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109-442: The event featured a four-man heavyweight tournament, the first ever UFC Middleweight Championship bout, a Heavyweight Championship bout, a Superfight and an alternate bout. Ultimate Japan 1 featured the first UFC appearance of MMA legends Kazushi Sakuraba and Frank Shamrock . The event was the first appearance of longtime UFC announcer Mike Goldberg , who replaced Bruce Beck as the play by play announcer. Another notable first

218-419: A kneebar from there, but his grip on the judoka inexplicably failed again. Having Sakuraba trapped against the ropes and struggling for his submission, Akiyama was free to attack with ground and pound for the referee stoppage. Words were exchanged between Sakuraba and referee Yoshinori Umeki prior to the stop, which was brought on by the sounding of a bell at the behest of Akira Maeda , the event coordinator,

327-469: A triangle choke , Sakuraba found himself hefted into the air and repeatedly slammed to the canvas in the way of a powerbomb . Later, he attempted an armbar against Jackson, only for the Tennessee native to again lift him up and this time attempt to drop him from the ring. His expression unchanging through the course of Jackson's assault, Sakuraba continued to flow from one lock to another. Eventually, he took

436-482: A "real pro wrestler." Sakuraba did not request the match due to any grudge against Minowa, but rather because he believed that he and Minowa would put on a fight worthy of the Shockwave event. The bout was a competitive one, with Sakuraba choosing to fight from the bottom and using both men's submission attempts to force scrambles. After long minutes pinned under Sakuraba, Minowa escaped and took his back, but Kazushi applied

545-488: A Hero's event wearing his street clothes (yellow shirt and blue jeans) and a pro wrestling mask in the style of one of his childhood heroes, Tiger Mask . He did not reveal himself, but it was apparent that it was a masked Sakuraba and that he signed with K-1 and FEG. A day later, Sakuraba appeared at a FEG press conference to announce he would fight in Hero's. His defection to Hero's was a culmination of several signs that suggested he

654-462: A Kimura lock which, although Minowa would not tap to it, nonetheless prompted the referee to halt the contest. The victory marked his final bout under the Pride banner; it also marked one of the few times he was matched against an opponent of his own size from the 183-pound division and his first bout against a Japanese fighter. On 3 May 2006, Sakuraba surprisingly appeared with Hero's head Akira Maeda at

763-459: A barrage of blows by Silveira, Sakuraba dropped for a low-single, only for the fight to be prematurely ended on a KO. Referee John McCarthy had mistakenly thought Sakuraba to have been knocked out. 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, McCarthy changed his decision to

872-426: A barrage of light blows by Silveira, Sakuraba dropped for a low single leg takedown, but referee John McCarthy stopped the fight before Sakuraba could complete it, believing he had been knocked out by the punches. 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, McCarthy changed his decision to

981-424: A bout Sakuraba dominated and then against Rickson Gracie protege Antônio Schembri . With a win over Schembri, it was speculated that Sakuraba might be then groomed for a championship fight in a new weight division for fighters of his size. Sakuraba controlled the fight initially, landing plenty of hits and breaking Antônio's nose, but when he was going for one of his trademark Mongolian chops, Schembri stunned him with

1090-414: A break to recover and possibly undergo surgery Sakuraba scheduled to return to action on December 31, 2006, against Yoshihiro Akiyama at K-1 Dynamite!! . During the bout, Sakuraba was hit with several punches and he rushed to get the takedown, but in doing so he slipped from Akiyama's body. As the sequence repeated itself over and over while Sakuraba took punishment, he opted to drop to his back and attempt

1199-479: A coach. However, at the last minute, he decided to continue his road to professional wrestling. Having weighed 68 kg (150 lb) for most of his amateur wrestling career, Sakuraba was encouraged by his peers to gain weight, as it would be difficult to compete as a smaller fighter in pro wrestling. After working to gain the weight needed to compete, he never wanted to lose it anymore, something that would be reflected in his MMA career. Finding himself attracted by

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1308-417: A comical entrance and traded strikes with Silva in his own field of specialty. The Japanese utilized a strategy of faking takedowns and attacking with uppercuts , followed by a real takedown attempt which Silva blocked with knees to the head. Sakuraba escaped and kept trading hits, but despite his best efforts to match his opponent's striking acumen, Wanderlei knocked him out with a jab-cross combination. After

1417-521: A featherweight division was introduced for the women with the first bout to be for the inaugural championship at UFC 208 on February 11, 2017. In that same year the UFC announced the Women's Flyweight division would officially be added, with the winner of the 26th season of The Ultimate Fighter to be named the inaugural champion. [REDACTED] 206 to 265 lb (93 to 120 kg) The UFC Superfight Championship

1526-563: A full-time member. The rivalry between Sakuraba and Suzuki culminated in a match on January 4, 2015, at Wrestle Kingdom 9 in Tokyo Dome, where Sakuraba was defeated. On April 5 at Invasion Attack 2015 , Sakuraba submitted Katsuyori Shibata in a tag team match, where he and Yano defeated Shibata and Hiroshi Tanahashi , igniting a rivalry between the former Laughter7 partners. The two faced off on July 5 at Dominion 7.5 in Osaka-jo Hall in

1635-411: 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 and instantly caught him in a Kimura lock . As Sakuraba wrenched on the submission, the referee intervened with 1 minute and 44 seconds remaining on the clock, ending the contest and awarding Sakuraba

1744-408: A kick, but as he was coming in to follow up he was caught and knocked down to his knees and hands. Kazushi then turned over, sliding beneath the bottom rope, and Smirnovas unleashed repeated blows to his head. As Sakuraba seemed at this point unable to defend himself, when the referee stepped between the two fighters it seemed likely he was moving to put an end to the contest. However, instead of halting

