He's just being humble, we all know this guy fucking destroyed the whole Gracie family single handedly. His title is misleading though, he wasn't a Gracie Hunter, because the Gracie's were actually after him (it was the other way around). He was actually the Gracie KILLER, but that's too graphic of a title to have so I guess that stuck. Every time he beat a Gracie member a new one would show up to try and save some face and salvage some pride on their name but he would end up beating the new challenger as well. This guy is a legend and it's a shame not many people know about him. He exemplified the way of the Samurai and Bushido to its fullest.
Great interview... Sakuraba is arguably the best pound for pound fighter in MMA history, he'd be a welterweight in today's MMA and this is a guy that used to tap out light-heavyweights... what an absolute legend.... thanks for the upload 👍
Cro Cop never seemed humble to me. In some of his interviews he comes across as a rather bitter, stiff guy. He also trashtalks a lot, and unlike other fighters it doesn't seem to be just an act.
cro cop is ex swat police so you get where the arrogance and certain seriousness regarding his opponenets comes from. Sakuraba might not have been the greates fighter regarding stats, but is the greatest martial ARTIST.
Sakuraba was a pure catch wrestler that truly had his own style. There was alot of catch wrestlers in Japan but he was so smooth and technical with his submissions, and take downs. He owned the double wrist lock aka Kimura. Ive seen alot of strong, powerful wrestlers/mma guys have trouble submitting guys with it. But once Sakuraba locked it in it was over. I dont know how he pulled it off because its a common move to defend. His grip was so relaxed and yet guys couldnt get out! lol
he was always in control of fast grapling, this style is so fast and precise on the ground, hes one of my favorite fighters of all time, his fights are the most exciting in my opinion, hes a true mma legend
This man has always been my favorite fighter. I loved back in the early days of his career he would always involve the crowd, look out of the ring and wink or smile. 95% of the fight he was expressionless giving you the impression he was walking his dog in the park or sitting on the shitter! Just fucking with his opponents mind by doing nothing emotional or giving off a excited look...... just a walk in the park! His true respect for his opponent and genuine concern about a man he just put the hurt on! Elbow dislocation and a yell to the ref to stop it so no more damage was caused! What a class act! Every punk in the Lame UFC should get some history lessons from classic badasses like Kazushi or Randy! Even some Ufc fighters like GSP are someone to look up to. Guys with true CLASS! Thanks Mr. Kazushi Sakuraba for the lessons in life and in respect ! From a guy over in the USA.
I wouldn't include GSP in the same class as Saku. He's been caught cheating (greasing) a legend in BJ Penn himself and his fighting style is the antithesis of Sakuraba. Saku always fought to finish while GSP only cares about getting the W and is willing to lay and pray or wall and stall his way to victory. Plus Saku was willing to fight anyone. Not the case with George.
1) His office in a Tokyo suburb. 2) I have connections through years of visiting Tokyo, living in Japan, and interviewing people (see the other videos on my channel) 3) Seems fine, didn't really want to talk about it 4) The R word was forbidden. He still trains. 5) I would like to see him do such a thing! Thanks for watching
they were heavier than him, and full juice, those guyz were roid monster, not him. That fight against crocop was terrible, it was a win for saku until that lucky heel throw :-(
Thank you,I've never had a chance to see saku outside a ring,I wish ufc would bring him in as an ambassador. my favorite since I would buy pride DVDs at media play in the late 90s,most mma fans have never seen him fight,this guy is an artistic martial artist. :-)
He was the one i learned most from. His technical dvd, not in person :) After practicing with a friend, and learning from it, we both went to judo classes. From the start we could beat 100% beginner students on the ground and 50% of senior ones. Thanks master Saku!
