This is a terribly past prime Sakuraba... he still has the heart & will of a young lion on the way up....... [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOAMDMsvt9I[/ame]
I just don't see how much more you can develop moves, other than being a bit more innovative with how you apply them. Then again, when have you seen anyone transition from a guillotine to a heel hook like Funaki did? Cartwheel kick like Saku??? These guys could still compete tody, no doubt. Of course, someone like Royce would struggle much more because he benefitted from long fights and one dimensional opponents. I think when you analyse you need to be able to make a distinction between innovator and someone who would still be competitive. Saku would, IMO.
Saku is in the same kind of boat as Bas and Igor there for me, they were rounded fighters in a disorganised era where many opponants still had obvious weaknesses BUT you could also see that extra spark. He wasnt just beating clueless opponants with rudamentory submission skills he was showing high level sub abitly that most fighters today do not posses. While there clearly has been advancement the UFC's hype around it has often been excessive in order to promote new names(or dehype old names elsewhere) and as a result physical decline has often been overlooked. Saku showed great toughness to put Galesic away but the Saku of a decade before would have locked up that sub well before Zelg had a chance of landing any GnP. Its also worth considering that had Saku entered the sport today he may not even have been a MW but rather a WW. With his old explosiveness I'd say that would likely have made him a much more dominant wrestler which combined with his exellent top game could pose real problems to some big names IMHO.
Fedor, yes.... but the rest ?.. why ?.. because they fought in UFC ? Sakuraba was the top p4p fighter in the world when Pride >>>> UFC, lets not forget that.
The fact hat Sakuraba could have fought at the WW limit speaks volumes about his ability in a p4p sense.... no WW (or maybe even MW) would beat a prime Sakuraba... the obvious men with the best chance in each class are GSP & A. Silva but Id fancy Sakuraba to submit both guys tho Anderson would be a real threat on the feet, I doubt he could stop the Sak single leg TD tho & Sak has survived (& did more damage in most cases) on the ground & in the guard of better BJJ guys than Anderson.
Chuck shouldn't be included in that elite group. There is no reason that Chuck HAS to be ahead of Sakuraba, nor a few others. Getting brutalized twice by Rampage, making only 4 defences of his title, and only ever being successful in one organization may make you a great fighter, but it does not make you one of the elite fighters of MMA history. Chuck is in a group along with fellow greats Couture, Henderson, Penn etc, he is below guys like Silva, Big Nog and GSP, and way way below Fedor.
I do agree Obviously his ground game is great and a threat to anyone. His record against the Gracies is a testament to this for future generations. But more and more subs are rarer these days unless there's an obvious gulf in class in the participant, like Roger Gracies last fight for example. Sak was of the era when not everyone was as well versed in both sub defence and striking. I was referring to his stand up which althougth was functional at the time and he was one of the grapplers who used it well, may not stand up to the next generation in the test of time who are inspired by GSP, Fedor ect. And that would be a shame if you dont consider the context of the time he fought
That would probably turn out to be a real stinker... Bispings good footwork and tdd would give Sakuraba fits but at the same time Michael wouldn't want anything to do with his guard and there would be probably lots of rolling for leg locks and pulling guard from Sakuraba throughout the night. Could see Bisping taking a UD or a Draw due to negative fighting from both.
It's an interesting debate the way MMA progessed, it isn't the same as in boxing. Initially people were experts in one field because the whole point was to see which martial art was the best, but then people began actually combining facets to become the ultimate fighter. If these early guys developed a stand up game they'd be formidable, of that I've no doubt. I mean is anyone today as good as Gracie or Sakuraba on the mat? Even if they have better striking and TDD.
