MMA: Past Fight Discussion

[wandshogun09]

 

After running through four Gracies, Sakuraba was a made man and an icon to the Japanese public. The question then became - who would be next? Rickson? Frank Shamrock?

 

 

It would be Wanderlei 'The Axe Murderer' Silva. A 24 year old Brazilian buzzsaw with a 14-3-1 record and had fought in the UFC and IVC in Brazil, a promotion known for their barbaric bare knuckle fights. A dangerous fight to say the least.

 

KAZUSHI SAKURABA VS WANDERLEI SILVA

March 25th 2001 - Pride 13

Wand was coming into this fight off an impressive knockout win over Guy Mezger and a dominant decision over Dan Henderson. With the Rickson fight unable to get made at this time, Wand was clearly the most logical next opponent for Sakuraba.

 

"It's very interesting, this fight. Wanderlei is a one dimensional kind of fighter. Going straight forward, straight to his prey. He's in there...to hurt people. He's gonna try to hurt Sakuraba too. But can he hurt Sakuraba? Sakuraba's like a matador. He's gonna attack, gonna capitalise on the mistakes that Wanderlei is gonna make. Is it gonna work? We're gonna have to see tonight." - Bas Rutten

 

"I want to fight anyone who is tough enough to face me. But Sakuraba is the best. I'm not interested in tactics. I just care about winning. It's true, Sakuraba has beaten a lot of other Brazilians. But in the ring it's just man against man." - Wanderlei Silva

 

Flower time again. This time it's Tito Ortiz handing them out. Wanderlei, who had lost a decision to Tito in the UFC a year before this, doesn't seem to appreciate the gesture too much. Sakuraba graciously accepts the lovely bouquet...

 

 

And gets a nice big completely hetero peck on the cheek from the UFC champ.

 

OK.

 

Sakuraba doesn't look fazed one bit by the old 'Axe Murderer' staredown.

 

They waste no time going after it as Wand rushes him with punches and knees right away. Saku CRACKS Wand with a counter right hook that drops Wand to his knees! And to the surprise of many, it's Wanderlei who initiates the first grappling exchange, trying unsuccessfully for a takedown.

 

They brawl again and Wandy's hurting him with punches and knees from the clinch. Wand starts kneeing the shit out of him on the ground as Bas points out "this is the new rule, these are allowed". So knees to grounded opponents were legal from Pride 13 onwards. Little did the Pride matchmakers know how much they'd fucked Sakuraba over with that rule change. They couldn't have chosen a worse time to make those knees legal because Saku's getting obliterated by them.

 

Saku's fooked! When he tries to stand up he's getting blasted with knees from the Thai clinch, when he drops to the ground he's getting smashed with soccer kicks and knees.

 

 

Wand's now dropping Ric Flair kneedrops on Saku's head, Saku tries to roll away and eats a kick to the face and the referee finally stops the assault.

 

"Unbelievable! Wanderlei Silva has stopped Kazushi Sakuraba. Oh my God!" - Stephen Quadros

 

It's over. Both the fight and Sakuraba's magical streak of great performances. In under two minutes.

 

This was a massacre. Aside from that one big punch where Saku dropped him, it was just a mugging. This must've been utterly mind blowing at the time. Everyone knew Wand was dangerous but no-one had done this to Saku before. His only losses were to Kimo (in his pro debut so he gets a pass there) and Igor Vovchanchyn (but that was him being pulled out due to the exhaustion following going 90 minutes with Royce earlier on). This was the first time Saku was just destroyed. With hindsight, looking at the career Wand went on to have, it's not surprising to watch. But back then, with Saku fresh off dominating the first family of MMA, it must've been a shocker.

 

Sakuraba's all class after the fight. He wasn't officially a champion back then but he had his own personalised 'SAKU' belt. He gave it to Wanderlei post-fight;

 

 

Wonder if Wand's still got that?

 

"But you know, he will get back, he will win again. It's how life is. Now everybody can see that everybody is human. We're only human. Everybody can lose." - Bas Rutten

 

Following that crushing defeat, Sakuraba's next opponent would be an American making his Pride debut...

 

 

Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson was just 23 years old at the time of this fight. Not too much was known about him but he was big, strong and looked intimidating. He also had a 10-1 MMA record and was coming off a win over a Kenneth Williams.

 

 

You don't fuck with that.

 

Quadros: It seems like you've got a lot of rage in you and you channel that into your fighting. How does that fuel you?

 

Rampage: It's like I black out. I just let that rage take over. I let Rampage come in, you know? Let him do his thing. I'm not Quinton when I step in the ring, I'm Rampage.

 

Quadros: And do you think that's going to come in handy when you face Sakuraba?

 

Rampage: Yeah, 'cause I'm gonna have my chain too.

 

Quadros: You're gonna have your chain in the ring?

 

Rampage: Damn right! Sakuraba tapped out four Gracies, I gotta have a chain with me.

Quadros: So where do you see yourself in two years?

 

Rampage: Man, in two years? I'm only 23 so, in two years I see myself being 25.

 

He's a whiny bastard these days but I loved Pride Rampage.

 

KAZUSHI SAKURABA VS RAMPAGE JACKSON

July 29th 2001 - Pride 15

Rampage clearly the bigger physically of the two here. The 'Godfather Of Ground And Pound' Mark Coleman joins Quadros and Rutten on commentary for this one. They talk a bit about the pressure Saku is under here to bounce back from the mauling from Wandy just four months earlier.

 

And we're off!

 

Saku straight away wants to grapple and he gets Jackson down with a nice single-leg takedown. Saku has trouble holding him down though and Rampage manages to hit sort of a half powerbomb on him! Then he picks him up and does it AGAIN! A double powerbomb. It wasn't as pretty as it is in the WWE video games or when Brock Lesnar was doing it to Jeff Hardy in 2002, because Saku really didn't co-operate to make the the move look good, as you'd expect. But still, a double powerbomb!

 

Yeah, I loved Pride Rampage.