Very humble man who does not strut about with his many wins, including his wins competing with the Gracies. He attributed it to luck and said that on another day, he might lose. He explained that win or lose also depended on whether or not it was your off day, and that it could also happen to him. True. Some days, we are just not in top form, and we know it. Your body somehow feels lethargic or your mind is not calm. (Using drugs to deal with that is cheating) Two contestants can fight a hundred times, and there is no guarantee that one will win all one hundred fights, he said. True again. Sometimes, it takes a silly mistake, a miscalculation, a wrong judgement, or just that split second when your mind is not focussed, and your opponent gets you on your chin and it's KO, or locked in an arm and it's a submission. Mind-body coordination which must move at supersonic speeds is very important in fights, and no matter how many times you have sparred, no matter how many different partners you have sparred with, you can never know if you are faster both in mind and body than your opponent on THAT day until you fight with him. All that he said were true and I am sure every martial artist who has sparred and fought in the cage knows this. Some winners would boast, but Sakuraba was honest about it, and humbly admitted that well, he was just lucky. However, I must say what he would not say, that is, overall, he is also skilful. There's no doubt about it. Obviously, you can't win a fight depending only on Lady Luck if you are an orange or yellow belt level and fighting a black belter. To win, you are gonna need a whole shedload of luck to land a punch right into his chin and knock him out. Show less Reply
One of the greatest MMA fighters of all time. The roll he went on in the early pride days was outstanding,but Pride wrecked him , putting him in free weight G P tournaments and putting him in against much bigger men in the days when weight classes were starting to be introduced. He was burnt out after a short time.
I think during an early UFC fight, against the heavyweight champion, he might've lied about being 203 lbs just so he could fight the 260 pound opponent. He must've been around 170 or 180 at that time
Mizushima Yoshino He was 180 pounds & his opponent was Marcus "Conan" Silveira a bjj black belt champion who was 240+ pounds.....And Saku, of course, submitted him!!!
My favorite part is his promotion and love of pro wrestling his credibility as a true fighter elevates the sport. Ambassador and a true legend The Gracie Hunter
Thank you for conducting and presenting this interview to us. Great comments, concepts, and also questions to get more insight from Saku san... Outstanding job.
Krying Led I am always ganna say yes about him, even fighting dudes half his age, and to say he could handle himself in UFC is understating Saku as a wise man and amazing fighter..... I don't think that the UFC could handle him.....:) he would out class 95% of the clowns in the (U)ltimate (F)ucking (C)rap. Holy fuck did he get crushed a few times back in the day..... but always was gracious in a loss. Always a genuine warrior and respected by almost everyone.
At this point in his career, he wouldn't stand a chance in the UFC. In his prime, with PRIDE rules, he could handle almost anyone in the UFC. I'm not sure how well he would fare with UFC rules though. I really miss PRIDE...
Anon010398 Just about every loss he had except for the first Wanderlei fight came when he was on the decline and out of his very best years.... and in today's game the Wanderlei fight wouldn't have been allowed to happen because of the size difference. Sakuraba is the definition of both warrior and pound for pound.
His match with Carlos Newton was a classic. Anyone wanting to get into BJJ, Catch Wrestling, etc should watch that match. The submission attempts and escapes in that match was amazing. It was a science.
A true warrior. One of the only fighters that fought fearlessly against bigger opponents. But mostly I respect his heart. Such a strong spirit and a great entertainer.
Had his MMA career been in North America, in the correct weight class @ Welterweight or Lightweight (here many at 175-180lbs walk around weight cut down to Lightweight, Welterweights walk around even heavier), with proper training methods & modern camp behind him with strength-training, striking and grappling coaches (he was basically self-taught at MMA and relied mostly on his Catch Wrestling & Pro Wrestling past), he could easily have been the greatest ever in his chosen weight class...
Ossu! proud to train catch wrestling and BJJ... best combo fpr grappling there is! Sakuraba is the man... Thanks for the effort to get us access to this beautiful material Matt and Scramble! Ossu! Max
I understand, he trained a lot, so he acted by his instinct skill, because important fast emergency decision much less than a second. By grabbing your limb he knows what or how the next act by instinct.
imagine how successful he would be if he was just starting now, he was incredible at his peak,massively respected in both MMA and pro wrestling by fans and athletes
He should be however he wants to be about it really. He just chooses a classier path. When you're good you don't have to talk about it, people know it. same goes for when you're bad.
