Saku to be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame

The UFC Hall of Fame has four wings:
Pioneer
Modern-era
Contributors
Fights

The latest addition to the Pioneer wing is Kazushi Sakuraba. It is profoundly deserved. Many years ago Dave Meltzer’s F4W Online explained exactly why.

He’s the greatest fighter in the history of MMA. And not just the greatest fighter by a little bit, but by such a wide margin that his skill level may never actually be met by another competitor for generations, if ever.

In order to explain why I’ve made such a definitive statement, one must understand weight cutting.

In August of 2002, the best heavyweight fighter in the world, Antonio Rodrigo Noguiera fought Bob “The Beast” Sapp. Sapp had previously fought in exactly two MMA fights, while Noguiera was the Pride Heavyweight champion, a Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt, and had 19 fights in his career. Bob Sapp, the very definition of a novice, quite literally almost killed Noguiera during that match, and gave Rodrigo all he could handle for almost 12:00. The reason Sapp was able to do this?

Size.

Saku’s weight was reported to be 183 lbs for his fights with Royce Gracie, Vitor Belfort, and all the rest. In the regular, non “combat sports”, world 183 lbs is a big person, in MMA, that’s incredibly small.

if Sakuraba properly cut weight, and being a former college wrestling star, there’s no doubt he could, Saku would be a lightweight. Also, keep in mind that at 183 lbs, Saku’s body was still far from ripped. In fact, at that weight, he still had enough fat on him that he had no visible abs.

Sakuraba is a lightweight. With that in mind, when one now takes a look at who Saku has defeated, it’s not just incredible, it’s basically impossible, except for the fact that Saku did it.

Saku holds victories over TWO top 10 Light HeavyWeight fighters, one former UFC HEAVYWEIGHT champion, a former UFC Welterweight champion, and four members of the legendary Gracie family. 

Kazushi Sakuraba is a man who could realistically fight at 155 lbs, but who has fought and beaten some of the best in the world at 205 pounds, and who almost beat some of the best in the world at around 225 lbs. And not only beat people 50+ lbs bigger, but beat the most skilled people on earth at those higher weights. There will never be a man whose skill level is so great that he could routinely negate 50+ pounds. In the history of mixed martial arts, there is Kazushi Sakuraba, and then there is everyone else.

Adding to the extraordinary nature of his achievements, mixed martial arts wasn’t even his primary love. Saku was a national-class amateur wrestler, trained in Catch Wrestling by Billy Robinson. Saku only entered UFC Japan to boost his professional wrestling career.

However, while Saku never achieved a level of popularity like Rick Flair, The Rock, or Antonio Inoki, he is arguably the greatest fighter in MMA history, and inarguably an incredible addition to the UFC Hall of Fame.

The terms ‘warrior’ or ‘Samurai spirit’ don’t even begin to describe what Kazushi Sakuraba had,” said Sean Shelby, UFC Senior Vice-President of Talent Relations, to UFC.com. “He is one of the most expressive, innovative and greatest martial artists of all time.

UFC President Dana White, too, is a huge fan.

Sakuraba is one of my favorite fighters of all time,” said White. “He fought way too far outside his natural weight class. It’s one of the great unanswered questions – could this guy have been the greatest of all time if he’d have fought in his own weight class his entire career? He was a national treasure, but they kept putting him in with guys 50 pounds bigger than he was.

Saku responded with characteristic grace.

When I stepped into the Octagon 20 years ago at UFC’s Ultimate Japan tournament, I never could have dreamed at that time that one day I would be invited to join the other legends in the UFC Hall of Fame,” he said.

It is my wish to share this honor with everyone in the Japanese martial arts world that, through PRIDE, helped establish an era in fighting sports. I gave everything I could in the gym to perfect myself and my technique so that I could give the fans the kind of spectacle they deserved. I believe in my heart this was my purpose in life – and I never stopped pushing the limits of what I can do.

Saku joins fellow Pioneer era inductee Maurice Smith, Contributor Joe Silva and Modern Era inductee Urijah Faber in the Hall’s Class of 2017. The induction ceremony will take place in Las Vegas, Nevada on July 6, as part of UFC International Fight Week.

Looming over all this is why Jens Pulver has yet to be inducted.