 

Rampage in Saku's guard. Saku goes for a triangle and RAMPAGE WITH ANOTHER DOUBLE POWERBOMB! Jesus Christ, this is awesome. Rampage back on top and this time Saku's trying for an armbar from the bottom. And Rampage picks him up and actually tries to dump him over the top rope...

 

 

"It's time to Rumble! It's time for the ROOOYAL RUMBLE!!" - Vince McMahon

 

He then pulls him back in and slams his way out of it again. The crowd is going banana. Saku gets a takedown and a good kimura attempt but Rampage powers out of it! They scramble around on the mat as Saku looks for openings for submissions and Rampage keeps escaping. Just about. But then Saku takes the back...

 

 

And finally, there's no escape and Rampage has to tap at 5:41 of the first round.

 

Man, that was a hell of a fight. I think I'd only watched it once, years ago, and I didn't remember much but the finish. Way better than I remembered. If you've got this fight on DVD or you've got Fight Pass or can find it online somewhere, I'd highly recommend giving it five minutes of your day. Such a fun fight to watch.

 

"Sakuraba stepped up to the pressure. Sakuraba stepped up to the immense pressure put in him by the world of Mixed Martial Arts, and got the win via rear naked choke. What a fight!" - Stephen Quadros

 

I've read the stuff about this fight supposedly being a work but I don't buy it. It didn't look like a work at all to me, despite the powerbombs and stuff.

 

Rampage did confirm that Pride officials approached him with a dodgy offer before the fight but he turned it down;

 

"I'm never the type of fighter that would lose for money. I don't do that. But they told me, 'If you win this fight, you get $10,000.' But they told me -- these are like the two people from PRIDE who got fired recently, I don't know if the president of PRIDE knew about it -- but they told me themselves: 'If you lose by knockout or submission and you don't tap, you get $12,000.'

 

"I said, 'But what if I knock him out?' and they said 'You get $10,000.' Then I understood what was going on. This was my first time fighting in the big show in Japan and I learned sometimes they wanted the other guy to win."

 

"I knew it was going to be tough for me to win that fight, so I went out there and gave it my best anyways to get my $10,000."

With Sakuraba back on track, the rematch with Wanderlei was set for November 2001.

 

Pride 17 would be the biggest card the company had put on since Pride 10. They were holding the show at the Tokyo Dome and the company were finally going to crown some champions. A heavyweight champ would be decided in the co-main event featuring Big Nog vs Heath Herring and Wand vs Saku 2 would determine the first ever Pride middleweight champion. It was an absolutely stacked card. The undercard alone had Hendo vs Ninja, the Pride debut of Mirko Cro Cop, Mario Sperry, Rampage, Vovchanchyn, Renzo, Semmy Schilt. Even boxer Matt Skelton was on the card! It was loaded.

 

KAZUSHI SAKURABA VS WANDERLEI SILVA 2

November 3rd 2001 - Pride 17 - Pride Middleweight Title

Finally, they've left the entrances on this DVD! One of the best things about Sakuraba was his entrances so I've been disappointed so far that they've been edited out of the Pride DVDs up to now.

 

This time he's gone for a Great Muta entrance...

 

 

 

Saku's old buddy Royce Gracie is on commentary with Bas and Quadros this time. That's another thing I liked about Pride, they'd just throw guys into the mix with the commentators. It kept things fresh and interesting. It wasn't so rigid like the UFC is now in terms of who you'd get on commentary. It's pretty cool seeing different guys pop up in the booth from fight to fight. I wish the UFC would do it sometimes.

 

"I'm telling you when we were interviewing Sakuraba last time, we realised he was sick. He was coughing and coughing during the interview. And after the fight he got checked into the hospital because he had liver problems, he had a very bad flu. So I think this time he comes prepared. He really wants his win back. He's gotta win this fight, and he's capable of doing it." - Bas Rutten

 

Saku scores a takedown immediately off a leg kick attempt by Wand. Saku controlling from inside Wand's guard but unable to do anything too significant. Wand's defending very well off his back.

 

"Sakuraba coming in, as usual, with complete confidence. He said that Wanderlei Silva looks like Gorilla Man comic book here in Japan." - Stephen Quadros

 

Ha.

 

They exchange a little bit on the feet and wind up back on the ground. Saku has a bit more success on top this time but still struggling to break through Wand's defensive guard.

 

 

Wand going for armbars off his back now! Imagine Wand submitted Sakuraba? They scramble back to their feet. Sakuraba goes for a guillotine choke and Wand picks him up in the air and hits a huge slam...

 

 

Just dumps him hard on his head and shoulder. Nasty looking slam.

 

Wand in top position now but Saku ties him up and not much happens as the round comes to a close.

 

Sakuraba's shoulder/collar bone is fucked and the fight is called off after the first round. Disappointing ending to the fight. Especially because Sakuraba was holding his own in there and looking pretty good. It was about a 50/50 round and it's a shame it had to end on an injury.

 

Pride did Sakuraba no favours following that unfortunate loss. Anyone who tries to say Pride protected Sakuraba is full of shit because after fighting and losing to Wanderlei Silva for the second time, they then decided to throw him in with a K-1 kickboxer with lethal knockout power. Who also outweighed him by a good 30-40lbs.

 

Mirko Cro Cop was making the transition from K-1 to MMA at this time. He'd only had four MMA fights at this point and gone 2-0-2. He'd stopped Kazuyuki Fujita and Yuji Nagata and gone to draws with Nobuhiko Takada and Wanderlei Silva.

 

The fight would take place on a HUGE joint promotion event featuring both Pride and K-1's top stars of the time. Over 90,000 people were in attendance, which surely has to hold the attendance record for an MMA event? If that number is legit. It was a massive, massive event.

 

Bill Goldberg is with Rutten and Quadros this time.

 

KAZUSHI SAKURABA VS MIRKO CRO COP

August 28th 2002 - Pride/K-1 Dynamite 2002

After a wild undercard where Big Nog slayed the beast known as Bob Sapp in a crazy fight, and Jerome Le Banner knocked Don Frye dead with one punch, it was time for the main event.

