Sakuraba vs Penn: Fighting Giants, Who has the more lasting legacy to you?

[scardera]

Sakuraba didnt get caught for PED so...Saku all the way

 

[Deleted member 347815]

Saku and Penn have their similarities, but the impact that Saku had on the sport far outweighs BJs in my opinion. BJ will go down in history as a freak talent and a REAL fighter but Saku is going to go down a true Icon and someone who changed the sport.

 

[wowspare]

Saku, and it's not even close.

The best Sakuraba HL ever made:

 

[Lanx]

I don't ever remembering anyone giving so much thought and care to a match, that they figured out that this match can be timed perfectly

Set to: "Alone in the Ring" and "The Final Bell" - Rocky

Just try playing Saku v. Galesic and not tear up you heartless bastards

 

[deviake]

They both fought above their given weights and were pretty fearless, but I think I have to go with Sakuraba, albeit Penn was more successful. I still wonder what Sakuraba's career would have been like if he fought at his natural weight class, which if I'm not mistaken would be 170.

 

[BluntForceTrama]

God bless BJ (and bj's for that matter) but I can't believe this question is even being posed. More so that there are so many misguided posters here thinking BJ has the more profound legacy. Lets get to the meat here, BJ has major d-merit points for not being the best he could've been. He got lazy and likely didn't train very hard in most cases. He had big ideas but most of that was reliant on him just showing up and utilizing his god-given talents. If he had chosen to work hard Id have more respect for him but the guy is lazy, stubborn and a serious narcissist.

Saku was the man. He was the gracie killer and everyone respected him. Im sure he's treated like royalty wherever he goes. BJs mostly a god in Hilo where even smaller minds exist.

 

[Credo]

Have to say Saku.

 

[TheStrangler]

Gracie's = Greatest/Most Influential family in MMA..Sakuraba known as "The Gracie Killer"..

 

[wilKO]

BJ

 

[MiroHa]

Saku had a bigger influence on MMA but they both are all-time greats.

 

[Darwinambrosius]

Saku has the better legacy, which is what the OP was asking. He was one of the first guys to figure out how to hang with a Gracie. Along with Masakatsu Funaki he was the first true Japanese great. He also was able to beat guys that were far bigger than him.

BJ was probably the better fighter, but I wouldn't say he had the same sort of impact on the sport. Especially from a historical perspective.

Great post.

 

[TallGHunter]

Sak, all day - any day.

Everyone likes to say how BJ fought Machida, who was green. If he had fought prime Machida he wouldn't have made the first round. To the death georges.

 

[freakyfarley]

Gracie killer for sure.

 

[Rav1nHunter]

Sakuraba didnt get caught for PED so...Saku all the way

This about sums it up.

 

[Jesus X]

You should put up a list of everybody Sakuraba fought. Penn too. Both guys were amazing in that respect, but Saku sometimes clearly forgot that size matters. Must be an Asian thing.


Yeah, I said it.

Minowa fought literal giants

 

[TheHawtness]

Sakuraba didnt get caught for PED so...Saku all the way

Still questionable.

 

[Son of Werdum]

Saku fought the highest quality legit heavier fighters.

Minowa is the ultimate "giant killer" fighter when it comes to size disarity.

 

[Mochan]

Sakuraba EASILY has the better legacy. The reason most people will say Penn is mostly because a.) he got two UFC Weight Class belts and b.) Most people only got to watch him live in the UFC.

We put too much emphasis on the UFC belt around here, but if you look at who had more impact on the MMA world Sakuraba far outstrips BJ. A lot of that comes from being there first, but Sakuraba's destruction of the Gracie family is often forgotten and overlooked today. However, the importance of that can't be overlooked. It captivated the world in a way that allowed Sakuraba to achieve his second great legacy: propping PrideFC itself on his shoulders.

While Takayama/Fry did wonders for Pride in a similar way Bonar/Griffin did, there's no doubt the face of Pride in the early days was Sakuraba. The whole nation of Japan came to see him fight, win or lose. He was practically a national hero.

Penn had a great career but I honestly don't think it can compare to that. All of Sakuraba's other exploits are just icing on the cake of those two big ones.

 

[Mochan]

i like both equally and i think they both accomplished crazy things during their careers.

but lw and ww champ > saku belt

See? This is exactly what I'm talking about.

We put way too much stock in the UFC belts. Tournament wins are way better than UFC Belts anyway IMO. They're far, far harder to achieve, and Sakura got one of them, albeit in an early era.

But again, the impact Sakuraba had on the sport was far greater than two UFC belts.

 

[Ludonja]

BJ deserves a lot of respect for what he has done, but imo Saku has bigger legacy. BJ has fought Hughes, Machida and GSP, while Saku has taken on Wand x3, Cro Cop, Vovchanchyn, Rampage, Randleman, Belfort, Renzo, Royce, Newton, Arona