I haven't seen this fight, nor do I know much about it other than the result, and I'm interested to know what people thought about the whole thing, so what is your take on this fight? Who was the favourite and who was the underdog? Did the fight unfold the way you thought it would, or did anything surprise you? What were the decisive, defining moments and actions which determined the fight? Was this a great fight? Who is the greater fighter from an all-time pound-for-pound perspective? What about the rematch? And anything else you would care to add, from your own opinions on these guys and this fight? :bbb
This fight should be viewed as the prime definition of a stalemate. Not sure who the favourite was but the only surprise really was how tough royce turned out to be as he took a fair bit of punishment through the duration. Im pretty sure he broke a hand or a foot in the fight too. very tactical battle and both fighters should be proud of how they performed.
Err, Sakuraba is always there to entertain. Royce went in trying to hurt Sakuraba, I think he may have even been busted for roids in that fight.
That was for the rematch in 2007. The rematch itself is pretty meaningless. Revenge for Royce if nothing else and means even less considering he tested positive for roids after. As for the first fight, I agree with the guy above who said it was more or less a stalemate. Sakuraba was a little bit more well rounded at the end of the day, which told on Royce. IIRC he was ****ed from leg kicks at the end. As for who was the favourite, I can't really comment accurately as I didn't follow MMA at the time (I was 8 afterall), but I'd say, judging from articles and the commentary of the fight that Royce was the favourite. He had only lost once in the lead up to it afterall, and I believe he was seen as a legend of the sport. The most memorable part of the fight for me is when Sakuraba started doing flying foot stomps/punches when Royce was scooting on the mat. The picture of it is legendary: This content is protected
Ive gotta be honest, It was boring then, It is boring now. Its more of a novelty of a guy taunting a Gracie.
Nah, Sakuraba beat on the Gracies pretty good for a single man. Not to take anything away from the Gracie family, it is what it is. You know who never seemed to want any of Sakuraba, maybe he was scared of finally being defeated.
two people thought it was more of a stalemate? That was a one sided beatdown and Sakuraba was just toying with him most of the time. If Sakuraba wanted to end the fight early he could've ended it easily by just attacking royce's already crippled legs. But he chose to entertain and in my view torture royce and make him feel humiliated.
