Past or Present: Who is the Sakuraba of the USA?

Those guys you listed are fan favorites but never really exciting aside from a few fights.

Ken Shamrock was the USA guy back in the day...and he was way more exciting during his reign at the top than any of those guys you listed...if you ever watch an old HL of shammy then youll see what I mean.

He was the guy that Americans favored and cheered for and he was almost as exciting but more brutal than Saku.

The guys you listed are wrestlers who maybe had 5% exciting fights out of all of them.
 
Handy no question.

Not even taking his trilogy with Chuck into account, he came out of retirement to dominate the much larger and hated Timmy S, the proceed to beat the piss out of GG after he CC'd CC and no one gave him a chance.
 
BrainCandy said:
Don fucking Frye.
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I love Don Frye, my favorite fighter of all time but his career in the UFC was during the dark ages of the sport. Had he been in the modern era of the UFC, then no doubt it'd be The Predator.
 
Sakuraba would smoke and drink, then he'd wear a shirt which simply read "WATER" to parody the guys with their supplement sponsors. Then he'd beat guys much bigger than himself. 3/4 guys in the OP use TRT. They don't deserve to be compared to Sakuraba.
 
Let Sakuraba be Sakuraba, Couture be Couture, Hughes be Hughes, and the American Gangster be the American Gangster.

All have been great in their own ways.

Also, every time I try to think of a mixed martial artist with the wresting moves with the kind of power moves that Sakuraba had, I think of Matt Hughes pulling off that incredible slam of Frank Trigg. That still give me chills like 8 years later.
 
The correct answer would be Josh Barnett


Catch Wrestling
Takes a massive beating yet still keeps on fighting
Deadly Submissions
Showmanship
Pride Superstar
 
Transmorphers said:
Sakuraba would smoke and drink, then he'd wear a shirt which simply read "WATER" to parody the guys with their supplement sponsors. Then he'd beat guys much bigger than himself. 3/4 guys in the OP use TRT. They don't deserve to be compared to Sakuraba.
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this 1-million percent.
 
I don't see how you could draw a comparrison between Saku and Chael. Any of those guy really, but Chael? What are you smoking TS?
 
Sakuraba was truly one of a kind, none of them are even close.

EDIT:

Sakuraba would smoke and drink, then he'd wear a shirt which simply read "WATER" to parody the guys with their supplement sponsors. Then he'd beat guys much bigger than himself. 3/4 guys in the OP use TRT. They don't deserve to be compared to Sakuraba.
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This.
 
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Well, let's go through the list of qualities that Sakuraba possessed:

-Warrior spirit
-Fought through injuries
-The People's Champion
-Kept Japanese MMA alive during the early years
-Went on a bad losing streak but managed to get a good win here and there that reminded us of his greatness
-Doesn't speak English

So you're asking us which US fighter best fits the criteria above?
























1hf.gif
 
None of these guys are catch-wrestlers or pro-wrestlers. Sakuraba wasn't just about winning, he had a style to him, everything from his ring entrances to his submissions. There is no comparison to what you listed.
 
If this is based on an exciting pesonality and likability... got to be Bas. EVERYONE loves Bas.
 
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