A List of interesting Kazushi Sakuraba facts

When it comes to the world of MMA, the name Kazushi Sakuraba sticks out and he’s considered as a legend. This status is given for good reason too, back in promotions like PRIDE and others, Sakuraba would take on heavier opponents and fight without fear. Sometimes this was to his detriment, but it won him a horde of fans and showed he had great heart.

Alongside his pioneering use of the Kimura lock in MMA, Kazushi Sakuraba went down in history as one of the most entertaining fighters ever. As a result, there’s a lot of talk that circulates online about the man. However, how much of it is true? Read on to learn more about the Japanese legend that is Kazushi Sakuraba!

What martial art did Sakuraba train?

Sakuraba was well trained in Catch Wrestling which is also known as CACC. He was taught by the legendary Billy Robinson who was a British Catch Wrestler that also trained the likes of UFC Champion Josh Barnett and others. In short, Catch Wrestling is a martial art that originated from the UK and originated from pro wrestling. In many ways, it has similarities with Brazilian Jiu Jitsu as it loves submissions and grappling. However, the key difference is that Catch Wrestling has no guard and prioritizes fighting from the top position on the ground via pins and guard passes. Back then, it was also ahead of its time as it had a bigger emphasis on leg locks, whilst BJJ was still behind in this area during the 90s.

Sakuraba was also well versed in the art of Shootfighting which is another Japanese martial art. This was again inspired by pro wrestling and was similar to MMA in the early days. Shootfighting has certain rules such as striking on the feet, with grappling and submissions on the floor (with no strikes). In other words, by combining Catch Wrestling and Shootfighting, it’s fair to say that Sakuraba had a strong base for MMA and was well-rounded, especially back then. Even by today’s standards, someone that can wrestle, submit, and strike is a dangerous fighter.

How many Gracies did Sakuraba defeat?

During his MMA career, Kazushi Sakuraba defeated four Gracie family members which was an incredible achievement at the time. He defeated Royce Gracie, Ryan Gracia, Renzo Gracie and Royler Gracie in a number of fights in Japan. During his career, he beat Royce Gracie after a 90 minute no-time-limit bout in PRIDE. At one point, it was said that Royce’s vision started to go so his corner threw the towel in. Amazingly, Sakuraba fought moments later against Igor Vovchanchyn but had to quit due to exhaustion after 15 minutes.

He would also face Royce Gracie years later in 2007 in California, where Royce won a unanimous decision. After the fight, it was revealed that Royce tested positive for steroids but his win was never officially removed. In 2010, Sakuraba also lost by unanimous decision to Ralek Gracie in Japan by unanimous decision. However, many contested that Sakuraba actually won this match and it was considered a controversial decision.

Did Sakuraba break Royler’s arm?

Back in 1999, Sakuraba fought Royler Gracie and defeated him after 13 minutes in PRIDE. He won the fight by a submission from side contol where he locked in a Kimura and put Royler’s arm behind his back. After holding the arm for several seconds without further extention, this gave the ref the time to assess the situation. It was already bent incredibly far and with Royler pinned with no escape, the ref ended the fight, earning Sakuraba victory by Kimura.

This meant that Royler’s arm was not broken. However, this was more out of mercy rather than him somehow being able to defend or escape the submission. If you watch the video below, you shall see this. What’s even more shocking about this is that at this point, the Gracie family were seen as almost unbeatable – especially by submission. During this time period, they were the ones beating people by submitting them, so this was a very historic submission to see at the time.

Did Sakuraba break Renzo’s arm?

A year later, Sakuraba proved that his victories over the Gracie family weren’t lucky and by now he’d defeated both Royler and Royce. Next up, he fought Renzo Gracie who was once again known for his grappling prowess. History repeated itself when Sakuraba once again locked in a Kimura lock from side control. This time, the ref didn’t intervene and he snapped the elbow of Renzo Gracie, who went on to describe it as “The worst pain I’ve ever felt”.

Interestingly, the Kimura was a key move taught by Billy Robinson and was the main submission used in Catch Wrestling. Here, they called it the ‘Double wristlock’ and it was designed to break the shoulder by forcing the arm behind the back. Sakuraba popularized this move by winning several fights by using it successfully. However, he would also use the Kimura from bad positions such as having his back turned towards his opponent whilst standing, or on the floor. Once the Kimura was grabbed, he would twist his opponent’s to gain an advantageous position, proving that the Kimura was more than just a submission.