"it was luck"lol...Sakuraba is too humble and have great sense of humor,mauling G.family by their own rules.even "the greatest"gracie have no balls to fight him,that is just amazing
I agree. If you think about it from 1997-2001, there was no other MMA fighter capable of pulling off what Sakuraba did. Rickson maybe, but we'll never know because that fight was cancelled.
Sakuraba took some absolutely enormous beatings in his career, faced up against steroid freaks much bigger than himself. The damage showed in things like his wrapped knees and bandaged ear, dude was a fucking warrior.
Sakuraba was a 150 pounder in amateur wrestling. In nowadays MMA, he would be the size of an average LW (most LW cut from 170-180, that was Sakuraba's normal career weight). And he still duked it out against the likes of CroCop, Silva, Vovchanchyn... in win or defeat he always left everything in the ring. War Saku
If you listen here, there's some very sage advice "between the lines". The parts he's having difficulty articulating, about consciousness and directing it -- finding places where the opponent isn't focused, are the most valuable. It's not "hocus pocus" or metaphysics. Key excerpt: "I don't think anyone [opponent] can be conscious of the entire body."
on defeating Gracie family - It's was luck... What a humble guy
John Gotti
Man, this guy was one of the best back then. There's nothing lucky there
He's just being humble, we all know this guy fucking destroyed the whole Gracie family single handedly. His title is misleading though, he wasn't a Gracie Hunter, because the Gracie's were actually after him (it was the other way around). He was actually the Gracie KILLER, but that's too graphic of a title to have so I guess that stuck. Every time he beat a Gracie member a new one would show up to try and save some face and salvage some pride on their name but he would end up beating the new challenger as well.
This guy is a legend and it's a shame not many people know about him. He exemplified the way of the Samurai and Bushido to its fullest.
what a honest and factual answer. His opportunity to embellish and he just states facts. It can go either way.
Dude thats what i said hes humble as fuck!!
This guy is hardly mentioned in mainstream fighting and yet he is a legend.A extremely humble person who should be spoken of more.
Kazushi SAKURABA LOVE FROM BRAZIL
We RESPECT YOUR GREATNESS
He is such a brave and respectful athlete.
Not like fighters who hype for a fight win by split desicion and say they are the best.
Great interview... Sakuraba is arguably the best pound for pound fighter in MMA history, he'd be a welterweight in today's MMA and this is a guy that used to tap out light-heavyweights... what an absolute legend.... thanks for the upload 👍
Light heavy that aren't agile like a 145
He beat heavyweights too. He would lie about his weight to get into the Pride Grand Prix tournaments.
One of the greatest fighters of all time. Much love.
Sakuraba and Fedor will always be the best of the best. Humble and Wise!
Todd Lee cro cop and nogueira
Cro Cop never seemed humble to me. In some of his interviews he comes across as a rather bitter, stiff guy. He also trashtalks a lot, and unlike other fighters it doesn't seem to be just an act.
hes also a massive prankster, so might have been part of a skit or something
KingSygma he was ex military so pretty much why no emotion
cro cop is ex swat police so you get where the arrogance and certain seriousness regarding his opponenets comes from.
Sakuraba might not have been the greates fighter regarding stats, but is the greatest martial ARTIST.
The fucking legendary Sakuraba!!! He will and alwaus will be a legend
to me this guy is such a amazing fighter
So much respect for this man.
Sakuraba was a pure catch wrestler that truly had his own style. There was alot of catch wrestlers in Japan but he was so smooth and technical with his submissions, and take downs. He owned the double wrist lock aka Kimura. Ive seen alot of strong, powerful wrestlers/mma guys have trouble submitting guys with it. But once Sakuraba locked it in it was over. I dont know how he pulled it off because its a common move to defend. His grip was so relaxed and yet guys couldnt get out! lol
he was always in control of fast grapling, this style is so fast and precise on the ground, hes one of my favorite fighters of all time, his fights are the most exciting in my opinion, hes a true mma legend
sakuraba is the g.o.a.t he was fighting dudes 30 pounds heavier than him and winning
Winning spectacularly. And being quite entertaining while doing it.
