Sherdog.com Preview: PRIDE Bushido Lightweight Grand Prix

Hayato Sakurai (Pictures): Judo/SHOOTO/Mach Dojo • 5’8 • 167 lbs. • 22-6-2

Career Against Noteworthy Opponents:
• Caol Uno (Pictures) (1-0)
• Alex Cook (1-0)
• Marcelo Aguiar (2-0)
• Jutaro Nakao (Pictures) (1-0)
• Sergei Bytchkov (1-0)
• Tetsuji Kato (Pictures) (1-0)
• Frank Trigg (Pictures) (1-0)
• Anderson Silva (Pictures) (0-1)
• Matt Hughes (Pictures) (0-1)
• Jake Shields (Pictures) (0-1)
• Ryuki Ueyama (1-0)
• Dave Menne (Pictures) (1-0)
• Ryo Chonan (Pictures) (0-1)
• Daiju Takase (Pictures) (1-0)
• Rodrigo Gracie (0-1)
• Crosley Gracie (Pictures) (0-1)
• Milton Vieira (Pictures) (1-0)

PRIDE Experience: 3-2

Jens Pulver (Pictures): Boxing/Wrestling/Team Extreme • 5’7 • 155 lbs. • 21-6-1

Career Against Noteworthy Opponents:
• Joe Stevenson (Pictures) (1-0)
• Phil Johns (Pictures) (1-0)
• Joao Roque (Pictures) (1-0)
• Din Thomas (Pictures) (0-1)
• John Lewis (1-0)
• Caol Uno (Pictures) (1-0)
• Dennis Hallman (Pictures) (1-0)
• B.J. Penn (Pictures) (1-0)
• Duane Ludwig (Pictures) (0-1)
• Jason Maxwell (Pictures) (0-1)
• Stephen Palling (Pictures) (1-0)
• Takanori Gomi (Pictures) (0-1)
• Tomomi Iwama (Pictures) (1-0)

PRIDE Experience: 1-1

The Better Striker: Pulver, but Sakurai is no pillow fight. Jens can bang with the best in his weight class but Gomi really gave him a pounding.

The Better Grappler: Sakurai. Pulver has been a part of the Miletich camp for years and on rear occasion sinks a sub but he’s a striker. Hayato has a serious submission game and he’d be more than delighted to work the ground with someone like Pulver.

Motivating Factors/Intangibles:

Pulver is the former UFC lightweight champion. He’s by no means a favorite, has had a rocky road of late and the PFC title would make him the lightweight division’s answer to Mark Coleman (Pictures).

Sakurai has been the SHOOTO 167-pound champion and was written off by many after three years of inconsistency. Now a slimmed down PRIDE welterweight (160 lbs.) with a rejuvenated leash on his fight life who knows what Hayato is capable of?

And The Winner Is: Sakurai. I think this bout only goes as long as Sakurai wants it to. Jens is a former champ and a dangerous striker but Hayato can bring it to the ground at a moment’s notice and keep it there. If Sakurai gets sloppy, it is a different story, but this is a very winnable fight. It is the semis that will truly test him. Sakurai by submission in the first round.