 

Sakuraba's sticking with his pro wrestling roots and this time he's gone for a Vader inspired entrance...

 

 

 

 

Complete with the 'smoking' elephant mask!

 

Gentlemanly handshake and the fight begins.

 

And we quickly see that this is probably a bit too tall a task for Sakuraba. He fails on his first few takedown attempts and that isn't a good sign as it means he's going to have to stand with Cro Cop. Not good. Mirko tags him with some hard shots on the feet too. One straight left in particular...

 

 

Drops him and Saku, for probably the first time I've ever noticed, has a look on his face which says 'I don't think I can win this fight'. It just has the feel of a fight where one guy's bitten off more than he can chew. Midway through round one, Cro Cop is now busting him up with hard leg kicks. Hard leg kicks! Saku's noticeably limping.

 

SAKURABA WITH A TAKEDOWN!

 

Finally! He's got Mirko on his back and Mirko doesn't like it. He looks very unsure of what to do here but he manages to defend himself well and escapes back to his feet as the round ends.

 

After a cautious start to the second round from both, Cro Cop is opening up with the kicks again.

 

 

Barely misses on a left high kick, well it lands but only the toes clip Sakuraba. If that'd have connected with the foot or shin Saku's head would be in the nosebleeds about now.

 

Cro Cop throws a leg kick, slips and falls to his back giving Saku top position again. This is big for Sakuraba and be manages to keep the position for the rest of round two. He doesn't do much damage though and has no luck with submission attempts either. In fact, Mirko lands the better offence from the bottom here.

 

The round ends and the fight is stopped due to Sakuraba's eye being swollen shut from a punch from the bottom from Cro Cop. It was later confirmed that Sakuraba had suffered a broken orbital bone from the punch.

 

A flat ending to an otherwise enjoyable fight. It's a shame as well because Saku seemed to be starting to slowly get into the fight. I'm not sure what he could've done, probably not that much, but the takedowns were starting to come a bit easier for him at least.

 

Watching these four fights though, it does really feel like Sakuraba's best days were behind him by this point. This was the start of the end of his prime for sure. He peaked with the Gracie wins. He'd still have the odd bright spell like the Rampage fight and some others I'll be covering this week, but they became less and less frequent from here on in.

[jimufctna24]

Rampage also claims that Pride officials tried to drain him, by changing the agreed weight limit a few days before the fight. 

 

Reading these posts have reminded me that Sakuraba was rarely in a dull fight. Given the context, even the Royce marathon must have been compelling viewing if you watched it at the time. 

[Egg Shen]

brilliant stuff wand.

 

The early Sakuraba days were a special time. It was happening around the time when i was tape trading, and i was reading lots of stuff about fights without ever actually seeing them. Sakuraba was a name who would continually pop up, i was reading stuff like 'Sakuraba is the best p4p fighter on the planet'...when i actually saw what he looked like it just confused me, he's one of the most un-threatening, least intimidating looking fighters imaginable. As soon as you saw him in action though it was hard not to fall in love with the guy.

 

Sakuraba's record after the first Wanderlei fight was pretty bad but he fought killer after killer, usually as the smaller man...it made for some painful viewing.

 

There's two fights of Sakuraba's i never saw which i need to get on Fight Pass, one being the CroCop fight, the other being the fight with Lil Nog. I used to see highlights and it looked like a great fight.

Edited August 16, 2015 by Ebb

[wandshogun09]

 

Following the loss to Cro Cop, Sakuraba got an easy submission win over some fucker called Gilles Arsene in late 2002.

 

He was then matched up with Nino 'Elvis' Schembri...

 

 

KAZUSHI SAKURABA VS NINO SCHEMBRI

March 16th 2003 - Pride 25

Another Brazilian for Sakuraba. Schembri was a high level BJJ black-belt out of the Chute Boxe academy. He invented the gogoplata apparently. And Shogun later got his black-belt training under him. But he was inexperienced in MMA, with just a 2-0 record coming into this fight. On paper, this looked like another rebuilding fight for Sakuraba.

 

Schembri's nickname 'Elvis' is because of the old lamb chop sideburns look he's rocking. In the pre-fight interview he says he's going for a Wolverine look. His sideburns look a bit more John McCririck-esque to me.

 

 

That's Saku's entrance getup of choice this time. I don't know what it is but it looked pretty cool. Especially when he then busted out some nunchucks and showed some nifty moves.

 

Saku looks to strike early. As you'd expect with him fighting a grappler with no striking background to speak of. He's teaching Elvis a bit of a lesson early with punching combinations and leg kicks. And Schembri is trying to pull guard out of desperation.

 

Just a few minutes in and Schembri already has a bloody nose and his leg is red raw from the leg kicks. He looks well out of his depth. But to be fair, he's game. He still stands and throws in the exchanges. He's not exactly shying away. He's just getting outstruck.

 

Sakuraba hurts him with some punches and goes for the kill. Problem is Elvis CRACKS him one with a flush Thai clinch knee coming in and follows up with more brutal knees and soccer kicks to a dazed Sakuraba on the ground...

 

 

IT'S OVER!

 

"OH MY GOD! UNBELIEVABLE. UN-BELIEVABLE! That is the upset...of the century!" - Stephen Quadros

 

I wouldn't go that far.

 

Massive upset victory for the sideburned one though. Disaster for Saku. This was supposed to be a rebuilding phase of Sakuraba's career after the losses to Wanderlei and Cro Cop. To lose to a 2-0 novice, especially getting stopped in this manner by a grappler...must've been pretty embarrassing for him.

 

"I think that this basically derails Sakuraba's quest to have a third fight with Wanderlei" - Stephen Quadros

 

Not so fast...

 

KAZUSHI SAKURABA VS WANDERLEI SILVA 3

August 10th 2003 - Pride Total Elimination 2003

Pride seemingly abandoned all plans to rebuild Sakuraba's record and just threw him right into a third fight with Wandy in the first round of the 2003 Middleweight Grand Prix tournament.

