Sakuraba vs Belfort - A fix ??

[Vic-JofreBRASIL]

I know Vitor said that he broke his hand and that´s why he didn´t fight....BUT Sakuraba didn´t do much as well, it was horrible and even if Vitor had a broken hand he certainly could do more than that, at least a little bit more than that.


I´m no fan of conspiracies theories but I think this fight IS suspicious especially when we watch some other fights from early days in PRIDE like some Takada bouts and even Sakuraba against Rampage....IIRC vs RAmpage was a strange fight as well.....

Do you think it was suspicious ? Or Vitor was simply horrible that night and the broken hand was the main factor ??

Edit - should have added an option saying "suspicious" in the poll.

[Stoo]

It could possibly be a work, but the broke hand and Vitors over muscular physique at the time which led to the lack luster 2nd half performance could be a factor.

I dont think Vitor had gone more than 5 minutes in a fight except for Randy, so 10 minutes for a PED user is a long time...

Im 50/50 on this one though

[Flea Man]

Could be but could be erratic Vitor's lak of plan B at that time.

[Stoo]

Yeah, he wasnt exactly explosive during his PRIDE run. Maybe if this was in the UFC it would simply be a cause of Vitor starting off strong, gassing then losing heart

[Rainman]

At that point in his career 4 minutes was the longest he'd gone and pulled out a win. His loss to Randy and his subsequent career showed he had trouble with making adjustments and the longer a fight goes the worse he does... at least against top level opponents.
With a broken hand he didn't seem to have any tools to win.

[Stoo]

I just watched it again Vic, look ow heavily Vitor is breath when Saku hits the 1st single after the flurry whilst on his back. He tried to use up kicks like Goes but Saku learned his lesson and controlled the ankles and proceeded to destroy Vitors thighs. After Saku hit the back kick to the body Vitor was 100% done. He broke his hand, tried to get saku in his guard, got his legs destroyed, and basically mentally quit imo. He had nothing left except to try to do a Werdum and fall back hoping Saku would follow

If it was a work, nobody told Sakuraba

[Flea Man]

Lovely post Stoo.

[greathamza]

Yeah i thought it was sketchy at first but as stoo said if the fight was fixed saku didnt know bout it

[Vic-JofreBRASIL]

Yeah, there was a point in the fight were I think Sakuraba was really mad with Vitor, it´s a good sign that it wasn´t a fix....but Vitor´s lethargy is really puzzling to me even with the broken hand.....

[Bill Butcher]

Saying it was a fix is an insult to Sakuraba IMO, he`d never be part of anything like that, he`s as much of a warrior as anyone that ever fought professionally.

2 things went wrong for Vitor that night, he broke his hand & was beaten by one of the best MMA fighters that ever lived in his prime. Simple.

[Vic-JofreBRASIL]

Originally Posted by Bill Butcher

Saying it was a fix is an insult to Sakuraba IMO, he`d never be part of anything like that, he`s as much of a warrior as anyone that ever fought professionally.

2 things went wrong for Vitor that night, he broke his hand & was beaten by one of the best MMA fighters that ever lived in his prime. Simple.

No insult, it is a good question... we´re always discussing these things in sports... some japanese fighters were protected by PRIDE, there is no secret about it..... Takada was never a real fighter and even so he was always hyped as some special fighter by PRIDE.....

Sakuraba always faced the best, yes...but he participated of some weird fights.....Vitor, Rampage......and this one here:

[url]***********.dailymotion.com/video/xktg1h_hd-pride-23-sakuraba-vs-arsene-the-most-pathetic-combat-of-mma-history_sport[/url]

But yes, I admit that after this fight with this guy I really never tried to like Sakuraba and started to look at his fights with a different eye, that´s all.....

[Flea Man]

Yeah, the deck was stacked against Rampage. Often in the fixed fights it's the guy who's throwing it who's at fault.

For example I find it hard to take much credit from Terry McGovern for stopping Joe Gans.

[Stoo]

Another case of ''Asian guy beats a can easily, must be a fix'' jobs here. Maybe Gilles look shit because he actually was...shit...Didnt the guy have like 5 fights or something?

Protected could be one word for it too Vic, but maybe you should look up Saku's run up to that fight and if there was one guy who deserved an easy fight in front of a home crowd more Id be hard pressed to name him.

And before our resident double standards Queen pipes up, yes, people were calling for Brock to have an easier fight than Alistair too...

[Vic-JofreBRASIL]

I´m harsh on Saku purposely because IMHO he is a tad overrated......but I think is nice to discuss these fights, and you´re right Stoo he deserved an easy fight but tbh I don´t consider that vs the french an easy fight, that simply is not a fight imo.....
Anyway, not the first time Saku vs Belfort is discussed here I guess...

[Stoo]

I cant recall when that fight took place, but name me some guys saku should have been fighting in that time frame when the talent pool was relatively shallow in elite names that Saku hadnt already faced...you got to look at it in context Vic