Sherdog’s Top 10: Best Title Fights

Caol Uno denied the “Moon Wolf” more than a decade ago. | Photo: Dean Marchand/Sherodg.com

3. Rumina Sato vs. Caol Uno
Shooto “10th Anniversary Event”
May 29, 1999 | Kanagawa, Japan
The main event of an MMA promotion’s anniversary show has to bring the heat. The first Japanese promotion of its kind, Shooto celebrated its 10th anniversary by booking Sato against Uno for the welterweight championship.

Uno came into the matchup having only lost twice in his first 11 fights as a professional, but Shooto put him in the bout against one of its own with clear intentions. Sato had already fought 12 times for the company and was billed by many to be the most exciting 155-pound fighter on the planet. What was supposed to be mixed martial arts’ equivalent of a squash match saw “Uno Shorten” take the fight to “Moon Wolf.” After three rounds of back and forth, non-stop action, the underdog wound up beating the favorite via rear-naked choke.

Uno went on to two stints in the UFC, dropping fights to likes of Jens Pulver and B.J. Penn. Sato stayed with what he knew, vowing to never leave the confines of Shooto until he captured the promotion’s world championship. In four career title shots, including a rematch with Uno, he never earned a victory.

Number 2 » Eddie Alvarez vs. Michael Chandler