Ironically, the Kimura got its name after the famous Judoka, Masahiko Kimura. He once had a superfight against none other than Helio Gracie, who is known as the pioneer of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and was once the head of the Gracie family. In this grappling match, Kimura used his namesake to break the shoulder of Helio and win the match. Once again, history was repeated years later with another Japanese man in Sakuraba who did this to defeat another Gracie.

Did Rickson ever fight Sakuraba?

After defeating Royler, Sakuraba challenged Rickson Gracie to a fight as it made logical sense. Rickson was unbeaten at the time in Japan and due to the Gracie Hunter persona, this match up had a lot of fans excited. However, eventually nothing came of it…even though it may have legitimately been the fight of the century.

Whilst some argued that Rickson was scared to fight Sakuraba, there are more serious reasons. Sadly, in 2001, Ricksons son Rockson suddenly died which caused Rickson to contemplate retiring from MMA. He also declined a $5 million offer to fight Sakuraba during this year as he was understandably grieving.

Although Rickson did go on to fight in the future, he never did face Sakuraba. Rickson retired from MMA with a perfect record of 11-0 which proved he was one of the greats. Undoubtedly, this fight would have made history and would have been massive if it ever happened.

What happened to Sakuraba’s ear?

Towards the end of his career in 2010, Sakuraba fought Marius Zaromskis who was a Lithuanian Welterweight. During the first round, Sakuraba got punched in the ear, which caused it to tear and it became a bloodied mess. If the fight had continued, then Sakuraba may well have lost most of his ear as it was just about hanging on.

Because of this, the fight was called off and Zaromskis was awarded the win. Shortly after, Sakuraba went to the hospital to receive treatment and got his ear fixed. He did fight a couple of times after this bout and his ear was fine. Nonetheless, it’s an example of the warrior spirit that Sakuraba possesses and he wasn’t going to stop before the doctors got involved.

What is Sakuraba’s T-shirt?

When fighting in MMA, Sakuraba used to walk to the ring wearing his favorite color, orange. He would also wear these bright orange shorts during his fights that had his ‘KS’ logo on the back, which is short for Kazushi Sakuraba. Because of his iconic image, he later released a number of t-shirts and rash guards after retirement that had his logo printed on them.

If you want to get your hands on one of these, then you can check them out here. Sadly, he never released his quirky Japanese wrestling masks for sale though!

Where is Sakuraba now?

Since retiring from MMA in 2015, Sakuraba still trains and created a submission grappling tournament called Quintet. This involved lots of takedowns and submissions, but no striking. Sakuraba and his son have also competed on this promotion. As well as this, Sakuraba also has a Youtube channel that he occasionally uploads to. So, even though Sakuraba has left the fight game, he’s still involved with wrestling and still leads an active, martial arts based lifestyle.

How good is Kazushi Sakuraba?

Sakuraba may have retired from MMA with a record of 26-17 but if you watched him at his peak, you’d know just how good he truly was. Firstly, Sakuraba fought well into his mid 40s which is generally when MMA fighters start to decline and old age catches up with them. As a result, he lost his last 5 fights in a row which harmed his overall legacy. From this perspective, there’s a lot in common with Anderson Silva, who many agree that he continued to fight well beyond his prime and also lost many of his later fights.

As well as this, you have to remember that Sakuraba fought during the PRIDE era when steroid use was rife, and he often fought much bigger opponents such as Kimo Leopoldo and Mirko Cro Cop. In fact, against those in his own weight class, Sakuraba usually won. In other words, he was not a picky fighter who chose his fights carefully to protect his image. Instead, he would fight anyone, regardless of the stakes and was known as being fearless. This sort of stuff may be hard to wrap your head around in the newer, UFC era – but back then it meant fights could come thick and fast, without dodging or any politics involved.

This brings us to the next point. As seen in the video below, Sakuraba was a true warrior and didn’t know when to quit. This video shows him repeatedly getting punched in the face whilst hunting for the kneebar. In some promotions like UFC, this fight may have been stopped against him, but he eventually persevered and got the victory. This helped show his incredible mentality.

Lastly, it wasn’t just toughness that defined Sakuraba either and it would be insulting to call him a bruiser. Instead, Sakuraba was a highly intelligent fighter that was a master technician and strategist. For example, against tricky guard players, he would kick shins and literally jump over their guards. Similarly, his use of the Kimura changed MMA forever and proved that he could innovate new ideas and concepts. Due to this, it’s fair to say that he’s regarded as one of the greatest ever.