Kazushi Sakuraba - Wikipedia. Kazushi Sakuraba(. He has fought in MMA competition in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Pride Fighting Championships, Hero's and Dream. He is known as the . In particular, Sakuraba is famous for his initial fight with Royce, which lasted ninety minutes. Known for his excellent skills in catch wrestling, he is considered to be one of the greatest mixed martial art fighters of all time, and also holds notable victories over 7 UFC champions, 3 Pancrase Champions, a DREAM champion, a King of the Cage champion and Battlecade Extreme Fighting champion; former Welterweight Champion. Carlos Newton, two former Light heavyweight champions. Vitor Belfort and Quinton Jackson, former Heavyweight Champion. Kevin Randleman, 3- time UFC Tournament champion. Royce Gracie, former Superfight champion and King of Pancrase. Ken Shamrock, former UFC Tournament champion and King of Pancrase. Guy Mezger, former King of Pancrase. Masakatsu Funaki, DREAM Super Hulk Tournament Champion. Ikuhisa Minowa, former King of the Cage Light Heavyweight champion. Vernon White, and former Battlecade Extreme Fighting champion Marcus Silveira. He is also the 1st of only 2 Japanese champions in UFC history. Background. A high school stand- out, he finished as high as second in the nation before joining the wrestling squad of Chuo University, a team which had counted Olympic gold medalists Shozo Sasahara and Osamu Watanabe amongst its ranks. He won the East Japan Freshman championship in his first year and served as their team captain thereafter. ![]() In his senior year, he finished fourth place in the All- Japan tournament. Amongst his notable wins was a defeat of future Olympic bronze medalist Takuya Ota. However, at the last minute he decided to pursue a career as a professional wrestler. According to Sakuraba, the impetus for this stemmed from a childhood dream of one day emulating Satoru Sayama, a professional wrestler who portrayed in real life the famous Japanese cartoon hero Tiger Mask. His time in the UWFI would prove to be a formative experience for Sakuraba; it was there under the tutelage of Billy Robinson that he received his initial instruction in catch wrestling. It is catch wrestling that would serve as the base of the unorthodox ground- game that would later lead him to success in the Pride Fighting Championships. Sakuraba lost his debut in 1. Steve Nelson and went winless through his rookie year with the league. It is also popularly alleged that under the eye of Kiyoshi Tamura, he was made to perform menial chores about the dojo. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Extreme Weight Loss Tony 2015 GigiExtreme Weight Loss (originally titled Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition) is a television program from ABC in which individuals volunteer to receive training and. ![]() ![]() A look at longer fasting regimens extending past several days and why I call it the Ancient Secret of weight loss. The AOL.com video experience serves up the best video content from AOL and around the web, curating informative and entertaining snackable videos. Have you heard about the egg diet weight loss fast? This is how I broke my four month stall on LCHF! Daughter Is Painting Adorable Custom Pet Portraits to Raise Money for Dad’s Cancer Treatment. Then, in 1. 99. 5, the UWFi began an interpromotional feud with New Japan Pro Wrestling. The vast majority of UWFi workers came out on the losing end of the booking to the larger and more mainstream promotion and Sakuraba was no exception. He was defeated in high- profile bouts to Tokimitsu Ishizawa, Koji Kanemoto and Shinjiro Otani, bringing Sakuraba a new level of exposure to the public. The ring psychology and technical prowess he displayed in the bouts also impressed the management of the UWFi enough that he was finally pushed towards main event status. New Japan's dominance in the feud injured the marketability of the UWFi promotion, which had pressed the perception that their athletes boasted legitimate skill in catch wrestling and kickboxing. In a bid to regain credibility, Yoji Anjoh travelled to California to challenge Rickson Gracie in the latter's own dojo, only to be swiftly and brutally defeated before the assembled Japanese press that had followed him there. With the UWFi's formerly fearsome reputation in tatters, its attendance numbers swiftly decreased, with the federation closing its doors once and for all in December 1. In their final show it was Sakuraba who at long last headlined, defeating Anjoh by submission. Kingdom Pro Wrestling. In the vein of its predecessor, Kingdom was primarily a league devoted to shoot- style realistic- looking works. Having by now established his ability, Sakuraba was this time booked as a main- eventer from the outset. However, unlike the UWFi, Kingdom struggled from the beginning to draw substantial crowds. Mixed martial arts was growing in popularity, and the dominance of the Gracie family and their fellow Brazilian jiu- jitsu practitioners over the field and more specifically over professional wrestlers, left the Japanese public ever more unconvinced as to the fighting ability of Kingdom's stable of athletes. Return to New Japan. Following the match, Sakuraba and Nagata came together to accept a challenge issued by Daniel and Rolles Gracie. The partnership led to Sakuraba becoming an associate of Yano's Chaos stable. Sakuraba himself has stated that he doesn't remember it. Kanehara was injured in his training for the tournament, and Sakuraba wound up as his late- hour substitute. The tournament was intended for heavyweights, but Sakuraba who weighed 1. UFC's 2. 