Is Sakuraba going down?

[Guest Old Brown Heineken]

The fight between the national Japanese star Kazushi Sakuraba and the bresilian Antonio Schembri at PRIDE FC 25 "Body Blow" turned out to be another loss for the Japanese!!! This although Sakuraba handled the match and dominated his opponent. It seems that Sakuraba isn't lucky as in his 6 last fights he lost 4 of them! Furthermore Schembri is a newcomer in vale-tudo/lucha livre and Sakuraba defeated many great bresilian champions by the past (Victor Belfort, Ebenezeger Braga...)! This bout should have marked Saku's return but it didn't work that way and I'm wondering if old school fighters like him can really compete with rising stars from the new generation like Henderson, Jackson or Randleman...

What's your thoughts?

 

Hey~ first post!

[Guest Jimmy Saint]

Well he beat Quinton Jackson at Pride 15 and I think he would still beat him today. I would pick him to beat Henderson and Randleman as well.

 

 

He has shown in recent fights alot of weakness's and injurys though and he should take some time off and heal up. He could also do with avoiding any kick boxers in the near future. His record is still gonna make him go down as one of if not the greatest pound for pound MMA fighters whatever he does now.

[Guest HungryJack]

I wouldn't think he'd be able to beat Jackson, due to Jackson's vastly improved striking, his superior strength, and his ability to manhandle Saku, as we saw in their previous fight. This in addition to Kazushi's obviously more fragile state after his two brutal drubbings from Silva.

 

I honestly think Sak's time as an elite fighter is passed.

[Guest Old Brown Heineken]

Sakuraba needs to focus on the next match cos he damn needs to break his losing streak!

I don't see Sakuraba over Randleman at the moment nor Quinton Jackson!

Did you see the Jackson-Randleman match from last PRIDE? My god Quinton went berserk, KO Randleman in about 5 minutes and even pissing off Vanderlei Silva!

[Guest Jimmy Saint]

Well if Jackson can beat Vanderlei and Sak doesent retire then you could see a rematch of that fight in the near future. Should be good, and I still say Sakuraba wins.

[Guest RavishingRickRudo]

I think the question is not just "Has Sakuraba gotten so bad", I think it's "Has the competition gotten so good?" also.

 

Jackson would take Sak, no question. His Standup has improved dramatically as has his conditioning and experience. All of which were factors in their last fight.

 

I think Henderson could take Sakuraba, I think Anderson Silva could, Ninja would be close, Randleman could win if Sak gets over confident and floored with a knee or right (which seems to be the case lately), Liddell would be very interesting as would Tito - but I'd rather see them vs. Wanderlei (They could probably take Sak), Carlos Newton still wouldn't, Steibling couldn't (he was robbed in his fight vs. Shoji - and I like Shoji)...

 

Schembri couldn't, he didn't win that fight, Sak lost. Got over-confident and was taught a lesson... whether he learns it or not is another story.

 

Can Sakuraba still fight competitively? I think so. I think he has been exposed over the past few years and has been passed by somewhat - such is the price for being a trailblazer - eventually, people walk the path faster, better, and stronger than you...

 

...I think what they will do is have a Sakuraba vs. Schembri re-match for the GP, and have Silva vs. Rampage there as well... the winners fight each other.

[Guest Old Brown Heineken]

In fact I came to realize that Sakuraba's main problem is the same as for Carlos Newton : they're both very technical fighters but they suffer when they are confronted to tough and violent opponents, Anderson Silva beating Newton at last PRIDE is one proof, Carlos Newton beaten by Matt Hugues at UFC 38 in London is another...

[Guest Jimmy Saint]

Steibling couldn't (he was robbed in his fight vs. Shoji - and I like Shoji)....

Do you mean "rocked" not robbed ?

 

Shoji was kicking his ass for 15 minutes and the last five were close. In the second Shoji damn near caved Steibling's face in.

 

Robbed would be something like Royce Gracie vs Yoshida were was straight up fucking bullshit.

[Guest bps "The Truth" 21]

If he hadn't gotten cocky about how good he was doing at Pride 25 he would have won that fight.

 

He needs focus.

[Guest Army Eye]

Nah.. no way Sakuraba would beat Jackson these days, and Randleman would be a longshot too.