1853-521: A match, where Shibata was victorious. After wrestling sporadically for independent promotions for a few years, Sakuraba returned to wrestling full-time for Pro Wrestling Noah , aligning himself with the Sugiura-gun faction headed by Takashi Sugiura . On 30 August 2020 Sakuraba and Sugiura defeated AXIZ ( Go Shiozaki and Katsuhiko Nakajima ) for the vacant GHC Tag Team Championship , Sakuraba's first ever pro-wrestling title. In September Sakuraba entered

1962-529: A no-contest. As Tank Abbott , who had earlier defeated Anjoh, had dropped from the tournament due to an injured hand, it was ruled that Sakuraba and Silveira faced off once more that night in what would be the championship bout of the tournament. Silveira opened their second match taking Sakuraba's back, which the Japanese wrestler answered by attempting to apply a Kimura lock . After freeing his arm, Silveira capitalized on another Kimura attempt by Saku to try to twist it into an armbar from his guard , only for

2071-409: A no-contest. Tank Abbott , who had earlier defeated Yoji Anjo , 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, "In fact, professional wrestling is strong". Due to

2180-490: A series of knee strikes (controversially preceded by an illegal headbutt), winning by TKO. After the defeat to Schembri, Sakuraba expressed desire to gain weight and move up to the heavyweight division, hoping to fight either Bob Sapp or PRIDE Heavyweight Champion Fedor Emelianenko . However, nothing of this was realized, and instead Sakuraba faced Wanderlei Silva for the third time at Pride Total Elimination. The bout reminisced their first encounter, as Sakuraba flashed again

2289-460: A sharp combination, staggering Smirnovas and bloodying his face. Having turned the tide of the match, Sakuraba began dominating the Lithuanian on the striking segments until Smirnovas dropped to the ground to escape the assault. Sakuraba then accomplished an armbar, forcing his opponent to give up. Initially there were some doubts as to whether Sakuraba would be able to make it into the next round of

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2398-465: A stop to the fight at the conclusion of the second round, due to the amount of damage he had sustained. Following the loss, Pride president Sakakibara suggested Sakuraba might move down in weight to compete in their newly formed 183-pound division. However, instead of moving down in weight, Sakuraba began training at Chute Boxe Academy in Brazil alongside his one-time rival Wanderlei Silva. The move had also

2507-418: A stronger emphasis on combat-ready skills and training without a gi . At the time of his bout with Sakuraba, Renzo's only loss in 10 bouts was a closely contested decision to Sakuraba's former UWFi stablemate and rival, Kiyoshi Tamura while Maurice Smith , Oleg Taktarov and Abu Dhabi champion Sanae Kikuta numbered amongst his victims. Renzo's stylistic differences from his cousins were in evidence from

2616-413: A symbolic value, as Chute Boxe was at the time in a rivalry with Arona's Brazilian Top Team . Upon completion of his training, he made his return to the ring to engage in yet another contest at the 205-pound limit, this time against fellow shoot wrestler Ken Shamrock . Three minutes into the bout, Sakuraba struck through Shamrock's guard with a left hand. Shamrock staggered back and ultimately fell into

2725-543: A tag team match to remain undefeated since their return. On January 4, 2013, at Wrestle Kingdom 7 in Tokyo Dome , Sakuraba suffered his first defeat since his return to professional wrestling, when he unsuccessfully challenged Shinsuke Nakamura for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship. Sakuraba and Shibata returned to their winning ways at the following pay-per-view, The New Beginning on February 10, where they defeated Hirooki Goto and Wataru Inoue in

2834-534: A tag team match. On April 7 at Invasion Attack , Sakuraba and Shibata suffered their first tag team loss, when they were defeated by Hirooki Goto and Yuji Nagata via referee stoppage, when Sakuraba injured his right elbow, after taking a belly-to-back suplex from Nagata, and unable to continue the match. New Japan later announced that Sakuraba would be sidelined for two to three months. Sakuraba wrestled his return match on July 20, defeating Yuji Nagata via submission. On September 8, Sakuraba and Shibata took part in

2943-532: A tag team match. Sakuraba and Shibata, collectively dubbed Laughter7, continued their winning ways at the following two pay-per-views , King of Pro-Wrestling on October 8 and Power Struggle on November 11, both times defeating the team of Togi Makabe and Wataru Inoue. Also at Power Struggle, Shinsuke Nakamura nominated Sakuraba as the next challenger for his IWGP Intercontinental Championship . On December 2, Sakuraba won his first exchange with Nakamura, when Laughter7 defeated Nakamura and Tomohiro Ishii in

3052-662: A talented grappler. Accordingly, the match was a back and forth grappling affair between the two fighters. At the second round, after several exchanges on the mat, Newton looked to capture Sakuraba's back, but the Japanese trapped him in a rolling kneebar and finished him. 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

3161-436: A tournament champion. However, during a hard sparring session for the upcoming bout Sakuraba began vomiting and fainted. After being rushed to the hospital he was diagnosed with vertebrobasilar damage that restricted blood circulation to the head and neck area. The doctors determined the damage was caused from years of untreated head injuries dating back to his college years. In spite of this revelation, rather than being granted

3270-430: A trend that would continue through Sakuraba's Pride career, each opponent occupied a spot near the top of the 205-pound class at the time of their meeting with him and held a weight advantage of around 20 pounds. 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

3379-511: A win over Mark Silver in October 1994. Though his record remained below .500, Sakuraba continued to edge his way closer to mid-card status through the rest of the year. Then, in 1995, the UWFi began an interpromotional feud with New Japan Pro-Wrestling . The vast majority of UWF-i workers came out on the losing end of the booking to the larger and more mainstream promotion and Sakuraba was no exception. He

