Nostalgia vs. Reality: Kazushi Sakuraba

Lee_ said:
Fuck no he would not lose to Hughes. That's a joke. He was competitively fighting at what would have been LHW in Pride; Hughes is a WW. Plus, as you say, there is the matchup issue.
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Ifd bet every penny I'd ever owned that Saku would beat Hughes handily. He was too agile on the ground, his submissions were too sneaky. Hughes fell for shit all the time on the ground and didn't do great when put on defense..

And Saku would leg kick him to Bolivian.
 
Would have been a shit show. Hell Kron shows us that their blood line is literally too retarded to adapt. The only reason BJJ adapted and has merit is because of people under them willing to teach/think outside of the box of Japanese Jiu Jitsu and "BJJ".
Aegon Spengler said:
I think Royce knew he was done and Sakuraba was chosen to be the one to pass the torch too, in a way. It was clear MMA had passed the Gracie’s by in 2003, or at the very least has passed Royce.

Would have been interesting to see Oleg Taktarov vs Royce
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Nathan LaMontagne said:
Ifd bet every penny I'd ever owned that Saku would beat Hughes handily. He was too agile on the ground, his submissions were too sneaky. Hughes fell for shit all the time on the ground and didn't do great when put on defense..

And Saku would leg kick him to Bolivian.
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Prime Sakuraba would murder Hughes. Catch Wrestling is, to me, is the best defensive "sport/art" you can learn.
 
sherdogwantedtonamemekiki said:
Prime Sakuraba would murder Hughes. Catch Wrestling is, to me, is the best defensive "sport/art" you can learn.
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Catch is great always wanted to learn it proper.

I do want to throw in an observation as well.
Saku's ground style is very reminiscent to the 80s/90s Judo Ne Waza in approach. Kosen style in a way.

Main focus was quick positioning and fast, explosive submissions.. especially his favourite techniques (Tokui Waza) being Kimuras (double wristlock of you wanna be catch, Ude garami if you wanna be a weeb) and straight armbars (jujigatame if you will )
Also his uchimata counter was brilliant (see his counter against renzo)

It's very clear that Sakuraba was a VERY well rounded grappler.

And that Judo reminiscence makes a lot of sense. As catch got integrated with Judo due to the catch guys teaching and trading techniques with the pro wrestling circuit.

When you're trained by catch legends like Billy Robinson who spent extensive time in Japan, you're bound to be amazing.
 
gary goodridges fights were more exciting, sakurabas fights would just drag on
 
KID Yamamoto said:
His record could have been much cleaner but the insane man fought guys at heavyweight. Dude is a 170'er through and through lol. I favor him over hughes. Sakuraba on the feet was definitely unique but he had crazy methods of getting it to the ground.
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I always liked Sakurabas ability to punish the legs of a grounded fighter, there's never been anybody with the ability or creativity to replicate it.
 
That OG sherdog Sakuraba highlight set to "beautiful day" by U2 is forever ingrained into my brain matter. A one of a kind fighter, pioneer, who really took the meaning of MMA and ran with it. It was sad to see the later stages, but he still gave it his all and had some good come from behind victories. WAR SAKU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 39 WATER, PROTEIN, ALCOHOL FOR LIFE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Sakuraba was one of the greatest over-achievers in MMA. He won a lot of bouts where it seemed like he didn't have a chance. He got a big boost from the executives in PRIDE and clearly had a lot of levers pulled to help him out. Still, his career is admirable and he a had a great attitude as well.

Jarl
 
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