 

It seems that Sakuraba has never been the same since his destruction at the hands of Silva, and that's partly true I think, but the main thing is that what has happened to Sakuraba is a similar thing to Royce Gracie. While their skills may have diminished somewhat, the real problem for them is that the other fighters are improving at a rapid pace. Fighters across the board are drastically improving their standup fighting, takedown defense, submission defense/escapes, etc.

 

Sakuraba no longer has such an overwhelming skill advantage that he can fight monsters that are much bigger than him like Jackson, Cro Cop, etc. If he sticks to guys that are his own size, I think he can still win most of the time and be one of the best in his class.

 

The Nino fight, he was kicking his ass and lost. It was unfortunate but does set up a rematch which will draw big and Sakuraba will almost surely win. (What happened in that fight was a 1-in-100 shot)

[Guest RavishingRickRudo]

Alex won standup in the first round.

 

Shoji took Alex down and then proceeded to do NOTHING while in the guard. He passed the guard and got into a sidemouth and did NOTHING. No submission attempts, no real strikes, just hanging on. That was pretty much well the first round. Shoji's weak GnP and not trying to finish the fight - which is what the judges look for when deciding the winner.

 

In the second round Steibling initiated most, if not all, the stand up encounters. About a minute and a half into the round Shoji caught him and then tried to finish it. That was about 20-30 sec. Then it was back to the guard and holding on. Steibling got on top, and started pounding away, Shoji turned, Alex got the back and started to choke at the 2 min. point. He let go of the choke and started whaling away on Shojis head until the bell rang.

 

Shoji just coasted the 3rd round while Alex did all the work. Alex pressed the fight throughout, Shoji just backed off a lot.

 

Yes, the knockdown was important, but it didn't outweight Alex a)Pressing the fight in the 3rd round, b)Mounting and GnP'ing, and c)getting the choke and trying to finish.

[Guest The Son of Sting]

Sakuraba lost the fight with Schembri because he found it to easy, he figured the kid had nothing and started getting cocky and lost focus.I do think he needs an impressive victory though.Any word on who he might fight next?

[Guest Jimmy Saint]

Alex won standup in the first round.

 

Shoji took Alex down and then proceeded to do NOTHING while in the guard. He passed the guard and got into a sidemouth and did NOTHING. No submission attempts, no real strikes, just hanging on. That was pretty much well the first round. Shoji's weak GnP and not trying to finish the fight - which is what the judges look for when deciding the winner.

 

In the second round Steibling initiated most, if not all, the stand up encounters. About a minute and a half into the round Shoji caught him and then tried to finish it. That was about 20-30 sec. Then it was back to the guard and holding on. Steibling got on top, and started pounding away, Shoji turned, Alex got the back and started to choke at the 2 min. point. He let go of the choke and started whaling away on Shojis head until the bell rang.

 

Shoji just coasted the 3rd round while Alex did all the work. Alex pressed the fight throughout, Shoji just backed off a lot.

 

Yes, the knockdown was important, but it didn't outweight Alex a)Pressing the fight in the 3rd round, b)Mounting and GnP'ing, and c)getting the choke and trying to finish.

One the first Shoji controlled the whole fight on the ground for the whole ten minutes. He was working for position and throwing punches maybe not greatly effective but the round was all him.

 

 

The second Steibling was starting to throw abit whist standing, they weren't big punches or kicks just scoring ones. Shoji found his range and knocked him on his arse where he destroyed Alex with punches. So badly that anywhere else in MMA the fight would have been stopped. Infact it would'nt have surprised me if the Pride ref had stopped the fight here.

 

 

The third had Steibling throw shots whilst Shoji counter punched with big punches. Steibling wins the round in punches thrown and landed but he was still wobbling when Shoji landed shots. Shoji never hit him alot here but when I saw the fight the first time it looked like Alex was gonna be ko'd again whenever he tryed to stand up and trade. This is where I say he did'nt press the fight enough something which I think Bas Rutten said as well, Shoji never looked like he was in great trouble and was happy to land the odd big punch and see the round out.

 

 

Now pride judges are said to score fights on the last few minutes and in this Stebling was landing scoring punches and kicks but never looked like he would or was trying to finish Shoji. This doesent make up for the previous 15 minutes where he was controlled then almost ko'd to the judges.

