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  - NAM PHAN SILENCES CRITICS AT SENGOKU 7
Thursday, March 26, 2009 - by Mick Hammond - MMAWeekly.com
Prior to his win on the March 20 Sengoku show, there had been questions if California standout Nam Phan could win on the big stage.
Losses in two Strikeforce events – to Josh Thomson and Billy Evangelista –sandwiched a defeat at the hands of Gesias “JZ” Calvancante in the short-lived K-1 Hero’s brand kept Phan from making the breakout he seemed destined to achieve.
Still, he refused to let the losses get the best of him and made the decision to move down to the featherweight division, leading to his impressive first-round knockout victory of former Shooto champ Hideki Kadowaki last Friday.
“I’m feeling great and I’m stoked,” said an elated Phan. “I feel like I trained really well and for this fight I was the most calm, focused and ready than in any other fight.”
Surprisingly the fight turned out to be a slugfest, with Phan landing the more precise strikes, eventually dropping Kadowaki just after the three-minute mark.
“That was my plan,” he stated. “Just try to get in and out, and knock him out.”
After disappointments in the lightweight division, Phan now feels that the move down to 143 pounds was the right decision to make.
“I feel this is the weight class for me,” he stated. “I won’t be fighting at 155 (anymore); I’ll be staying in the featherweight division.
“I feel faster, the gas is better and I don’t feel like guys can overwhelm me as much as they did at 155.”
As Phan puts it, now that he’s at featherweight, the opposition is going to be hard pressed to get past him.
“In general I feel (I can hang) with anybody,” he commented. “Even not within the tournament, I feel like at 143 I can give anyone a run for their money.”
As part of Sengoku’s featherweight tournament, he could be very busy this upcoming year should he remain victorious.
“Right now, the next round is May 2, and if I advance I’ll fight again in August,” he said. “They haven’t named my opponent yet, so I’ll just wait until they call me then I’ll start training hard and try to show the people what I’ve got.”
Hoping to have finally silenced his critics with his recent performance, Phan can now focus on making his title aspirations come true in the coming year.
“I’d like to say thank you to my sponsors: Toe 2 Toe, BudoVideos.com and Rev Gear,” he concluded. “I want to say thanks to my family, all the students from the MaDu Academy and Little Saigon, California. I want to give a shout out to all my old teammates and teachers from Subfighter, my beautiful girlfriend and MMAWeekly.
“To all the fans, keep looking for me and I’m going to do my best in May.”
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