UFC Japan: Ultimate Japan - Misplaced Pages Continue

3488-758: 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 King of Pancrase Masakatsu Funaki , DREAM Super Hulk Tournament Champion Ikuhisa Minowa , former King of

3597-528: Is known as the Gracie Hunter or the Gracie Killer due to his wins over four members of the famed Gracie family : Royler Gracie , Renzo Gracie , Ryan Gracie , and Royce Gracie . Sakuraba is famous for beating 15 champions of different top MMA organizations; opponents who were often many weight-classes above him. Known for his excellent skills in catch wrestling and unorthodox fighting style, he

3706-475: The Tiger Mask manga , with the eponymous New Japan Pro-Wrestling wrestler Tiger Mask being his favorite. After being convinced against dropping out of high school to pursue professional wrestling, Sakuraba began a career in amateur wrestling at the age of 15, hoping to gain a useful background to achieve his childhood dream. A high school stand-out, he finished as high as second in the nation before joining

3815-453: The Gracie family took great umbrage over the incident, feeling that they had been cheated by Pride. Despite Sakuraba challenging Royler's older brother Rickson Gracie after the match, it was his younger brother and former UFC Champion Royce Gracie who, compelled to set the record straight and re-assert the dominance of his family, returned to the sport of mixed martial arts in 2000 and entered

3924-620: The New Jersey State Athletic Control Board completely took over MMA regulation in its home state and developed new rules and weight classes that eventually became the de facto rule set for all mixed martial arts. The UFC realigned their weight classes to comply with these new regulations in 2001, beginning with UFC 31 . At the time, this brought the total number of active divisions in the UFC to five: lightweight , welterweight , middleweight , light heavyweight , and heavyweight . It would be nearly ten years before

4033-519: The Wrestle-1 promotion's inaugural event , defeating Masakatsu Funaki and Masayuki Kono in a tag team match. Sakuraba continued his rivalry with Yuji Nagata at the September 29 Destruction pay-per-view, where he and Shibata defeated Nagata and Manabu Nakanishi with Sakuraba pinning his rival for the win. On October 14, Sakuraba was defeated by Nagata in a singles rematch between the two. Following

4142-640: The freestyle 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 one over future Olympic bronze medalist Takuya Ota . Upon graduating from college, Sakuraba initially thought about remaining with Chuo University as

4251-449: The lightweight division would be renamed to middleweight , though it would still encompass all fighters 199 pounds (90 kg) and under. The lightweight moniker would later return at UFC 16 with a new division consisting of those competitors 170 pounds (77 kg) and under. Two years later a fourth weight class, the bantamweight division, arrived at UFC 26 and included all fighters 155 pounds (70 kg) and under. In 2000,

4360-624: The shoot wrestling movement, which had been by his childhood idol Sayama, Sakuraba considered joining the mixed martial arts organization Pancrase , but he ultimately chose the promotion Union of Wrestling Forces International , a professional wrestling league that was nonetheless known for its highly technical and realistic-looking bouts. His time in the UWF-i would prove to be a formative experience for Sakuraba. He received his initial instruction in both grappling and striking under main trainer Yoji Anjo , later honing his catch wrestling skills under

4469-577: The 16-Man Pride Grand Prix alongside Sakuraba and several other top fighters of the era. Placed on the same side of the bracket, a special set of rules were requested by the Gracies in the event of a Sakuraba-Royce match, including no referee stoppages and no time-limits, the fight ending only in the event of a submission or knock-out (something prohibited in modern MMA because of the widely adopted Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts limiting matches to 25 minutes overall, 5 x 5 minute rounds). In his first fight of

UFC Japan: Ultimate Japan - Misplaced Pages Continue

4578-425: The 2000 Pride tournament Sakuraba once again found himself matched up against a heavier opponent, this time the well-regarded 205 pound fighter, former King of Pancrase Guy Mezger . After a closely fought 15 minutes the judges requested an overtime round, and the fight ended in controversy when Mezger's coach Ken Shamrock forced his fighter back to the locker room claiming that no additional rounds were agreed upon in

4687-456: 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

4796-580: The Cage Light Heavyweight champion Vernon White , and former Battlecade Extreme Fighting champion Marcus Silveira. He is also the first of only two Japanese champions in UFC history. Sakuraba's Pride fights routinely draw more than 20 million viewers in Japan. Sakuraba is the founder of the submission wrestling promotion Quintet , where he has competed since 2018. Sakuraba became a fan of Japanese professional wrestling during his childhood thanks to

4905-519: The Gracie family". Renzo has since referred to the bout as his proudest moment in mixed martial arts. Similarly, years later Gracie called Sakuraba "his hero" and remembered their match as "one of the biggest lessons he learned in his life". Commentator Stephen Quadros stated too: "if any fans still doubted the abilities of Kazushi Sakuraba in MMA competition, they are now silent." Ryan Gracie , who had fought on

5014-570: The Gracies on May 3 at Wrestling Dontaku 2014 , where he teamed with Shinsuke Nakamura. On May 25 at Back to the Yokohama Arena , Sakuraba ended the Gracies' win streak by defeating Rolles in a singles match. Sakuraba then started a new rivalry with Minoru Suzuki , while also forming a partnership with Toru Yano , who was also involved in his own rivalry with Suzuki's Suzuki-gun stable. The partnership led to Sakuraba becoming an associate of Yano and Nakamura's Chaos stable, eventually becoming

5123-500: The Hero's tournament based on the severity of the damage he endured against Smirnovas. However, Sakuraba reported that a follow-up CAT scan had found no irregularities and was then slated to face one-time Olympic judoka , Yoshihiro Akiyama in the tournament's semi-finals on October 9 in what K-1 hoped would be a high revenue match-up. The winner of that bout was to face the victor between Melvin Manhoef and Shungo Oyama to determine

