Sherdog’s Top 10: Most Influential Fighters

An entire generation of Japanese fighters idolized Rumina Sato. | Photo: Daniel Herbertson/Sherdog.com

9. Rumina Sato

Although the name is not well known among the present crop of MMA fans, the venerable Sato is one of the more important figures in the sport’s history. He is an idol to the entire generation of Japanese fighters who came after him, actively coaches today and was one of the first truly well-rounded fighters to compete on the world stage.

Sato could strike with aplomb and hit slick takedowns, but he is best remembered for his creative and unorthodox submissions. He still holds the record for the fastest tapout: a six-second flying armbar victory over Charles Diaz in 1999. He got Chute Boxe original and current Kings MMA head coach Rafael Cordeiro with a devastating kneebar, choked out a young Yves Edwards and armbarred American jiu-jitsu pioneer and future coach John Lewis. At a time when the UFC and Pride Fighting Championships were putting on fights between one-dimensional specialists, Sato’s command of the different component arts and the way he integrated them so beautifully were a breath of fresh air and a sign of the future of the sport.

Now 41, Sato’s days as a competitor are presumably over, but he continues to teach a new generation of fighters at his gym outside Tokyo. Even more important, Sato is the head of Shooto’s amateur division, and through that outlet remains deeply involved in the future of Japanese MMA. If a new generation of fighters from the Land of the Rising Sun eventually takes its place on the world stage, it will likely be thanks to Sato’s continued influence on the sport.

Number 8 » His style is another essential component of the influence he has had over the sport. Wrestle-grapplers were nothing new, of course, but the ease with which he transitioned from striking to wrestling to grappling was breathtaking in its fluidity. Overhand right to double-leg was his bread and butter, and when he went to work on the ground, he seamlessly integrated a vice-like guillotine with the wrestler’s front headlock. His ability to latch onto a submission, especially that guillotine or a rear-naked choke, as his opponent tried to get back to his feet has since become the go-to sequence within the sport as a whole.