Alex Amaya I remember that fight. But every great fighter who takes risks has taken at least one bad beating.
Guy beat Randleman, nuff said
@@CriticalSurvival0 and also submitted Rampage
This guy is my favourite fighter, for many reasons. He fought the best, small and large and generally did very well. Fearless and humble.
Great Saku . I have always been his fan,When I started in Brazilian jiu-jitsu .
One special hello from brazil.
This man has always been my favorite fighter. I loved back in the early days of his career he would always involve the crowd, look out of the ring and wink or smile. 95% of the fight he was expressionless giving you the impression he was walking his dog in the park or sitting on the shitter! Just fucking with his opponents mind by doing nothing emotional or giving off a excited look...... just a walk in the park!
His true respect for his opponent and genuine concern about a man he just put the hurt on! Elbow dislocation and a yell to the ref to stop it so no more damage was caused! What a class act! Every punk in the Lame UFC should get some history lessons from classic badasses like Kazushi or Randy! Even some Ufc fighters like GSP are someone to look up to. Guys with true CLASS!
Thanks Mr. Kazushi Sakuraba for the lessons in life and in respect ! From a guy over in the USA.
I wouldn't include GSP in the same class as Saku. He's been caught cheating (greasing) a legend in BJ Penn himself and his fighting style is the antithesis of Sakuraba. Saku always fought to finish while GSP only cares about getting the W and is willing to lay and pray or wall and stall his way to victory. Plus Saku was willing to fight anyone. Not the case with George.
MMA god.
1) His office in a Tokyo suburb.
2) I have connections through years of visiting Tokyo, living in Japan, and interviewing people (see the other videos on my channel)
3) Seems fine, didn't really want to talk about it
4) The R word was forbidden. He still trains.
5) I would like to see him do such a thing!
Thanks for watching
So he did amateur wrestling at 68 kilos (149lbs) , and fought guys like 2002 cro cop and randleman.. wtf
Don't forget Rampage Jackson(whom he choked out). :P
they were heavier than him, and full juice, those guyz were roid monster, not him. That fight against crocop was terrible, it was a win for saku until that lucky heel throw :-(
Yes, he sometimes faked his weight to get in higher divison because he wanted fight heavier people.
so humble, and funny in the ring with his antics.
Thank you,I've never had a chance to see saku outside a ring,I wish ufc would bring him in as an ambassador. my favorite since I would buy pride DVDs at media play in the late 90s,most mma fans have never seen him fight,this guy is an artistic martial artist. :-)
He was the one i learned most from. His technical dvd, not in person :) After practicing with a friend, and learning from it, we both went to judo classes. From the start we could beat 100% beginner students on the ground and 50% of senior ones. Thanks master Saku!
very humble and modest considering he actually destroyed the gracies
Thank you for the interview. Love from Russia to the OG
Very humble man who does not strut about with his many wins, including his wins competing with the Gracies. He attributed it to luck and said that on another day, he might lose.
He explained that win or lose also depended on whether or not it was your off day, and that it could also happen to him. True. Some days, we are just not in top form, and we know it. Your body somehow feels lethargic or your mind is not calm. (Using drugs to deal with that is cheating)
Two contestants can fight a hundred times, and there is no guarantee that one will win all one hundred fights, he said. True again.
Sometimes, it takes a silly mistake, a miscalculation, a wrong judgement, or just that split second when your mind is not focussed, and your opponent gets you on your chin and it's KO, or locked in an arm and it's a submission. Mind-body coordination which must move at supersonic speeds is very important in fights, and no matter how many times you have sparred, no matter how many different partners you have sparred with, you can never know if you are faster both in mind and body than your opponent on THAT day until you fight with him.
All that he said were true and I am sure every martial artist who has sparred and fought in the cage knows this. Some winners would boast, but Sakuraba was honest about it, and humbly admitted that well, he was just lucky.
However, I must say what he would not say, that is, overall, he is also skilful. There's no doubt about it. Obviously, you can't win a fight depending only on Lady Luck if you are an orange or yellow belt level and fighting a black belter. To win, you are gonna need a whole shedload of luck to land a punch right into his chin and knock him out.