5232-459: The Japanese media referring to Randleman as Donkey Kong . In the match itself, Randleman was fast in showing his wrestling accolades at taking down Sakuraba, but the Japanese countered by setting submissions from every available position, until the American made a mistake and was caught in an armbar in the third round. At Pride Shockwave 2003, Sakuraba would face Antônio Rogério Nogueira , brother to

5341-399: The Japanese to escape to his knees. Silveira then tried his own Kimura, but at that moment Sakuraba reversed it in the same way and locked the armbar, making the Brazilian submit. Afterwards, in the post-fight interview, Sakuraba famously stated, "In fact, professional wrestling is strong" ( プロレスラーは本当は強いんです , Puroresurā wa hontōwa tsuyoi n desu ) . With the victory Sakuraba remains one of

5450-549: The NC, and Tank Abbott bowing out of the tournament, UFC officials ruled that a rematch between Sakuraba and Silveira would serve as the Heavyweight Tournament Finals. Kazushi Sakuraba Kazushi Sakuraba ( Japanese : 桜庭 和志 , Sakuraba Kazushi , born July 14, 1969) is a Japanese professional wrestler , submission wrestler and former mixed martial artist , currently signed to Pro Wrestling Noah , where he

5559-586: The Pride Fighting Championships on the heels of a defeat of stablemate Nobuhiko Takada at the hands of Rickson Gracie in the organization's initial event, Sakuraba was paired off against Vernon White , then a veteran of 32 bouts in Pancrase who also boasted a 20-pound weight advantage. Showcasing a balance of wrestling and submission prowess, Sakuraba came after White with constant takedowns and unceasing submission attempts. White held Sakuraba off for

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5668-405: The UFC decided they would delve even further into the lower weight classes when they announced the introduction of the flyweight division to their ranks, beginning with UFC on FX: Alves vs. Kampmann . In November 2012, as a result of the forthcoming dissolution of their sister organization Strikeforce , the UFC announced they would be adding female fighters to their roster for the first time in

5777-660: The UFC held tournaments with the winner receiving a permanent appellation. In response to criticism from Senator John McCain that saw the loss of its television deal and the banning of the sport in thirty-six states, the UFC increased its cooperation with state athletic commissions and introduced weight classes in 1997, starting with UFC 12 , and began introducing weight-specific titles. The original codification for weight classes introduced only two divisions: heavyweight , which grouped together all competitors above 200 pounds (91 kg), and lightweight , which encompassed all competitors 199 pounds (90 kg) and under. At UFC 14

5886-490: The UFC would expand their divisional offerings to include any of the lower weight classes. The first additions came in late 2010 when the UFC merged with their sister organization World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC). Due to the WEC's focus on lighter weight fighters, this merger necessitated the addition of both the featherweight and bantamweight divisions to the UFC, starting with The Ultimate Fighter season 12 finale . In early 2012

5995-652: The annual N1-Victory tournament as a singles competitor, finishing on 4 points with 2 wins and 3 losses. As of 22 November Sakuraba and Sugiura have successfully defended the GHC tag titles on two occasions. Though sources often cite Sakuraba's match with Kimo Leopoldo on July 14, 1996, as his first experience with mixed martial arts, there is debate about whether it was a shoot or a worked match. Sakuraba himself has stated that he doesn't remember it. However, his first contact with MMA can be traced to his different style fight at 26 June 1996 against Dutch kickboxer Rene Rooze , which

6104-566: The back of an exhausted Jackson and submitted him with his first rear naked choke victory. The contest was a launchpad for Jackson's career, leading to a long-term contract with Pride where he eventually became regarded as a top middleweight competitor, and later, a UFC champion. The Jackson bout also re-established Sakuraba's proficiency in dealing with larger opponents and placed him back in line for another shot at Wanderlei Silva in Pride's next event, this time to decide Pride's inaugural 205-pound champion. Usually prone to humorous entrances, it

6213-419: The battle, the referee re-positioned the fighters from underneath the bottom rope into the ring and resumed the bout. Though the restarting of fighters who have found themselves near or outside the ropes is common practice, it was nonetheless controversial. Following the restart, Smirnovas picked up where he'd left off and proceed to pound a turtled Sakuraba, but the Japanese managed to escape to his feet and land

6322-473: The canvas even as he wrenched his arm behind his back. Like Royler and Helio before him, Renzo refused to submit to the hold despite his elbow being snapped prior to hitting the ground and, even as the referee stopped the contest due to the injury, which awarded victory to Sakuraba. Renzo took the microphone and, before the 35,000 fans assembled at the Seibu Dome , stated that Sakuraba was "the Japanese version of

6431-545: The contract. Sakuraba ended up winning the match by forfeit. Meanwhile, Royce defeated Nobuhiko Takada by unanimous decision and thus set the stage for their much anticipated showdown. In the tournament quarterfinals Royce and Sakuraba battled for an hour and a half (six 15 minute rounds). Gracie opened the fight aggressively, raining punches from Kazushi's back while the Japanese fighter worked an armlock from standing, but Sakuraba kept calm, knowing Royce had no knockout power and expecting him to waste his energy; he even came to

6540-694: The end Igor was able to reverse a takedown and draw the first round even with ground strikes. After the first round was declared a draw Sakuraba's corner threw in the towel before the beginning of overtime, primarily due to fatigue. Following the Grand Prix, Sakuraba was christened the "Gracie Hunter" by the Japanese sports media. Keeping in tow with his new nickname, Sakuraba sandwiched a swift victory via achilles lock against Shannon Ritch between fights against brothers Renzo Gracie and Ryan Gracie . In contrast to Royler and Royce, Renzo and Ryan were products of Carlson Gracie 's approach to jiu-jitsu , which placed

