Roughly 100 meters from the Bataclan Theater is the NBF mixed martial arts gym where Hisaki Kato trains on a daily basis.
Usually, the Bataclan is a great place to catch a concert. But on November 13, it was the site of one of the worst terrorist attacks in the history of France.
Kato's coach, Fabien Hillairet, was at the gym when the shooting began. At first, he opened the doors of the gym, trying to offer terrified Parisians a place of refuge. But as the shooting continued, Hillairet decided to hide. He closed the doors and kept them closed, waiting out what would ultimately be a horrific series of coordinated attacks that left 129 dead and 352 wounded.
Kato was not in the gym at the time. Earlier that day, he'd stepped on a plane and departed for Thackerville, Oklahoma, where he'll face Melvin Manhoef in the main event of Friday's Bellator 146 event. But Kato was in constant communication with his coach and friends from the moment he landed, and the story they relayed was one of absolute horror.
"They were just waiting. There was heavy shooting," Kato told Bleacher Report. "Everybody was running away. People were looking for places to hide."
Kato, the son of a French mother and Japanese father, was born in Paris. He lived there until he was 18 years old, when he moved to Japan. Today, he spends most of his time in Nagoya, but he still considers himself a Parisian, and so the tragic events in Paris had a profound effect on him.
He has spoken with his friends back in Paris. They are scared, and rightly so. The Paris attacks were the second major terrorist attack of this year, following the shooting at the offices of the magazine Charlie Hebdo earlier this year that left 17 dead and injured 11 others. The general feeling among Kato's friends is that they are now targets; what happened at Charlie Hebdo and the Bataclan will happen again.
"You can be a target if you go to a cafe or if you take the subway," he said. "People in groups are potential targets."
Attitudes toward Muslims in Paris are already changing, and Kato has noticed the difference. After the Charlie Hebdo attack earlier this year, there were appeals for solidarity with the Muslim community—for people to be careful not to group all Muslims together with the violent, radicalized members of the community who were responsible for the attacks.
After the latest attack, there is no such thing. According to the New York Times' Adam Nossiter and Liz Alderman, the French government is reacting with outright anger:
Instead, there was a palpable fear, even anger, as President Francois Hollande asked Parliament to extend a state of emergency and called for changing the Constitution to deal with terrorism. It was largely unspoken but nevertheless clear: Secular France always had a complicated relationship with its Muslim community, but now it was tipping toward outright distrust, even hostility.
Kato senses the same fear among his friends back home.
"I have a lot of Muslim friends. It's a shame for them. All of this just because of a few crazy guys," Kato said. "They are French people and just living a regular life. A lot of them are scared of being misjudged by other people. They are not comfortable being Muslim anymore because of a few crazy fanatics."
Kato plans to return to France, because it is his home. He said he'll conduct his next training camp there, steps from the site of the attack on the concert hall, because that is what he has always done.
But first, he must get through Manhoef, a violent and technical fighter who is known for his striking prowess. Kato heads into the bout with some momentum; he is coming off a Superman punch knockout of Joe Schilling in June. It was a surprising moment—ESPN's SportsCenter aired it repeatedly—and it will be a major contender for knockout of the year when such things are decided.
Kato could create another highlight moment this weekend. He is expecting a brawl, and it is likely he'll get one given Manhoef's style of fighting.
"He's a really aggressive fighter. You have to prepare yourself for 15 minutes," Kato said. "Mental training is a big part of it when you have to face someone more famous than you. But if your mindset is good and your training has been good, anything can happen."
After the fight, win or lose, Kato will return to Paris, to the neighborhood he loves, and he'll join the effort to help rebuild. He'll go back to the cafes and will get involved in the neighborhood social life. That is the only way forward—one step at a time, showing absolutely no fear.
"I will go back to France," he said. "I just want to do the regular Parisian life, because I want to prove that we are not afraid."
Kato faces Manhoef on Friday's Bellator 146 card. It airs on Spike at 9 p.m. ET.
Jeremy Botter covers mixed martial arts for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter.
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