Kazushi Sakuraba UD Vitor Belfort, Pride 5, 1999 and Kazushi Sakuraba SUB(RNC) Rampage Jackson, Pride 15, 2001 How highly do you rate these wins/performances? Please explain your opinions on these fights :good
Good wins for the resume, great even when you consider the size advantage. But there's a case too be made that both guys weren't at their best, there's even some accusations of fixes. But if you watch the Vitor fight, it's clear he broke his hand and quit mentally. He was heavily muscled back then too and his cardio was poor And Rampage was very green and inexperianced, and has always cried foul to explain away his losses, so I dont take these things too seriously Probably would have gone differently had both been Prime, but that point is moot. Can only beat what's infront of you
The win over Rampage was definitely a fix. Just watch the footage. http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNjMzMDkxMTY=.html Jackson tried harder to beat Machida than he did Sak.
Then would you say Randleman was maybe Saku's finest hour, considering what Randleman did in his very next fight by KO'ing Crocop?
Hmmm probably, that fight is the definition of l'n'p by Kevin and Saku deserves all the credit in the world for toughing it out, and when he locks on that sub is still one of my fav PRIDE moments, even though it's not a fight I care to re-watch
It has some credence when you watch it, and there's this So I dont think you can rate it honestly as one as Saku's best wins
I probably should have said it the other way around since I feel Machida threw that fight away by not trying in the first 2 rounds. Watch Sakuraba vs Jackson, and it is clear Jackson isn't fighting a real fight. You can tell from the first right hand he threw. Even watch how he holds back on his slams. Just listen to the commentary in the first couple of minutes. "Jackson just passed the guard for him." "Jackson just gave up a butterfly guard for half guard."
Vitor broke his hand in the first round.....and was totally unfocused because of his personal problems....
scurlar, I'm not an anti PRIDE guy that think a lot of the fights were fixed. I can only name 2 fights off the top of my head that I believe to be works. One is the Coleman fight you mentioned. The other is Sakuraba and Jackson. Sakuraba is one of my favorite fighters, and I believe him to be one of the best ever in spite of this. Please, give me your opinion of that fight.
a green jackson tried to slam saku to death and gassed out and then got choked out by one of the greatest submission artists of all time. deal with it pathetic
Sakuraba fought (prime) cro cop, wanderlei silva 3x, ricardo arona, igor voychanychn among many others and a young rampage is the guy they chose to fix? come on