6649-414: The face. It marked Sakuraba's second defeat in mixed martial arts and his first loss in the 205-pound division. Sakuraba then shocked the audience further by giving Silva his belt with Saku engraved on it. Wanderlei then stated that he would willingly give Sakuraba a rematch if Sakuraba wanted one, which the Japanese accepted. After sitting out the next Pride to recuperate, Sakuraba found himself across

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6758-506: The famous Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira . The Brazilian, having promised to knock out the Japanese, opened the match lunging at him with punches, but Kazushi answered in kind and opened a cut on Nogueira's eye which almost stopped the bout. The action resumed, both men battled for several minutes, with Rogério gaining the upper hand in striking and Sakuraba in wrestling, allowing him to get in Nogueira's guard and inflict significant damage again. During

6867-568: The federation closing its doors once and for all in December 1996. In their final show it was Sakuraba who at long last headlined, defeating Anjoh by submission. Following the close of the UWFi, Nobuhiko Takada , the most popular of the UWFi workers amongst the mainstream public founded Kingdom Pro Wrestling , taking in Sakuraba and the majority of his fellow UWFi alumni. In the vein of its predecessor, Kingdom

6976-606: 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. On August 12, 2012, Sakuraba, alongside Katsuyori Shibata , started appearing in New Japan Pro-Wrestling . It was Sakuraba's first work for the company since 1995, and the first ever as a free agent instead of a representative from another promotion. Sakuraba and Shibata wrestled their first match on September 23, defeating Hiromu Takahashi and Wataru Inoue in

7085-411: The fight was limited to a single 10-minute round, where Ryan's spirited efforts were generally stymied and controlled by Sakuraba, who noticeably avoided attacks on his younger opponent's injured arm. Despite it, Kazushi later argued in an interview that he believed Ryan would have been faking the entire injury in order to catch him off guard. Nonetheless, the Japanese threw some of his usual antics during

7194-412: The fight, there was talk of Kazushi planning to retire, but nothing came from it. Those defeats seemed to mark a turning point in Sakuraba's career; though he was unbeaten in his first nine Pride bouts, he thereafter split his next six matches. He had a notable victory over Kevin Randleman , a former UFC Heavyweight Champion, widely remembered due to his ring entrance as Mario , a pun intended to reflect

7303-473: The final bell when the bout was stopped. It is worth noting that the last Japanese athlete to defeat a Gracie prior to Sakuraba's win against Royler, legendary judoka Masahiko Kimura , had used the very same technique Sakuraba utilized to beat Royler. That time, the recipient had been Royler's father, Hélio Gracie , who had, like Royler, also refused to submit but likewise lost. While the Japanese fight media rejoiced and elevated Sakuraba to superstar status,

7412-411: The first two rounds, but was ultimately submitted by armbar towards the end of the third round. Next, in Pride 3, 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

7521-399: The ground to avoid him. As the confrontation stretched on, the Gracie's own no time-limit rules began to work against Royce as Sakuraba's wrestling skills and balance nullified Royce's ability to score a takedown and—in some instances—even pull guard. Even Royce's ever-present jiu-jitsu gi became a weapon for the wrestler to use against him as Sakuraba used it to help him control Gracie on

7630-407: The head of a downed opponent, a change that greatly benefitted Wanderlei. During the match, a Sakuraba willing to trade strikes managed to knock Wanderlei down with a right hook, but the Brazilian recovered and dropped the wrestler with a barrage of punches and kicks. As Sakuraba turtled while attempted a takedown, Silva delivered multiple knees to his head and ultimately finished him off with kicks to

7739-401: The instances the fight did come to the ground. However, with Sakuraba's control of the takedown, these instances of ground warfare became increasingly sporadic. After Kazushi landed a long series of punishing leg kicks in the fifth and sixth rounds, Royce's brother, Rorion threw in the towel. Exhausted from his battle with Royce, Sakuraba surprised many when he emerged from the locker room for

7848-575: 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 1998. Entering

7957-478: The match was ruled a draw. Sakuraba, always humble, stated "I fight his style, not mine. I think I lost the fight", although Goes, a Carlson Gracie protege, would similarly state in a later interview "I've been training my whole life on the ground, and to me, [Sakuraba] was the best guy I ever faced on the ground". Belfort would be a different matchup, as his boxing prowess was known aside from his great grappling credentials. However, despite several big flurries by

8066-489: The match, Sakuraba and Nagata came together to accept a challenge issued by Daniel and Rolles Gracie On January 4, 2014, at Wrestle Kingdom 8 in Tokyo Dome , Sakuraba and Nagata defeated the Gracies via disqualification, after Nagata was choked out with a gi. A rematch between the two teams took place on February 11 at The New Beginning in Osaka and saw Rolles submit Sakuraba for the win. Sakuraba suffered another loss against

8175-462: The match, at some points delivering chops to Ryan's rear while controlling him. Following the win against Ryan, Sakuraba was slated to battle Pancrase veteran Bas Rutten , but the latter declined and was replaced by Brazilian muay thai specialist Wanderlei Silva . Sakuraba was a heavy favorite to win, but he was fighting through a significant weight disadvantage. The bout was also contested under Pride's new rules, which allowed kicks and knees to

8284-496: The opening round, Sakuraba suffered a particularly devastating yet controversial loss against Ricardo Arona in the quarterfinal of the tournament in June 2005. Although Sakuraba put Arona on his back and seemed to put to work his signature jumping stomps, the heavier and stronger Arona soon overpowered him, landing a series of brutal knees to the head, as well as hard soccer kicks to the face. The Brazilian's toenail accidentally slashed open