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Reply
so much respect for this guy. cheers from Brazil!
this guy is a legend and seems humble. wish he could have been in the ufc
+knicks-new-yorker He had one fight in the UFC and won by armbar.
+Bouchon211 Why didn't he continue though? T_T
***** He went to Japan where the money was, Pride was the big show back in the day not the UFC.
+Bouchon211 Ohh, ok, tnx.
***** Np, Sakuraba is a legend.
its lovely dude!! cheers from Brasil
Humble Legend!
if only the gracies respected saku as much as he respects them........ hmm
I love YOU guys for loving Sakuraba, THE GOD OF JAPANESE MMA! Thank you!
true martial artist
He said beating the Gracies was "luck". Incredibly humble, trains his mind just as much as his body. A true martial artist indeed.
Think I just found my favourite fighter of all time.. Dudes so humble and respectful to his opposition he owned that shit
One of the greatest MMA fighters of all time. The roll he went on in the early pride days was outstanding,but Pride wrecked him , putting him in free weight G P tournaments and putting him in against much bigger men in the days when weight classes were starting to be introduced. He was burnt out after a short time.
Not that he minded, actually.
I think during an early UFC fight, against the heavyweight champion, he might've lied about being 203 lbs just so he could fight the 260 pound opponent.
He must've been around 170 or 180 at that time
Mizushima Yoshino He was 180 pounds & his opponent was Marcus "Conan" Silveira a bjj black belt champion who was 240+ pounds.....And Saku, of course, submitted him!!!
Absolutely golden! Thanks so much for the rewind! Love this guy!
wow using his ways of thinking & diverting, i can now defeat so many opponents, ty saku legend
Thanks to gracies and sakuraba for showing us the great arts of ground games and freestyle fighting
My favorite part is his promotion and love of pro wrestling his credibility as a true fighter elevates the sport. Ambassador and a true legend
The Gracie Hunter
Thank you for conducting and presenting this interview to us. Great comments, concepts, and also questions to get more insight from Saku san... Outstanding job.
Krying Led
I am always ganna say yes about him, even fighting dudes half his age, and to say he could handle himself in UFC is understating Saku as a wise man and amazing fighter..... I don't think that the UFC could handle him.....:) he would out class 95% of the clowns in the (U)ltimate (F)ucking (C)rap.
Holy fuck did he get crushed a few times back in the day..... but always was gracious in a loss. Always a genuine warrior and respected by almost everyone.
At this point in his career, he wouldn't stand a chance in the UFC. In his prime, with PRIDE rules, he could handle almost anyone in the UFC. I'm not sure how well he would fare with UFC rules though. I really miss PRIDE...
Anon010398
Just about every loss he had except for the first Wanderlei fight came when he was on the decline and out of his very best years.... and in today's game the Wanderlei fight wouldn't have been allowed to happen because of the size difference.
Sakuraba is the definition of both warrior and pound for pound.
He already fought in the UFC with Conan silveira
Humble man,he was fine with a white belt for his gi at Chute Boxe!
His match with Carlos Newton was a classic. Anyone wanting to get into BJJ, Catch Wrestling, etc should watch that match. The submission attempts and escapes in that match was amazing. It was a science.
Unbreakable.
A true warrior. One of the only fighters that fought fearlessly against bigger opponents. But mostly I respect his heart. Such a strong spirit and a great entertainer.
Such a humble man and a great, great fighter.
Had his MMA career been in North America, in the correct weight class @ Welterweight or Lightweight (here many at 175-180lbs walk around weight cut down to Lightweight, Welterweights walk around even heavier), with proper training methods & modern camp behind him with strength-training, striking and grappling coaches (he was basically self-taught at MMA and relied mostly on his Catch Wrestling & Pro Wrestling past), he could easily have been the greatest ever in his chosen weight class...
It's amazing how one man destroyed an entire legacy.
Thank you for posting this video! Sakuraba is a legend!
it works!
thanks for posting the interview guys, this is amazing.
