Kazushi Sakuraba:the greatest fighter that was never a champion!

[abject]

Can we show some appreciation to Sakuraba, the Gracie Killer?

He is a UFC HOF. One of the pioneers of sport. Embodies the true Samurai spirit.

He was probably one of the baddest fighters ever. Transitioned to MMA when he was 27 years (super old to start MMA) coming from Japanese Professional Wrestling.
He fought a lot of KILLERs, fighters that were way more experienced in MMA and fighters that were much HEAVIER and bigger. He still managed to win a lot of those fights or give them a lot of trouble.

He never backed down, always fought anyone, anywhere, anytime. A lot of his losses were Doctor's stoppage or the corner throwing the white towel, because he would never quit.

He was the first to end the Gracie "unbeatable" Aura. Fought Royce Gracie for 90 minutes, under their made up rules.

Just to give you an idea how tough Sakuraba was, he was a welterweight who fought many LHW and HW fighters. He has fought and beat killers like Carlos NEwton, "no known weaknesses" Belfort, Mezger, several Gracies, Rampage, RAndleman. He has fought (and lost) to killers like CroCrop, Minotouro nogueira, Arona, Pride Wand, but still gave them hell.

A smaller fighter, that never refused a fight against anyone. Such a different mentality compared to today's fighters.

I miss the old days. I miss Sakuraba.

He was the larger man when he fought most of the gracies and Royce showed him up him up in their second match. Belfort injured/broke his hand in the fight and Rampage was green and gassed badly. His best win was Randleman imo. Good fighter but in reality not that great. Edit: Just rewatched the match vs Metzger and Saku lost that one. Widely considered a robbery.

 

[pankrat]

He was the larger man when he fought most of the gracies and Royce showed him up him up in their second match. Belfort injured/broke his hand in the fight and Rampage was green and gassed badly. His best win was Randleman imo. Good fighter but in reality not that great. Edit: Just rewatched the match vs Metzger and Saku lost that one. Widely considered a robbery.

Dude when every fellow fighter praises him you should ask yourself why.

His fight with Nogueira or Mezger - among many others - legit top LHWs both of them, are impressive for a WW in Saku. Knowledgeable fans dont even care what judges said about those fights afterwards, they already saw the fight and know whats up.
You are a moron who did a check in fight finder and came to a MMA forum to deliver that simpleton, retarded, embarrasing take lol what a bozo

 

[abject]

Dude when every fellow fighter praises him you should ask yourself why.

His fight with Nogueira or Mezger - among many others - legit top LHWs both of them, are impressive for a WW in Saku. Knowledgeable fans dont even care what judges said about those fights afterwards, they already saw the fight and know whats up.
You are a moron who did a check in fight finder and came to a MMA forum to deliver that simpleton, retarded, embarrasing take lol what a bozo

Son, my knowledge dwarfs your own. And i dont rely on huggery to alter reality.

 

[pankrat]

Son, my knowledge dwarfs your own. And i dont rely on huggery to alter reality.

Sure but you are fooling nobody, prick

 

[HHJ]

He was the larger man when he fought most of the gracies and Royce showed him up him up in their second match. Belfort injured/broke his hand in the fight and Rampage was green and gassed badly. His best win was Randleman imo. Good fighter but in reality not that great. Edit: Just rewatched the match vs Metzger and Saku lost that one. Widely considered a robbery.

Got anymore excuses ?

 

[DestinedAussie]

Can we show some appreciation to Sakuraba, the Gracie Killer?

He is a UFC HOF. One of the pioneers of sport. Embodies the true Samurai spirit.

He was probably one of the baddest fighters ever. Transitioned to MMA when he was 27 years (super old to start MMA) coming from Japanese Professional Wrestling.
He fought a lot of KILLERs, fighters that were way more experienced in MMA and fighters that were much HEAVIER and bigger. He still managed to win a lot of those fights or give them a lot of trouble.

He never backed down, always fought anyone, anywhere, anytime. A lot of his losses were Doctor's stoppage or the corner throwing the white towel, because he would never quit.

He was the first to end the Gracie "unbeatable" Aura. Fought Royce Gracie for 90 minutes, under their made up rules.