8393-447: The outset of his contest against Sakuraba, as he pressed the pace of the bout with a variety of kicks and punches, although few connected. Sakuraba responded in kind, and the striking seemed to go to a stalemate. Throwing his wrestling into the equation, Sakuraba timed a number of double and single leg takedowns against Renzo's flurries from where he alternately attempted to cartwheel past Gracie's guard, malign his legs with kicks from

8502-406: The perception that their athletes boasted legitimate skill in real fighting. In a bid to regain credibility, Yoji Anjo travelled to California to perform a dojo challenge on Rickson Gracie , 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

8611-405: The point of smiling to the cameras during the attack. Towards the end of the round, Sakuraba nearly ended the match with a kneebar , while Gracie came back with a guillotine choke at the second, but Kazushi again joked to show he was out of danger by simulating to pull down Royce's gi pants. Sakuraba switched to attack at the third round, dominating the stand up and making Royce lie repeatedly on

8720-403: The promotion's history. Initially, only the women's bantamweight division was brought over, with the division's premiere bout taking place at UFC 157 . A little over a year later, the UFC announced they would be expanding their weight classes for female fighters with the addition of a women's strawweight division, the first bout took place at UFC Fight Night: Cowboy vs. Miller . In late 2016,

8829-483: The referee separating the fighters following the bell rather than initiating the stop himself. UFC Welterweight Championship Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) champions are fighters who have won UFC championships . At the time of the UFC's inception in 1993, mixed martial arts was not sanctioned in the United States, and did not include weight classes . Instead of the traditional championship model,

8938-400: The ring from Quinton Jackson , a former collegiate wrestler who had compiled a record of 10–1 on the American circuit. At the sound of the bell, Sakuraba immediately took the bigger man to the canvas with a low single-leg takedown. However, Jackson's superior size and enormous physical strength allowed him to muscle out of Sakuraba's submission attempts. After locking his legs around Jackson for

9047-444: The ropes, his head hanging out of the ring and his back turned to Sakuraba. Sakuraba rushed in to follow up but before any meaningful offense could be launched, the fight was halted by referee Yuji Shimada . Shamrock got up following the KO and protested vigorously. Opinions were mixed regarding the KO's legitimacy, though Ken's adopted brother and rival, Frank , stated to believe the stoppage

9156-535: The round, the Japanese locked on a tight guillotine choke , but was countered by a wild slam from Wanderlei which ended up breaking his collar bone. The wrestler managed to end the round with submission attempts from the bottom, but not willing to let him go on so hampered, his corner threw in the towel between rounds. Sakuraba took time off to let his shoulder heal, also briefly training basic Brazilian jiu-jitsu with Sergio Penha at Takada Dojo. He then returned against heavyweight kickboxer Mirko Cro Cop . Sakuraba

9265-400: The same card and emerged victorious, jumped into the ring issued a challenge to Sakuraba, which was accepted. Vitor Belfort also demanded a rematch, although Sakuraba had stated not to be interested in rematches due to his interest in facing Frank Shamrock , Tito Ortiz and Dan Henderson . The fight between Sakuraba and Ryan was scheduled to happen at Pride 12 . Due to a shoulder injury,

9374-409: The second round, Nogueira managed to catch Sakuraba in a triangle choke/armbar combo, but the Japanese escaped the hold and sought his own submission, to no effect. Finally, the third round saw Nogueira taking over with punches and knees, exchanging strikes with Sakuraba almost until the last minute, and ultimately winning the decision. After a quick TKO victory over decorated judoka Yoon Dong-Sik in

9483-442: The skin over Sakuraba's left eye, which Ricardo then capitalized on by squeezing the cut and digging his finger into it in order to force the doctor stoppage. The Japanese tried to keep on, but Arona hit another flurry of knees to the head, and ended the fight landing soccer kick after soccer kick, rendering Kazushi's face severely swollen and bloody. Sakuraba would eventually lose the fight by technical knockout after his corner called

9592-483: The standing position and even attack with a baseball slide . However, Renzo's defensive skills from bottom nullified the entire gamut of Sakuraba's offensive attempts, and after using an entry derived from the De la Riva guard , he took the wrestler's back, pressing him against the turnbuckle as mere seconds remained in the battle. With time ticking away, Sakuraba locked in a kimura from the back and spun around, flipping Renzo to

9701-400: 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 was threatened by a rear naked choke several times, and in turn he almost finished Allan as well with an armbar, but none of it came to fruition. Due to the absence of judges in Pride's ruleset at the time,

9810-438: The tap out. After defeating Anthony Macias at Pride 7, Sakuraba was matched against Royler Gracie , who had previously conquered Sakuraba's stablemate Yuhi Sano . It marked the largest weight advantage Sakuraba has enjoyed in his career to date (being around 30 pounds heavier than 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

9919-411: The tournament semi-finals. His opponent, Igor Vovchanchyn , outweighed him by close to sixty pounds (Sakuraba had come into the bout with Royce lighter than usual, at 176 pounds) and was considered to be the top heavyweight striker of the day. Sakuraba surprised many by taking Vovchanchyn down and nearly finishing him with an armbar. Sakuraba was actually leading the fight past the 10-minute mark, but near

10028-516: The tutelage of Billy Robinson . He also trained in muay thai under master Bovy Chowaikung, the main UWF-i striking teacher. Those disciplines would serve as the base of the unorthodox game that would later lead him to success in the Pride Fighting Championships . Over time he became one of Takada's four main trainees, along with Kiyoshi Tamura , Yoshihiro Takayama and Masahito Kakihara . In spite of his amateur pedigree, Sakuraba