 

Oh, we've got shitty Damon 'The Dog' Perry commentating with Bas on this one. Rampage Jackson is joining them on the headsets too. Quadros must've left Pride at this point then.

 

Sakuraba makes his entrance, Road Warrior style...

 

 

"Sakuraba looks like a bow-legged Road Warrior right now" - Rampage Jackson

 

Saku comes in very aggressive and lands some solid shots on Wand. They have a few wild exchanges and it's not long before Wand's getting the better of it. Saku's landing but it's clear Wand has more power on his punches.

 

Pace slows a little bit as they both seem to be catching their breath from the frantic start to the fight. About halfway through round one and Sakuraba throws a leg kick which Wand counters with punches...

 

 

...and knocks Saku spark out.

 

Brutal knockout. Saku just collapsed like a pack of cards.

 

"I don't think that Sakuraba, after this fight....he should take a LONG time off. But, if I was him, I would think of a career change" - Bas Rutten

 

Mad to think people were talking about him retiring all the way back in 2003 yet he still soldiered on for years after this.

 

With that, the Sakuraba vs Wanderlei series was over. There were a couple of times a fourth fight was nearly booked but it never happened. Later in Sakuraba's career he actually trained a bit with Wanderlei and Chute Boxe. They're still on pretty good terms these days as far as I know.

 

 

Once again, Damon Perry was shit. "GIDDY UP". Twat.

 

I'm going to skip over Sakuraba's next fight. He got a submission win over Kevin Randleman at Final Conflict 2003 but I remember the fight boring me to tears, as most of Randleman's fights did actually, up until Saku stopped the misery with an armbar.

 

You definitely should watch his Super Mario entrance from the Randleman fight though...

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&persist_app=1&v=oiItTnp5oPk

 

So with Sakuraba finally back in the win column, he was then paired with Antonio Rogerio Nogueira on Pride's big New Year's Eve event, Shockwave.

 

KAZUSHI SAKURABA VS ANTONIO ROGERIO NOGUEIRA

December 31st 2003 - Pride Shockwave 2003

Haven't seen this fight in fucking years. Can't really remember much of it at all.

 

The legend known as Don Frye joins Bas on commentary this time! He got viciously knocked out by a Gary Goodridge headkick earlier in the night, yet here he is chatting away and laughing and joking, he doesn't give a fuck. It's also the first appearance by a young Mauro Ranallo so far in my Sakurabathon.

 

Fuck...Little Nog bursts right out the gate with a big jumping knee right to Saku's face! He then lands another three or four really hard knees from the clinch and Saku's reeling already. Nog's not fucking about here.

 

Nog now hurting him with his boxing...

 

 

Saku's struggling here. But he has managed to cut Nog somewhere in the exchanges. Nog's clearly the superior striker and Saku gets a takedown. But Nog likes that too, Saku can't do much to him on the ground and they stand back up. Where Nog continues to pick him apart with his boxing.

 

The commentators keep saying it's a razor close fight but I don't know why. Sakuraba's landing the odd shot but Nog's doing the better work and had landed the cleaner strikes and hurt Sakuraba more than once.

 

"You know, if I was half as tough as these guys, I'd still be fighting" - Don Frye

 

Round two underway, and Nog's blasting him with knees again...

 

 

The pace slows down after that. With Saku managing to put Nog on his back but unable to do much more than that. Nog tries a guillotine, loses it then slaps on a decent triangle attempt. Saku tries to step over for an armbar as the round closes. Great finish to the round.

 

As the final round begins, they talk about Sakuraba coming in with injuries;

 

"Unfortunately, you know, Sakuraba came into this fight fifty percent. Now it's like he's down to twenty five percent. It gives the advantage to Nogueira. So Sakuraba should really try and work that cut" - Don Frye

 

A crazy brawl erupts and Saku's doing a little bit better now. Nog's still landing he cleaner strikes but it feels like the gap is closing as the fight goes on.

 

Nog with a big combo that almost takes Saku's head off in the corner! Somehow Sakuraba hangs in there. Last minute of the fight and the crowd is just willing Sakuraba to make something happen. He desperately windmills some punches as the fight draws to a close but in the process he slips and Nog starts murdering him with soccer kicks. Sakuraba's just about saved by the bell.

 

 

Little Nog gets the unanimous decision. And rightly so. Sakuraba fought well, especially considering the size difference, but I don't think it was as close as the commentators were making out.

 

Really, really enjoyed this fight though. Even better than I remembered.

 

Rematch time. Revenge time...

 

KAZUSHI SAKURABA VS NINO SCHEMBRI 2

June 20th 2004 - Pride Critical Countdown 2004

A chance for Sakuraba to avenge what was surely his most embarrassing defeat. Schembri had only fought once in the year or so since he upset Sakuraba. He dropped a decision at Pride 26 to Kazuhiro Hamanaka. Unusually for Sakuraba, he'd be the opening match on this card.

 

"OK, the last time Sakuraba kind of started playing around, fooling around at the end. Totally dominated Schembri, but at the end he started like giving him double judo chops and out of the blue, Schembri came with a knee to the head and he went down. I bet you that Sakuraba this time is not going to make the same mistakes. That's why I said I hope that Schembri's takedowns are good, because I think for Schembri to win this fight he has to take it to the ground" - Bas Rutten

 

Like Jim mentioned before, Sakuraba's entrance for this is great. This time he's in pyjamas and carrying a pillow...

 

 

"The last time he fought him he said it was like a bad dream. And that's why he's wearing PJ's right now because it was a bad dream, he woke up and now it's time to fight" - Bas Rutten

 

Really cool entrance. Cooler than I've made it sound. It wasn't just the pyjamas and pillow, they did some incredible light show and special effects thingy where the ceiling was like an eery dark sky then the sun rises and it's bright daylight. Hence waking from his bad dream. I tried to find the video on YouTube but no luck.