Ossu! proud to train catch wrestling and BJJ... best combo fpr grappling there is! Sakuraba is the man... Thanks for the effort to get us access to this beautiful material Matt and Scramble! Ossu! Max
Anyone who enjoys MMA today owes respect to this man. He brought about lasting changes in our sport.
Grande Homem!
Scramble + Saku = MIND BLOWN
I understand, he trained a lot, so he acted by his instinct skill, because important fast emergency decision much less than a second. By grabbing your limb he knows what or how the next act by instinct.
imagine how successful he would be if he was just starting now, he was incredible at his peak,massively respected in both MMA and pro wrestling by fans and athletes
GOD DAMN, I NEVER KNEW THAT SAKURABA WAS SO FUCKING HUMBLE.
sakuraba, such a legend and a humble warrior. beating all those gracies and saying it was just luck. people should follow this guy's example.
It's finally here :'D thank you SCR
Man, this guy is unbelievably humble.
THE TRUE G.O.A.T
Would love to see him compete at Metamoris, GI or no GI.
And it's happening too!
Amazing person. Thank you!
Incredible talent and absolutely no ego problem whatsoever pleasant guy and really enjoyed what he did
Good music and excellent interview. Thanks from France !
Truly a gentleman and a champion.
That man is a true legend and a class act
Os japoneses são de uma humildade, top....fora do normal mesmo
O cara falou que derrotar os Gráceis foi "sorte" kkkkkk
和 二系ブラジル人 として さくらば 選手 お 尊敬します。Respect for this real warrior!!
that sequence with tamura is awesome
This is very well done.Subscribed.
what a humble guy!! LEGEND!!!
Kazushi Sakuraba, um lutador muito respeitado aqui no Brasil.
🇧🇷
Saiba que nós gostamos muito de você.
Scramble, make the sakuraba grappling shorts in XXL. Big dudes need love too.
Grande saku, quisiera ver este video en español saludos desde Colombia
Excellent!
so humble . LEGEND
Very humble man
This might be the smartest MMA fighter I’ve ever came across
"I trained in the gi at chute boxe. Strangely, I felt quite comfortable while doing it..... I was surprised how easy it was."
A wonderful gentlemen
Saku, we love you.
LEGEND!
Man, awesome interview! Hopefully, you would do an interview with Minowaman!
Greatest of all time.
Saku is such a legend
the greatest loved
My favorite, for his willingness to fight the best at higher weight classes
Sakuraba: A man who fights simply for the love of it.
A Legend!
This guy was like boss at the end of a arcade game, a fucking monster
He should be however he wants to be about it really. He just chooses a classier path. When you're good you don't have to talk about it, people know it. same goes for when you're bad.
legend.
Legend
"it was luck"lol...Sakuraba is too humble and have great sense of humor,mauling G.family by their own rules.even "the greatest"gracie have no balls to fight him,that is just amazing
I agree. If you think about it from 1997-2001, there was no other MMA fighter capable of pulling off what Sakuraba did. Rickson maybe, but we'll never know because that fight was cancelled.
Humility
Its hard to tell because i don't speak Japanese, but does he seem a little punchy in this interview?
Sakuraba took some absolutely enormous beatings in his career, faced up against steroid freaks much bigger than himself. The damage showed in things like his wrapped knees and bandaged ear, dude was a fucking warrior.
Yes...
Sakuraba was a 150 pounder in amateur wrestling. In nowadays MMA, he would be the size of an average LW (most LW cut from 170-180, that was Sakuraba's normal career weight). And he still duked it out against the likes of CroCop, Silva, Vovchanchyn... in win or defeat he always left everything in the ring. War Saku
If you listen here, there's some very sage advice "between the lines". The parts he's having difficulty articulating, about consciousness and directing it -- finding places where the opponent isn't focused, are the most valuable. It's not "hocus pocus" or metaphysics. Key excerpt: "I don't think anyone [opponent] can be conscious of the entire body."
Now there´s someone who should be called THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER or better yet THE ULTIMATE WARRIOR.