Just to give you an idea how tough Sakuraba was, he was a welterweight who fought many LHW and HW fighters. He has fought and beat killers like Carlos NEwton, "no known weaknesses" Belfort, Mezger, several Gracies, Rampage, RAndleman. He has fought (and lost) to killers like CroCrop, Minotouro nogueira, Arona, Pride Wand, but still gave them hell.

A smaller fighter, that never refused a fight against anyone. Such a different mentality compared to today's fighters.

I miss the old days. I miss Sakuraba.

What about CM Punk, he was just one of his punches landing away from an epic title run.

 

[DaviVasco]

He was the larger man when he fought most of the gracies and Royce showed him up him up in their second match. Belfort injured/broke his hand in the fight and Rampage was green and gassed badly. His best win was Randleman imo. Good fighter but in reality not that great. Edit: Just rewatched the match vs Metzger and Saku lost that one. Widely considered a robbery.

 

[HHJ]

Gonobtw,If he were still alive,would hand out severe beatings to some of the noobs in this thread.

Rip buddy. (Unban him!!!!!)

 

[froggyluv]

Man I wish they fought
Like I really wish they fought
It still bothers me to this day almost 20 years later that it never happened

Im sure Sak would have accepted -did Rickson even attempt to salvage the Gracie name or was he too busy subbing guys in the remote rainforests of Brazil..

 

[Elvis.]

Im sure Sak would have accepted -did Rickson even attempt to salvage the Gracie name or was he too busy subbing guys in the remote rainforests of Brazil..

The story is that they were in some type of negotiations to make it happen and Rickson’s son Rockson tragically passed away , Rickson fell into a deep depression and didn’t even train for years afterwards

 

[froggyluv]

The story is that they were in some type of negotiations to make it happen and Rickson’s son Rockson tragically passed away , Rickson fell into a deep depression and didn’t even train for years afterwards

Oh well damn i feel like an ass now -that was heartbreaking

 

[pankrat]

Gonobtw,If he were still alive,would hand out severe beatings to some of the noobs in this thread.

Rip buddy. (Unban him!!!!!)

Is he banned?
These new mods should know better the fauna of this forum before making drastic decisions

 

[Harlekin]

Anderson Silva?

Uh what? He lost 3 times to Wanderlei Silva, but that's about as close as he got to a Silva.

 

[Harlekin]

Imagine thinking 2003 Kevin Randleman isn't prime competition.

That would make 1 "okay" win, against Randleman who went 1:6 or 3:11 at that time.

 

[Elvis.]

Oh well damn i feel like an ass now -that was heartbreaking

No need to feel bad , you didn’t know

 

[RogerB08]

Would have gotten wrecked by wrestlers in The U.S.

 

[PalmStrike]

I love Sakuraba but his early fights against Vitor and Newton were not on the level. Ive seen them many times. Vitor wasn't trying to KO Sakuraba and Newton was a grappling match.

Sakuraba was a warrior though. He took a lot of beatings.

 

[mjfan23]

Uh what? He lost 3 times to Wanderlei Silva, but that's about as close as he got to a Silva.

Your description sounded exactly like Anderson Silva in his finally years in ufc.

Anyway speaking of Anderson Silva he would have lost to saku there is no doubt about it, just look at his results in those days asinst Prides Japanese fighters lol

And also saku beat Vitor and page who both had wins over Wand. It’s just that during the one insane stretch of his reign Wand was the most feared an unbeatable LHW/MW (in pride) on the planet and saku of course stood no chance.

 

[PunchyMcSplodo]

He was the larger man when he fought most of the gracies and Royce showed him up him up in their second match.

Now I know you're trolling.

Bringing up Royce's 2nd match against a long since broken Sakuraba is almost as bad as a Tito fan praising his performance in Tito vs Chuck 4.

Fucking LOL.

 

[Blayt7hh]

There is no doubt he is an MMA legend, but why is he in the UFC HOF? He has 2 fights and 1 win in UFC. If that's enough to get you in the HOF, the UFC HOF is going to have a lot of inductees!

Because the UFC owns Pride now. Obviously they're counting his Pride achievements