 

Anyway, fight begins and, as Bas predicted, Elvis wants this on the ground right away. He manages to pull guard and drag Saku to the floor. He basically just holds Sakuraba in rubber guard and not much happens until Saku escapes and starts kicking the fuck out of his legs.

 

Back on the feet. Mauro and Bas are talking a lot about Schembri working a lot on his striking at Chute Boxe. Like the first fight, he's pretty brave on the feet. I guess that's what daily sparring with Wand, Shogun and Ninja will do for you. He's still getting beat up though.

 

Mauro Cheesy Line Watch -

"And you know, in their first encounter, Elvis Schembri did leave Sakuraba 'All Shook Up', Bas".

 

Saku rocks Elvis with a big uppercut, followed by more punches late in the round. Schembri is getting completely shut down here. Saku's fighting aggressively but more intelligently than last time. Good first round for Sakuraba.

 

Round two and Saku's schooling him some more. Controlling him on the ground and battering him slowly on the feet.

 

 

Elvis finally gets a bit of success late in the second with a nice sort of German suplex but Saku pops right back up and continues outstriking him.

 

Third and final round. And it's more of the same. Elvis can't get anything going. Aside from the odd takedown that leads nowhere, he's unable to do ANYTHING. He lands one good loopy right hand in the last minute of the fight but Saku ends the fight strong with some attempted diving stomps to put the cherry on the top of a dominant performance.

 

Saku, unsurprisingly, gets the decision. Decent little fight. Nothing special but it had its moments. Just felt like Sakuraba was in cruise control for most of it. Understandable really though, he didn't want to take any unnecessary risks given how their first fight ended.

 

The 'bad dream' entrance was phenomenal though.

Edited August 23, 2015 by wandshogun09

[Egg Shen]

Brilliant stuff again wand.

 

That Nino fight crushed me, i was proper getting on the Sakuraba bandwagon at that point. I'd forgotten he was just 2-0 though, holy shit.

[jimufctna24]

I own the 2003 MiddleWeight GP boxset, and quite honestly, I forgot who Damon Perry was. I had to view a clip from the first Liddell vs Rampage fight to jog my memory. But yeah, he was pretty crap. Thankfully, I think his run in MMA was short-lived.

 

I recall that Dana is a guest commentator for the Liddell vs Rampage fight. After Liddell loses, Perry asks Dana which Pride fighter he would like to book in the UFC, Dana replied with "I want Sakuraba". Obviously, it never happened, but if it did, I would presume Liddell, Tito and Couture would have been the most likely opponents for Sakuraba. Possibly not Couture, as he was Champion. (or at least about to become the Unified Champion, as he beat Tito around that time).

 

It's hard to picture now, but UFC was clearly the number 2 promotion in 2003. Pride was the promotion calling the shots. I am fairly sure no Pride fighters fought in the UFC, while Dana sent over Liddell and Ricco to fight in Pride. Bustamante was also listed as a UFC fighter, but I believe he had left the UFC by that time whilst still recognized as UFC Middleweight Champion (according to Wiki, he was a late replacement for Arona on his Pride debut)

[Egg Shen]

There was a working relationship there but i no Pride fighters came the other way.

 

During Pride's heyday how were they televised in the States? Was it always PPV? I cant remember.

[wandshogun09]

Yeah I think it was pretty much PPV only in the States. Think they used to advertise shows being on DIRECTV as well, is that PPV? I know Rogan always talks about the Pride days and mentions that he used to get up in the middle of the night to watch the big shows.

 

I recall that Dana is a guest commentator for the Liddell vs Rampage fight. After Liddell loses, Perry asks Dana which Pride fighter he would like to book in the UFC, Dana replied with "I want Sakuraba".

I meant to mention that!

 

Dana loves Sakuraba. It's rare you hear Dana just heap praise on fighters he wasn't really involved with or that had very little to do with the UFC. But he's always gone out of his way to show love for Sakuraba. Whether it's in interviews or just wearing his t-shirts randomly at weigh ins and stuff. You can tell Sakuraba is one of his favourites.

 

 

I mean, if I got to work and someone told me I'd be sitting in between Ronda Rousey and Miesha Tate all day, the last thing I'd be thinking is 'where's my Sakuraba shirt?' He must bloody love him.

 

Quote from 2012;

 

“One of my favorite fighters ever, Kazushi Sakuraba, is a guy who I think should have fought in a different weight class, fought way too far outside of his weight class."

 

“It would have been interesting to see, if Sakuraba was in the right weight class and in the right organization, what that guy would have been able to do.”

And this is well worth watching. I can't remember if I posted it at the time but Dana went to Japan last summer and sat down with Sakuraba for a chat...

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&persist_app=1&v=T903fMCE0vQ

 

I love the ending

 

 

 

Interesting that he said he even got pissed off at the Pride matchmaking himself. And I never knew they wanted him to fight Fedor! Fuck me. Did the Pride top bollocks hate him or something? I reckon the Pride president's wife had a crush on Sakuraba and moaned his name in bed. Has to be something like that because they fed him killer after killer for years.

[jimufctna24]

Yeah, it was nice to hear that Dana is a fan. I think it would be hard for any long-time MMA fan not to have some appreciation for Sakuraba. Especially fans who know a bit about the Gracie's. and their impact on the sport.  Dana proper mouthed off about Pride when Diaz beat Gomi in 2007, and lambasted the entire roster for being overrated. Whatever is said about Dana, I do think that was P.R talk. His appreciation for Sakuraba indicates it was, and I think he once sported a Pride shirt at a weigh-in. 

 

Pride did milk Sakuraba, and in some ways they did exploit him, but he was a safe pair of hands. Even when his career begin to slide, Sakuraba was still very popular. He only really lost his market value when the sport crumbled in Japan around 2007 (I forget he fought for K1 in 2006 whilst Pride was still in operation)

 

Also, when someone takes fights with guys who are in natural terms are 2 or 3 weightclasses above them, it's not a shock when they get proposed unfavourable match-ups (I.E Fedor). Especially in Pride, where they would have probably made Butterbean vs Mighty Mouse if they had half a chance!

