Sherdog’s Top 10: Japanese Fighters
Mike SloanSep 09, 2015
Though he built his profile on highlight-reel knockouts, “Mach” was a well-rounded fighter in every sense of the word. Sakurai could do it all.
Like many Japanese fighters, he honed his trade in Shooto, where he became welterweight champion and retained the title for more than three years. Sakurai remained unbeaten (18-0-2) through his first 20 fights before he ran into Anderson Silva in August 2001. Losses to Matt Hughes and Jake Shields followed, but he got back on track with wins over Jens Pulver, Joachim Hansen and Shinya Aoki. Sakurai later lost by knockout to Takanori Gomi in one of the greatest fights in Pride Fighting Championships history.
Time, age and years of brutal wars chipped away at Sakurai on the backside of his career but could do nothing to diminish what he had already achieved.
Number 4 » Known for his pathological aggression, he took 12 of his first 17 wins via knockout; and his four-second KO at K-1 Hero’s 5 remains the fastest such stoppage in MMA history.