By The Numbers: Kazushi Sakuraba
He was a samurai in four-ounce gloves.
Advertisement
Though Sakuraba lingered in the sport well past his prime, he was a transcendent fighter during his heyday and a pivotal figure in the growth and spread of mixed martial arts. Here are some of the numbers that have come to define him:
1:
Ultimate Fighting Championship win on his resume. Sakuraba
submitted Marcus
Silveira with an armbar at UFC 15.5 on Dec. 21, 1997 in
Yokohama, Japan.
2: Countries in which Sakuraba has competed as a professional mixed martial artist. They are the United States and Japan.
3: Career losses by submission. Yan Cabral, Jason Miller and Kimo Leopoldo were the perpetrators.
4: Wins over former UFC champions. Sakuraba defeated Kevin Randleman, Quinton Jackson, Vitor Belfort and Carlos Newton.
8: Sakuraba fights that have gone the distance. He is 3-4-1 in those bouts.
10: Career defeats by knockout. He suffered his first such setback in the 2000 Pride open weight grand prix semifinals, where he was forced to bow out of a match with Igor Vovchanchyn due to exhaustion.
16: First-round finishes to his credit. Sakuraba registered the quickest stoppage of his career on April 23, 2005, when he disposed of Dong Sik Yoon with punches in 38 seconds at Pride Total Elimination 2005.
19: Wins by submission. They account for 73 percent of his career total. Sakuraba has submitted eight opponents via armbar, five via kimura, two via kneebar, one via neck crank, one via triangle armbar, one via rear-naked choke and one via Achilles’ lock.
48: Years of age. Sakuraba was born on July 14, 1969 -- exactly two weeks before UFC President Dana White -- in Showa, Japan.
359: Combined wins between the 15 men who have defeated Sakuraba. Only the great Wanderlei Silva has beaten him more than once, and he did so on three occasions.
Related Articles