10137-401: The win by TKO. Sakuraba's victory over Royler constituted the first loss by a Gracie in professional fighting in several decades and as such, sent ripples of shock and controversy through the mixed martial arts community. Some protested that the victory was tainted due to the fact that Royler (although placed in a debilitating submission hold) never conceded defeat and was little time away from

10246-453: Was a somber and focused Sakuraba that came down the aisle for his rematch with Silva. As with Jackson, Sakuraba was able to score an early takedown in the bout, where he then worked from Silva's guard. After several minutes searching for a leglock , he finally found one when Silva attempted to escape to his feet. Sakuraba started to control the fight, avoiding Silva's strikes and threatening him with clinches and takedown attempts. Halfway through

10355-567: 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, but also outstruck Braga in his last standing segment before taking him down again and lock an armbar for

10464-431: 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 UWF-i 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

10573-511: Was forced to work his way up from the bottom of the UWFi's rung, as it is traditional in puroresu . Sakuraba lost his debut on August 13, 1993, to 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 perfectly perform menial chores about the dojo. Still undeterred, Sakuraba steadily built a working knowledge of submission holds upon his freestyle wrestling base until his efforts were at last rewarded with

10682-555: Was formerly one-half of the former GHC Tag Team Champions with Takashi Sugiura . He has also competed in traditional puroresu for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) and shoot-style competition for UWFi and Kingdom Pro Wrestling (KPW). He has fought in MMA competition in the Ultimate Fighting Championship , Pride Fighting Championships , Hero's , Dream and most recently Rizin Fighting Federation . He

10791-469: Was injured in his training for the tournament, and Kazushi Sakuraba wound up as his late hour substitute. The tournament was intended for heavyweights, and Sakuraba, at 183 pounds, was nearly twenty pounds beneath the UFC's 200 pound designation for the weight class. Reporting himself as 203 pounds in order to gain entry, Sakuraba was paired off against the 243 pound Brazilian jiu-jitsu blackbelt and former Extreme Fighting champion, Marcus Silveira. Following

10900-518: Was justified: "He got clocked. He went down. According to the rules, he was no longer defending himself and that's the end of the fight." Prior to Pride's Shockwave 2005 New Year's Eve event, Sakuraba strongly petitioned for a match against fellow shoot wrestler and professional wrestling proponent, Kiyoshi Tamura , even going so far as to publicly request a bout with Tamura. However, with Tamura refusing to face him, Sakuraba recommended another shoot wrestler, Ikuhisa Minowa , who referred to himself as

11009-2340: Was known as the Middleweight Championship prior to UFC 31 (May 4, 2001). The Pride World Middleweight Championship (205.03 lb) was unified with the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship on September 8, 2007, when Quinton Jackson defeated Dan Henderson at UFC 75 . 1. def. Igor Zinoviev at UFC 16 on Mar 13, 1998 2. def. Jeremy Horn at UFC 17 on May 15, 1998 3. def. John Lober at UFC Brazil on Oct 16, 1998 4. def. Tito Ortiz at UFC 22 on Sep 24, 1999 1. def. Yuki Kondo at UFC 29 on Dec 16, 2000 2. def. Evan Tanner at UFC 30 on Feb 23, 2001 3. def. Elvis Sinosic at UFC 32 on Jun 29, 2001 4. def. Vladimir Matyushenko at UFC 33 on Sep 28, 2001 5. def. Ken Shamrock at UFC 40 on Nov 22, 2002 1. def. Jeremy Horn at UFC 54 on Aug 20, 2005 2. def. Randy Couture at UFC 57 on Feb 4, 2006 3. def. Renato Sobral at UFC 62 on Aug 26, 2006 4. def. Tito Ortiz at UFC 66 on Dec 30, 2006 1. def. Dan Henderson at UFC 75 on Sep 8, 2007 1. def. Maurício Rua at UFC 104 on Oct 24, 2009 1. def. Quinton Jackson at UFC 135 on Sep 24, 2011 2. def. Lyoto Machida at UFC 140 on Dec 10, 2011 3. def. Rashad Evans at UFC 145 on Apr 21, 2012 4. def. Vitor Belfort at UFC 152 on Sep 22, 2012 5. def. Chael Sonnen at UFC 159 on Apr 27, 2013 6. def. Alexander Gustafsson at UFC 165 on Sep 21, 2013 7. def. Glover Teixeira at UFC 172 on Apr 26, 2014 8. def. Daniel Cormier at UFC 182 on Jan 3, 2015 1. def. Alexander Gustafsson at UFC 192 on Oct 3, 2015 2. def. Anthony Johnson at UFC 210 on Apr 8, 2017 3. def. Volkan Oezdemir at UFC 220 on Jan 20, 2018 1. def. Anthony Smith at UFC 235 on Mar 2, 2019 2. def. Thiago Santos at UFC 239 on Jul 6, 2019 3. def. Dominick Reyes at UFC 247 on Feb 8, 2020 1. def. Israel Adesanya at UFC 259 on Mar 6, 2021 1. def. Jamahal Hill at UFC 300 on Apr 13, 2024 2. def. Jiří Procházka at UFC 303 on Jun 29, 2024 3. def. Khalil Rountree Jr. at UFC 307 on Oct 5, 2024 171 to 185 lb (78 to 84 kg) The Pride World Welterweight Championship (182.98 lb)

11118-431: Was leaving Pride. It was reported that Sakuraba left Takada Dojo (run by Pride's general manager, Nobuhiko Takada ), and conspicuously was not entered into Pride's 2006 Open Weight Grand Prix Tournament. Sakuraba was then scheduled to compete in Hero's Light Heavyweight Tournament. His first opponent was the 16–5 Lithuanian Kęstutis Smirnovas . Sakuraba opened the fight striking aggressively, even flooring Smirnovas with