[Egg Shen]

despite Sakuraba going on for way too long, he did have one final heroic moment which really he should have signed off on....fighting Zelg Galesic at Dream 12. Classic Sakuraba, outgunned, hurt, and still comes through after being on the brink of defeat, all whilst having both legs and one elbow taped up. Hero.

 

[wandshogun09]

I'm hoping to get to that fight sometime this week. There's a couple of 'last shining moments' for Sakuraba to come yet.

[jimufctna24]

I'm hoping to get to that fight sometime this week. There's a couple of 'last shining moments' for Sakuraba to come yet.

That will be informative for me.

 

I never watched any of Dream. It was the one main show of that time I skipped (there was another Japan promotion as well, possibly called Victory Road). I was a regular viewer of Strikeforce and Elite XC, and would catch very Main Show they did.

 

Even though some online hyped it as Pride 2.0, I never had the energy to watch it. (I did keep an eye on the play by plays if someone important was fighting)

[Egg Shen]

i watched the majority of Dream & Sengoku, they were good but they never had that special something that Pride had despite being presented in nearly identical fashion. Just looking back on some of the cards though, they had some belting looking shows. I think hindsight shines kindly on them because many of the fighters who fought onto those shows ended up in the UFC/Strikeforce/Bellator etc. as well as being littered with Pride veterans.

[jimufctna24]

i watched the majority of Dream & Sengoku, they were good but they never had that special something that Pride had despite being presented in nearly identical fashion. 

I think they missed two things 

 

1. UFC had most of the highly ranked fighters under contract. During Pride's peak, their roster was significantly better than the UFC's. 

 

2. MMA began a slow decline in Japan. It was no longer the cool thing. As Meltzer said, the fad had ended. It's a shame, because looking back, I think Pride was a better product than the UFC right up until its closure. Not just critically, but production wise as well

Edited August 24, 2015 by jimufctna24

[wandshogun09]

 

After avenging the loss to Elvis Schembri, Sakuraba took a ten month break from fighting. He then entered the 2005 Middleweight Grand Prix tournament. A stacked field of some of the best 203lb fighters in the world at the time. Sakuraba got an easy win in the opening round at April's Total Elimination event, stopping Korean Yoon Dong Sik in just 38 seconds by TKO. Sik was making his MMA debut though. Sakuraba's second round opponent wouldn't be so easy...

 

 

KAZUSHI SAKURABA VS RICARDO ARONA

June 26th 2005 - Pride Critical Countdown 2005

Ricardo Arona was a member of the respected Brazilian Top Team. He was a BJJ black-belt with a perfect submission grappling record. He'd beaten the likes of Jean Jacques Machado, Saulo Ribeiro, Vitor Belfort, Mark Kerr, Jeff Monson, Ricardo Almeida, Tito Ortiz and Babalu Sobral in straight grappling competition. In MMA, he was coming into this fight with a 10-2 record with wins over Dan Henderson, Ninja Rua, Jeremy Horn twice and Guy Mezger. He also took Fedor Emelianenko to a very close decision in RINGS that many thought he should've won.

 

Basically, Ricardo Arona was a fucking beast. And where Sakuraba could usually beat BJJ artists with his catch wrestling techniques and unorthodox offence, he'd never faced someone who was this good a grappler AND much stronger and bigger than him. Arona was a physical freak. He had muscles on top of muscles. His striking wasn't brilliant but he had enough to get by. His grappling, as I've covered, was phenomenal. He was coming into this fight off a really boring win over Dean Lister though. So he needed to look good here.

 

The fight starts and they trade strikes right away. Sakuraba starts going for takedowns but Arona keeps making him pay by sprawling and then kneeing the fuck out of Saku's head while he's on all fours. Sakuraba can't get much going. It's a bad matchup for him really because Arona can match him for technique but he has him outmatched in strength and size.

 

About midway through the opening round things start getting ugly. Arona hurts Saku with a knee to the body and the fight really comes alive from there. Saku fires back with punches but he wants the fight on the ground. Arona keeps stuffing his shots and absolutely blasting him with knees to the head on the ground and soccer kicks to the head and face. Saku finally gets Arona on his back late in the round but he's too hurt to really capitalise.

 

"What is it about Kazushi Sakuraba, Bas - and this is his 24th appearance in Pride - that just allows him to keep going and going and absorbing the punishment and yet summoning the energy and turning the tables and keeps on electrifying this crowd? What does he possess that other fighters might not?" - Mauro Ranallo

 

Second round starts and it's not long before Arona's piling on the abuse again. One soccer kick in particular fucks Saku's eye up bad...

 

 

The eye immediately starts swelling shut and things are going from bad to worse for Sakuraba. The doctors take a good long look at the eye and let it continue. And Arona picks right up where he left off. Just destroying Saku with brutal knees to the head on the ground. It's getting pretty uncomfortable to watch and Saku's face and head looks worse and more disfigured as the round goes on. It really is grotesque. Look at the poor get...

 

 

 

"Sakuraba doesn't look good. Arona is doing a great job. The power difference is taking a toll" - Bas Rutten

 

Thankfully, the fight is stopped there by the officials. I dread to think what would've happened if they let him go out for round three. Because Sakuraba wouldn't have quit, that's for sure.

 

Sakuraba was back in the Pride ring just four months after that beatdown. Which in itself seems bonkers. He'd be facing another MMA legend...

 

 

KAZUSHI SAKURABA VS KEN SHAMROCK

October 23rd 2005 - Pride 30

Ken Shamrock was returning to Pride after losing to Rich Franklin at the TUF 1 Finale in April. This was around the time Sakuraba started training with old rival Wanderlei Silva at Chute Boxe. I guess at the time, with them both coming off losses, this actually made sense as just a fun fight for the fans.

 

Shamrock cuts a pretty cringeworthy promo in the pre-fight featurettes.