 

 

It was a very close fight that could have gone either way. I admit that I would'nt have minded if Alex had got the nod. Alot of Americans seem to forget how close this fight actually was when they start shouting it was a robbery and a fix or whatever though.

 

 

 

 

Oh and Sak IS slowing down but people are acting like he has no more big wins left in him here.

[Guest Old Brown Heineken]

I think there are words going around about a Kazushi Sakuraba - Alexander Otsuka fight for an upcoming event...

 

Anyway, did you see the victory of Emelianenko Fedor on Nogueira, we all know that Antonio had fought many hard bouts recently and that he isn't in his "best", but the pure POWER of Fedor is plain scary! He kicked the s**t out the Minotauro!

I'm looking towards a rematch...

[Guest Jimmy Saint]

Fedor is one of few MMA guys who scare the shit out of me. He looks like a James Bond bad guy, acts like a robot even when he has just won a massive fight and just coldy and calmly smashes your face in untill you are unconcious. People say Vanderlei is evil, which he is in the ring but he seems like a laugh outside of it. Fedor looks like he gets drunk on vodka and beats his wife and his brother up away from Pride.

 

 

I think he is beatable but jesus his ground and pound game is just vicious and unmatched. For him to wreck herring and nogueira like that without even seeming to break a sweat is some crazy shit.

[Guest RavishingRickRudo]

Yes, Shoji was jockying for position in the first round - but when you do *nothing* with those positions, they are meaningless. In the third round Shoji was backing off the whole time.

 

The knockdown came after Steibling initiated contact AND immediately after Alex got knocked down he went straight into the guard position, on his back and legs up, facing his opponent - he wasn't knocked out.

 

Alex was robbed because Shoji didn't *do* anything other than that knockdown and subsequent GnP. Alex did more.

[Guest RavishingRickRudo]

Fedor...

 

Good Lord. Had I seen his fight vs. Herring before Pride 25 I wouldn't have been so confident in Nog winning. By far, the best Ground and Pound in MMA. Absolutely sick power and accuracy.

 

...And he's so cold. So very cold. Emotionless and unassuming. You look at the guy and you don't think "most dangerous fucker on the planet", you think "gym teacher" or "janitor"...

[Guest Army Eye]

Anyway, did you see the victory of Emelianenko Fedor on Nogueira, we all know that Antonio had fought many hard bouts recently and that he isn't in his "best", but the pure POWER of Fedor is plain scary! He kicked the s**t out the Minotauro!

I'm looking towards a rematch...

And just as scary as his lethal GnP, is how EASY the guy shrugged off Nogueira's submission attempts. It was kind of sad.

 

He's a machine, that's for sure. I don't know how you beat the guy, unless you can take him down, get on top and stay there. Coleman maybe..

[Guest Old Brown Heineken]

He's a machine, that's for sure. I don't know how you beat the guy, unless you can take him down, get on top and stay there. Coleman maybe..

Emelianenko Fedor lost his third match in the PRIDE FC by TKO in 17 seconds against Tsuyoshi Kohsaka, so he isn't invincible, but he has an uncommon blowing strengh for sure! He has a very loud striking! And it's impressive and unexpected from a grapllr usually! The thing that impressed me the most in his match with Minotauro was the way he was punching him through his guard when first working on the ground, Nogueira just couldn't attempt any submission move!

[Guest RavishingRickRudo]

He lost to TK in RINGS by a cut. His PrideFC fights have been vs. Shilt (bad match), vs. Herring (excellent match) and vs. Nogueira(Awesome match)

 

If Cro Cop beats Herring, I'd like to see how Fedor handles Mirko. The key to beating Fedor is in standup, cause if Nog can't beat him on the ground, NO ONE can.

 

... Of course, I think Nog still has a chance of beating him in a rematch.

[Guest Old Brown Heineken]

He lost to TK in RINGS by a cut. His PrideFC fights have been vs. Shilt (bad match), vs. Herring (excellent match) and vs. Nogueira(Awesome match)

You're right I was too confident on this one, indeed it was at KofK2000, I knew the win was by a cut but hey~ it's a TKO ruling anyway...

[Guest RavishingRickRudo]

Yeah, but a cut really isn't a clear-cut loss and doesn't really help any fighter win/strategize against Fedor if the cut has properly healed (which it has). It's not like Fedor tapped, or got knocked out. The best plan of action is to bang with the guy and avoid the takedowns.