11227-420: Was nearly twenty pounds beneath the UFC's 200 pound designation for the weight class. Having reported himself as 203 pounds ( Light heavyweight by modern standards) in order to gain entry, Sakuraba was paired off against the 240 pound Brazilian jiu-jitsu blackbelt and former Extreme Fighting champion, Marcus Silveira. The match saw the two grapplers exchanging leglocks without any decisive movement. Following

11336-412: 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

11445-537: Was proposed a special ruleset of no strikes on the ground as part of the "K-1 vs Pride theme", but he rejected the offer, not wanting any special rule for him. Ironically, although he managed to take Cro Cop down through hard kicks, Sakuraba would end losing the match while exchanging strikes on Mirko's guard when an upkick from the kickboxer broke his orbital bone. Finally assenting to place him in competition against fighters of his own weight class, Pride management put him against French jiu-jitsu champion Gilles Arsene in

11554-559: Was the use of unique entry music for each fighter, though this was not repeated in UFC 16 . Also, this UFC event was the first to be located in a country other than the United States or its territories. In an attempt to gain attention for the Japanese Kingdom Pro Wrestling , Hiromitsu Kanehara and Yoji Anjo signed on to compete in the Ultimate Fighting Championship 's Ultimate Japan tournament. As fate would have it, Kanehara

11663-1627: Was unified with the UFC 11 Tournament Championship to determine the inaugural UFC Heavyweight Champion on February 7, 1997, when Mark Coleman defeated Dan Severn at UFC 12 . 1. def. Tank Abbott at UFC 15 on Oct 17, 1997 1. def. Pedro Rizzo at UFC 26 on Jun 9, 2000 1. def. Pedro Rizzo at UFC 31 on May 4, 2001 2. def. Pedro Rizzo at UFC 34 on Nov 2, 2001 1. def. Gan McGee at UFC 44 on Sep 26, 2003 1. def. Justin Eilers at UFC 53 on Jun 4, 2005 1. def. Paul Buentello at UFC 55 on Oct 7, 2005 1. def. Andrei Arlovski at UFC 61 on Jul 8, 2006 2. def. Jeff Monson at UFC 65 on Nov 18, 2006 1. def. Gabriel Gonzaga at UFC 74 on Aug 25, 2007 1. def. interim champion Frank Mir at UFC 100 on Jul 11, 2009 2. def. interim champion Shane Carwin at UFC 116 on Jul 3, 2010 1. def. Frank Mir at UFC 146 on May 26, 2012 1. def. Antônio Silva at UFC 160 on May 25, 2013 2. def. Junior dos Santos at UFC 166 on Oct 19, 2013 1. def. Alistair Overeem at UFC 203 on Sep 10, 2016 2. def. Junior dos Santos at UFC 211 on May 13, 2017 3. def. Francis Ngannou at UFC 220 on Jan 20, 2018 1. def. Derrick Lewis at UFC 230 on Nov 3, 2018 1. def. Daniel Cormier at UFC 252 on Aug 15, 2020 1. def. interim champion Ciryl Gane at UFC 270 on Jan 22, 2022 1. def. Stipe Miocic at UFC 309 on Nov 16, 2024 1. def. Curtis Blaydes at UFC 304 on Jul 27, 2024 186 to 205 lb (84 to 93 kg) The Light Heavyweight Championship

11772-1624: Was unified with the UFC Middleweight Championship on March 1, 2008, when Anderson Silva defeated Dan Henderson at UFC 82 . 1. def. Matt Lindland at UFC 37 on May 10, 2002 1. def. Nate Quarry at UFC 56 on Nov 19, 2005 2. def. David Loiseau at UFC 58 on Mar 4, 2006 1. def. Nate Marquardt at UFC 73 on Jul 7, 2007 2. def. Rich Franklin at UFC 77 on Oct 20, 2007 3. def. Dan Henderson at UFC 82 on Mar 1, 2008 4. def. Patrick Côté at UFC 90 on Oct 25, 2008 5. def. Thales Leites at UFC 97 on Apr 18, 2009 6. def. Demian Maia at UFC 112 on Apr 10, 2010 7. def. Chael Sonnen at UFC 117 on Aug 7, 2010 8. def. Vitor Belfort at UFC 126 on Feb 5, 2011 9. def. Yushin Okami at UFC 134 on Aug 27, 2011 10. def. Chael Sonnen at UFC 148 on Jul 7, 2012 1. def. Anderson Silva at UFC 168 on Dec 28, 2013 2. def. Lyoto Machida at UFC 175 on Jul 5, 2014 3. def. Vitor Belfort at UFC 187 on May 23, 2015 1. def. Dan Henderson at UFC 204 on Oct 8, 2016 1. def. Yoel Romero at UFC 248 on Mar 7, 2020 2. def. Paulo Costa at UFC 253 on Sep 27, 2020 3. def. Marvin Vettori at UFC 263 on Jun 12, 2021 4. def. Robert Whittaker at UFC 271 on Feb 12, 2022 5. def. Jared Cannonier at UFC 276 on Jul 2, 2022 1. def. Israel Adesanya at UFC 305 on Aug 18, 2024 156 to 170 lb (71 to 77 kg) The Welterweight Championship

11881-474: Was won by Sakuraba via ankle hold. In an attempt to gain attention for the embattled Kingdom Pro Wrestling league, Hiromitsu Kanehara and Yoji Anjoh signed on to compete in the Ultimate Fighting Championship 's Ultimate Japan tournament. 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 183 pounds ( middleweight by modern standards),

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