 

"I've been in this Mixed Martial Arts since the beginning and I am not afraid of any man. And I'll tell you something, I'm not coming to tie little pretty roses, I'm coming to hurt somebody! On the 24th, I'm gonna shut his mouth once and for all. When I get in the ring with you I'm gonna put a BEATING on you that you've never felt before! YOU CAN'T OUTGRAPPLE ME, YOU CAN'T OUTPUNCH ME AND YOU DEFINITELY AIN'T IN BETTER SHAPE THAN ME! So on that night, it's gonna be a very...very bad night for you" - Ken Shamrock

 

Alright Ken, calm down.

 

The actual pre-fight video must've been filmed on a calmer day for Shamrock as he's much more chilled out in talking about the fight;

 

"Sakuraba, watching his tapes and studying him, he's a very sneaky character. He has a lot of personality. He brings that into the ring. The way he fights, he's a very good ring general. He likes to control the ring. He likes to control the pace of the fight. He wants to slow you down, or speed you up, and just get you out of your comfort zone. When me and him get in there and fight, there's gonna be a lot of experience in that ring. It's gonna make for an exciting fight" - Ken Shamrock

 

See, how hard was that? No need to get so worked up.

 

Sakuraba actually has Chute Boxe members, including head coach Rudimar Fedrigo in his corner for this fight.

 

"Dream matchup, legend vs legend, it is underway..." - Mauro Ranallo

 

Almost no sooner had he said that, the fight was over. Well, it took two or three minutes. After a little feeling out process, Sakuraba drops Shamrock with a left hand...

 

 

Shamrock reacts badly to it, turning his back and putting his head and upper body through the ropes...and the ref stops the fight. 2:27 of the first round.

 

Well, Shamrock goes mad. Claiming an early stoppage but when you turn away from your opponent you can't really moan too much. On one of the replays you see the punch land and Shamrock looks like he doesn't want anymore. The way he drops doesn't look like a natural knockdown. It honestly looks like he takes a decent dig and just thinks 'fuck this'.

 

He 'snapped'. He was 'in the zone'. Bad things happen to referees when Shamrock's in the zone;

 

 

But wisely, I think Yuji Shimada got the fuck out of dodge pretty fast. He must've watched late 90s WWF.

 

Shamrock then has another classic meltdown in the backstage post-fight interview...

 

"I'm pissed off! I mean, this is ridiculous. Yeah he hits me with a punch, knocks me down, I'm off balance...watch the tape! I'm falling backwards, I fall on my ass, I go to get back up...he doesn't even hit me when I'm on the ground. And every other fight I've been in...when I fought Otsuka, I knocked him down, I stopped they said 'no keep fighting, you have to punch him, you gotta finish him'. Don Frye, he knocked me down...I got hit a LOT harder with Don Frye, went to the ground, he tried to finish me, I turned it into an ankle lock and I broke his ankle. THERE'S NO WAY IN MMA, THAT YOU SHOULD STOP A FIGHT ON ONE PUNCH! Especially if you don't know if it's clean or not. I was moving, I wasn't laid out with my hands up in the air where they're trying to protect me. I was getting to my feet. HE NEVER FINISHED THE FIGHT. He never came after me after that. WHAT THEY DID TONIGHT...WAS WRONG! THEY TOOK THAT FIGHT FROM ME! AND IT'S WRONG, WHAT YOU GUYS DID WAS WRONG! I mean, there's NO WAY they should've stopped that fight. None. LOOK AT THE DAMN TAPE. C'mon man, THIS IS MMA, it's not boxing. Gimme a ten count. You gotta finish the opponent. If you knock him down, you have to finish him. This is MMA. Every fight that I've been in here - Don Frye, Alexander Otsuka - if you GO DOWN you gotta finish him. WHY IS SAKURABA ANY DIFFERENT?!" - Ken Shamrock

 

 

Jesus wept.

 

Sakuraba challenged his arch nemesis Kiyoshi Tamura to fight him on the New Year's Eve Shockwave event, but Tamura snubbed the challenge. Sakuraba apparently couldn't stand Tamura, stemming from the days when they were training together in pro wrestling dojos. Back then Tamura was in a superior position to the young Sakuraba, and it sounds like he was a bit of a cunt to Saku back then. Sakuraba never forgot it and wanted to fight him. The talk was always that Tamura kept declining the fight but they did meet eventually.

 

For Shockwave 2005 though, other plans would have to be made. And in stepped Ikuhisa 'The Punk' Minowa...

 

 

KAZUSHI SAKURABA VS IKUHISA MINOWA

December 31st 2005 - Pride Shockwave 2005

There were similarities between these two in some ways. Both were strong grapplers. Both fan favourites. And both spent the majority of their careers fighting much bigger opposition. This would be a rare case for both of them, where they'd be facing an opponent pretty much the same size as each other.

 

Ah fuck, I forgot Bas had left Pride by late 2005. We've now got Frank Trigg shitting up the audio alongside Mauro

 

Fast start to the fight with them both bringing the aggression.

 

 

Saku gets a solid attempt at a guillotine right away though, but Minowa pops out. From there Minowa stays on top but nothing happens and the ref stands them up and yellow cards Sakuraba. Not sure why Saku got carded for stalling but not Minowa. Neither was doing much.

 

Minowa keeps trying to wrestle but he's getting very little done to Sakuraba. Saku keeps reversing and trying for kimuras, to no avail. Minowa has a stab at a kneebar, then switches to a heel hook but Saku's too calm and crafty and gets through it.

 

Shut the fuck up, Trigg. It's not even so much when he says that's shit, it's that he talks at 100mph to the point he's tripping over his own words. It's so distracting at times.

 

Late in the round, Minowa tries to take Saku down and Saku reverses into a kimura.

 

 

And it's a bad one. Twists Minowa's arm halfway up his back, Minowa refuses to tap and the ref stops it with about 20 seconds left of the round.

