Sherdog.com Exclusive: One-on-One with PRIDE’s Sakakibara
Sakuraba
Josh Gross Aug 24, 2005
Gross: Will Sakuraba fight in the 83-kilo. tournament?
Sakakibara (in English): No. Never.
Gross: Will Sakuraba fight in PRIDE again?
Sakakibara (in English): Yes. He will come back in October.
Sakakibara: It’s totally up to the fighters to decide when to retire.
Gross: After that fight (with Ricardo Arona (Pictures)), I believe you said that Sakuraba would no longer fight at middleweight (205 pounds), but only fight at 83-kilograms? Is that still the case?
Sakakibara: I personally thought that Sakuraba thought should go down to 83-kilos, but that’s only what I thought. When I talked to Sakuraba, Sakuraba refused and said that “I’m going to go up, never go down.” He read [my] comments in a newspaper and he called from the hospital. When he fought Arona he was 86-kilos and Arona passed the 93-kilos the day before, but the day of the event he goes up like six, seven pounds easily. So there was more than a 10-kilograms difference on the day of the event. He hasn’t done everything that he could do. He could build up his body and make the weight over 93-kilos to fight evenly with those 205 fighters. In his mind, there are so many things he can still do, still improve, including weight and quit drinking or quit smoking. So unless he does everything he can do, he cannot make himself to be convinced for retirement.
Gross: I have to say, personally, that scares me. I was at PRIDE 13 when Sakuraba fought Silva the first time. I was at PRIDE 17. I’ve seen Sakuraba fight great, unbelievable fights and I’ve seen him get hurt. And I think he’s such and incredible fighter, such an incredible person, that he’ll never retire. Someone needs to push him out. Do you fear …
Sakakibara: And I understand your concern very much and I appreciate it. But when time comes, maybe the person who says “Sakuraba you should retire” is not me, maybe Takada. And I don’t believe that it’s time that he should really tell Sakuraba not to continue. I believe in Sakuraba. He can do more.
Sakakibara (in English): No. Never.
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Sakakibara (in English): Yes. He will come back in October.
Gross: After his last fight — he’s had many beatings before, he’s
taken a lot of punishment before — but after his last fight it was
very bad. Did you advise him to retire or was there any talk of
retirement?
Sakakibara: It’s totally up to the fighters to decide when to retire.
Gross: After that fight (with Ricardo Arona (Pictures)), I believe you said that Sakuraba would no longer fight at middleweight (205 pounds), but only fight at 83-kilograms? Is that still the case?
Sakakibara: I personally thought that Sakuraba thought should go down to 83-kilos, but that’s only what I thought. When I talked to Sakuraba, Sakuraba refused and said that “I’m going to go up, never go down.” He read [my] comments in a newspaper and he called from the hospital. When he fought Arona he was 86-kilos and Arona passed the 93-kilos the day before, but the day of the event he goes up like six, seven pounds easily. So there was more than a 10-kilograms difference on the day of the event. He hasn’t done everything that he could do. He could build up his body and make the weight over 93-kilos to fight evenly with those 205 fighters. In his mind, there are so many things he can still do, still improve, including weight and quit drinking or quit smoking. So unless he does everything he can do, he cannot make himself to be convinced for retirement.
Gross: I have to say, personally, that scares me. I was at PRIDE 13 when Sakuraba fought Silva the first time. I was at PRIDE 17. I’ve seen Sakuraba fight great, unbelievable fights and I’ve seen him get hurt. And I think he’s such and incredible fighter, such an incredible person, that he’ll never retire. Someone needs to push him out. Do you fear …
Sakakibara: And I understand your concern very much and I appreciate it. But when time comes, maybe the person who says “Sakuraba you should retire” is not me, maybe Takada. And I don’t believe that it’s time that he should really tell Sakuraba not to continue. I believe in Sakuraba. He can do more.
