The MMA Depressed-us: Sakuraba hunted, Gracies win

The UFC is taking their annual holiday hiatus once again, which means we’ve got a whole passel of time on our hands. You know…

By: Zane Simon | 6 months ago
The MMA Depressed-us: Sakuraba hunted, Gracies win
Bloody Elbow 2.0 | Anton Tabuena

The UFC is taking their annual holiday hiatus once again, which means we’ve got a whole passel of time on our hands. You know what they say about idle hands? Well, we’re doing the devil’s work.

This time around we’ve chosen a particularly grim chapter in MMA history to focus on, the later-era of MMA legend Kazushi Sakuraba’s career. Known as the ‘Gracie Hunter’ Sakuraba rocketed to fame for his victories over MMA’s first family, defeating Royler Gracie, Royce Gracie, Renzo Gracie, Ryan Gracie, and Gracie proteges Vitor Belfort, Ebenezer Fontes Braga, and Nino Schembri.

Despite all that success, the Gracies eventually got some of their own back, starting with Gracie disciple Ricardo Arona’s victory over Sakuraba at Pride Critical Countdown 2005. Royce Gracie got his chance to even the score two years later, at Dynamite!! USA. And Ralek Gracie was there to pick up the pieces with a 2010 win over Sakuraba at Dream 14. We’re watching Arona vs. Sakuraba over on Fight Pass, while Royce vs. Sakuraba 2 & Ralek vs. Sakuraba — can both be found on YouTube.

TIMESTAMPS —

As always, we’re watching all videos from the beginning. Viewers can follow along with us by pressing play when Zane says “Go.” For those watching other versions of the fights, Connor will try to announce the start of round 1 so they can sync up from there.

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About the author
Zane Simon
Zane Simon

Zane Simon is a senior editor, writer, and podcaster for Bloody Elbow. He has worked with the website since 2013, taking on a wide variety of roles. A lifelong combat sports fan, Zane has trained off & on in both boxing and Muay Thai. He currently hosts the long-running MMA Vivisection podcast, which he took over from Nate Wilcox & Dallas Winston in 2015, as well as the 6th Round podcast, started in 2014. Zane is also responsible for developing and maintaining the ‘List of current UFC fighters’ on Bloody Elbow, a resource he originally developed for Wikipedia in 2010.

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