 

I enjoyed that fight. It wasn't fast paced or particularly exciting but it was nice to just see Sakuraba in an evenly matched, competitive fight for a change.

 

That was the last fight Sakuraba had in Pride. The end of an era. In 2006, he left the Takada dojo and signed with K-1 to compete on their HERO'S MMA cards.

 

His HERO'S debut would be against Kestutis Smirnovas...

 

 

KAZUSHI SAKURABA VS KESTUTIS SMIRNOVAS

August 5th 2006 - K-1 HERO'S 6

A relative unknown compared to someone of Sakuraba's status in the sport. Smirnovas was a judoka from Lithuania. He had a solid 18-5 MMA record at the time of this fight and had fought in RINGS and Shooto, but he didn't really have any notable wins.

 

The commentators here are Howard Hughes and Pierre Guillet. What an audio treat!

 

Sakuraba this time goes for an entrance in tribute to his idol, Tiger Mask...

 

 

"For all the fans, just to let you know what this means for HERO'S. He is the Japanese version of a David Beckham. Other than him not having blonde hair, playing football or being married to Posh Spice, he is EXACTLY like David Beckham" - Pierre Guillet

 

HA!

 

Fuck me, why did the UFC never pick this guy up as an announcer. I wonder.

 

Smirnovas is walking out to that 'Training Montage' music from Rocky IV and all decked out in a splendid white robe. I like him already. Bit weird that he's coming out after Sakuraba though. Like he's the main attraction here.

 

Bell rings for round one and we're off!

 

Saku very aggressive right off the bat. Too aggressive, as he gets countered and floored with punches from the Lithuanian. Smirnovas is fucking MURDERING Saku with punches on the ground now. It's over! Except it's not because the referee isn't stopping the fight...despite Sakuraba being limp and offering absolutely no defence. He's fucking toast about 60 seconds into the fight. He's completely fucked.

 

"Sakuraba may even be...out" - Pierre Guillet

 

I bet Guillet was top of his fucking class. Sharp as fuck, our Pierre.

 

At this point the ref steps in, presumably to stop the fight. But no. He's saying they're tangled in the ropes and he's just dragging them back into the centre of the ring so the annihilation can continue! Seriously? Fucking hell, man! And the ref actually has to physically drag Saku away from the ropes because Saku can't do it on his own power.

 

Disgusting refereeing.

 

The mauling continues. And it's vicious and disturbing to watch. Not Smirnovas fault. He's trying to win the fight, but this ref is fucking awful. Saku's holding onto Smirnovas' ankles, clearly on autopilot, just desperately trying to take him down. And eating more and more shots to the head in the process.

 

More pearls of wisdom from our genius on commentary...

 

"He needs to take him down" - Pierre Guillet

 

Saku's all over the place. He's falling about and all sorts. He still keeps trying to fight. His heart's still in it but his head is fucked, his balance is all to cock and he's lost control of his legs. All the while, Smirnovas is just hammering him into oblivion with ground and pound.

 

Now Smirnovas is in full mount and dropping bombs on Saku. Again, why the ref didn't stop the fight here, I don't know. Don't have a clue what the twat was playing at.

 

"The referee could actually stop the bout here if he wanted to" - Pierre Guillet

 

No shit! Shame he doesn't want to then.

 

Sakuraba somehow escapes the mount and is back on his feet, barely.

 

"Sakuraba looks like he is...still actually feeling the result of the first punch combination" - Pierre Guillet

 

Just stop, Pierre. Please.

 

Smirnovas now looks like he's gassing a bit. I'm not surprised and I don't blame him one bit for blowing his wad early here. He's had Sakuraba finished for about three or four minutes straight now but this ref is away with the bastard fairies.

 

He's still tagging Sakuraba up though as the two engage in a slugfest on the feet. Saku seems to sense Smirnovas is fading and he somehow finds a burst of energy to land some sloppy punches. Sakuraba is somehow...BACK IN THE FIGHT! Unbelievable. He's landing shots and getting the better of the striking now, as Smirnovas is gassing horribly. Big uppercut by Sakuraba! More uppercuts and Smirnovas is fucked. Saku has him well and truly on the ropes.

 

"You wouldn't believe this was the same fighter from one minute ago" - Howard Hughes

 

Smirnovas drops to the ground and is dazed. Sakuraba appears to be working for a kimura but then switched for an armbar. Smirnovas fights it and fights it as long as he can...

 

 

But once Sakuraba has it fully extended, Smirnovas has to tap!

 

SAKURABA WINS...FUCKING SOMEHOW.

 

Just a mental fight. I'm quite conflicted about this. It really, really, really should've been stopped. The officiating in this fight is diabolical. Maybe the worst I've ever seen. It's way worse than bad judging because while judges being shit is obviously bad, the most it's going to cost you is some money and maybe career advancement. This ref put Sakuraba's brain and life in jeopardy. Saku could easily have been badly hurt or worse because of the referee's negligence here. It's shocking.

 

On the flipside though, this is a great fight. For the story of it, the drama, the comeback. It's fucking amazing to watch unfold. The whole fight lasts 6:41. That's it. And I'd say a good four minutes of that is just Sakuraba getting obliterated. It's ridiculous. On a par with Nogueira's comeback over Sapp for most unbelievable comeback ever. I think this was more incredible to me, to be honest.

 

I'd recommend giving this fight a watch, actually. If you haven't seen it before, you really should;

 

Sakuraba vs Smirnovas;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&persist_app=1&v=Pfq0fC9rWSM

 

Could only find the Japanese version but it's worth a look, although quite hard to watch at times. I'd honestly say this fight probably sums up Sakuraba as a fighter and what he was about more than probably any other fight he ever had. Skill, toughness, heart, perseverance...all the things that made Sakuraba one of the greats, it's all there in this one fight. He definitely wasn't prime Sakuraba here like he was when he beat Newton, Renzo or Royce, but it's the fight that epitomises Sakuraba's career and character like no other. Watch it.

Edited August 29, 2015 by wandshogun09