Sherdog’s Top 10: Most Influential Fighters

---

2. Kazushi Sakuraba

Sakuraba’s contributions to the landscape of mixed martial arts take many forms. First and foremost, “The Gracie Hunter” shattered the Gracie Family’s myth of invincibility in high-level competition. Second, Sakuraba made enormous contributions to the technical development of the sport. Finally, he demonstrated that showmanship will always have an essential place in MMA and that the sport’s long connection to professional wrestling is not something to be feared.

Sakuraba defeated four members of the Gracie Family during his professional career. Renzo and Royler fell to kimuras; Ryan made it to the final bell but lost a decision; and Royce went down in the longest fight in modern MMA history, a grueling 90-minute epic at the 2000 Pride open weight grand prix. Nobody has ever done anything like it before or since.

From a technical perspective, Sakuraba was even more influential. An accomplished wrestler in high school and college, he built on that foundation with extensive training in catch wrestling under the direction of the legendary Billy Robinson. This combination made Sakuraba one of the very first true wrestle-grapplers to combine slick submissions with serious takedown prowess, and it played out in exceptional ways in his fights. He was happy to expose his back to scramble to his feet even against Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belts; he used kimura rolls as escapes and offensive attacks; and he scrambled with leg locks long before that became the norm. His low single was legendary, and he was one of the first to turn caught kicks into takedowns. Decades before Donald Cerrone was throwing “F-you” kicks to Myles Jury’s rear end, Sakuraba was standing over downed opponents and chopping away with low kicks. He was far ahead of his time in terms of technique, and many fighters have adopted his tricks as standard pieces of the MMA arsenal.

Finally, Sakuraba was always a showman with consummate skill on the mic, and he should stand as a reminder that the links between mixed martial arts and professional wrestling are longstanding and important. Sakuraba understood at a basic level that keeping the crowd entertained was not mutually exclusive with athletic achievement and that the two could fit together seamlessly. Sakuraba was one of a kind, and he changed mixed martial arts forever.

Number 1 » The idea of Brazilian jiu-jitsu was simple. Most fights end up on the ground at one point or another, and most people have no idea how to fight there. Jiu-jitsu practitioners focused on that phase of combat, building on the judo base Mitsuyo Maeda taught to the early Gracies. He demonstrated the effectiveness of that approach very quickly, proving that a small competitor could beat larger men through the proper application of leverage and technique.