Sherdog’s Top 10: MMA Rivalries

1. Kazushi Sakuraba vs. The Gracies

When Sakuraba was still in his physical prime, he established himself as Japan’s greatest mixed martial artist. His rivalry with the Gracies began when he was pitted against Royler Gracie under the Pride Fighting Championships banner in 1999. Sakuraba was the much larger man and caught Gracie in a textbook gyaku-ude-garami, forcing the referee to call for the stoppage. The fact that Gracie never officially submitted fanned the flames for what would become MMA’s best-known rivalry.

Next, Sakuraba outlasted three-time Ultimate Fighting Championship tournament winner Royce Gracie across six grueling 15-minute rounds in what some consider the greatest MMA fight in history. Sakuraba went on to face Renzo Gracie three months later. After a thrilling back-and-forth battle, the Japanese wrestler ensnared Gracie in a kimura from the back and snapped the Brazilian’s elbow when he refused to tap. “The Gracie Hunter” nickname took on greater meaning in December 2000, when he locked horns with Ryan Gracie at Pride 12 and was awarded a unanimous decision.

Sakuraba rematched Royce at a K-1 event in 2007 when the two legends were shells of their former selves. Gracie exacted a measure of revenge and won a decision, but he tested positive for steroids following the bout. Sakuraba went on to face one more member of MMA’s First Family in 2010, as he lost a three-round unanimous verdict to Ralek Gracie at Dream 14 in Saitama, Japan.