest problem according to Inoue,  he will never reach his full potential as a fighter.

Definitely an interesting video and Inoue is candid in his recollections, which makes the stories that much more engrossing.