00 pound designation for the weight class. Having reporting himself as 2. Light heavyweight by modern standards) in order to gain entry, Sakuraba was paired off against the 2. Brazilian jiu- jitsu blackbelt and former Extreme Fighting champion, Marcus Silveira. Following a barrage of light blows by Silveira, Sakuraba dropped for a low single leg takedown but referee John Mc. Carthy stopped the fight prematurely before Sakuraba could complete the takedown. A loud protest followed from the crowd and an angry Sakuraba attempted unsuccessfully to take the microphone and address the Japanese audience. However, after reviewing tape, Mc. Carthy changed his decision to a no- contest. Tank Abbott, who had earlier defeated Anjoh, dropped from the tournament due to an injured hand, leaving Sakuraba and Silveira to face off once more that night in what would be the championship bout of the tournament. This time, Sakuraba claimed the victory, submitting Silveira with an armbar. Afterwards, Sakuraba famously stated, . With the victory Sakuraba remains one of the last UFC tournament champions to date. With Nobuhiko Takada having left Kingdom to challenge Rickson Gracie in an event called Pride Fighting Championships, the still struggling promotion capitalized on Sakuraba's newly found popularity establishing him as Kingdom's top talent. He embarked on a winning streak against several foreign mixed martial arts competitors including Paul Herrera, Rene Rooze, Mark Hall and Orlando Weit. However, Kingdom continued to flounder and finally folded in March 1. Pride Fighting Championships. Showcasing a balance of wrestling and submission prowess, Sakuraba came after White with constant takedowns and unceasing submission attempts. White held Sakuraba off for the first two sessions, but was ultimately armbarred towards the end of the third round. Next, Sakuraba was matched against Ultimate Fighting Championship veteran Carlos Newton. Though relatively new to mixed martial arts, Newton had recently disposed of the reigning Shooto light heavyweight champion Erik Paulson with a swift armbar victory and already developed a reputation as a talented grappler. Sakuraba finished the match in the second round, this time with a rolling kneebar. Eager to capitalize on Sakuraba's shoot wrestling prowess to reverse the perception that Japanese professional wrestlers were inferior to Brazilian combatants (in part perpetuated by his teammates' own defeats), Sakuraba's next three bouts were scheduled against Brazilian jiu- jitsu black belts Vitor Belfort, Allan Goes and luta livre black belt Ebenezer Fontes Braga. In a trend that would continue through Sakuraba's Pride career, each opponent occupied a spot near the top of the 2. Sakuraba's match against Goes would be an instrumental point in his fighting's style evolution, pitted against an opponent with a strong defensive guard. Through the bout, Sakuraba attempted several moves to bypass the stationary Goes's defense, including leglocks, dives and kicks to the legs, but he also would have to defend, as Goes was relentless in his upkicks and submission counterattacks. Sakuraba got menaced by a rear naked choke several times, and he almost finished Allan as well with an armbar. Due to the absence of judges in Pride's ruleset at the time, the match was ruled a draw. Goes, a Carlson Gracie apprentice, would state in a later interview . However, despite several big flurries by the Brazilian to open the match, Sakuraba went unscathed and took Belfort down, proceeding to land ground and pound. As Belfort would not leave the mat through the match, in part due to a broken hand in one of his own combos, Sakuraba deployed his improved strategy and punished Vitor with leg kicks and jumping stomps to the head, as well as landing unanswered striking combinations every time Belfort was called up by the referee. At the end, as Pride had just implemented the judges system, Sakuraba was awarded his first decision victory unanimously. Unlike the previous two matches, Kazushi faced in Braga a consistently aggressive opponent, with the luta livre practitioner landing effective muay thai knees and kicks until Sakuraba put him down. The Japanese wrestler continued his signature guard assault, and outstruck Braga in his last standing segment until he could take him down again, locking an armbar for the tap out. It marked the largest weight advantage Sakuraba has enjoyed in his career to date (being around 3. Royler). Royler, unable to score a takedown or strike effectively from a standing position, remained on the ground in an effort to bait Sakuraba into a grappling- oriented contest, while Sakuraba, standing, landed punishing kicks to Royler's legs, thighs and head. Eventually, with less than two minutes remaining, Sakuraba finally engaged Royler on the ground, soon catching him in an elbow lock known as gyaku- ude- garami or double top wristlock. As Sakuraba wrenched on the submission, the referee intervened with 1 minute and 4. Sakuraba the win by TKO.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
November 2017
Categories |