[FIGHT] Back in Suidobashi

For several days, we had been trying to get someone on the phone from Academia AZ. We failed every time. So at noon on Saturday, I threw some shorts and an extra T-shirt into a backpack and biked down to Suidobashi. Even though I got a little lost around the border between the Iidabashi and Misaki addresses, I made it there in plenty of time for the beginner jiu-jitsu class scheduled at 1:30 PM. I found the front door to the decrepit Koken building wide open behind a sign that said, "Come up and watch."

As soon as I went up one flight of stairs, everything was pitch dark. Not good. I went up one more flight to the jiu-jitsu floor. There was a little bit of natural light here but no electricity. The door was halfway ajar and exposed the blue mats, with rubbish liberally strewn about the corners. All windows were closed, preserving a palpable smell of sweat and things slightly more foul. Again, not good.

So much for that. I took a walk. It was the day of the K-1 Grand Prix at the Tokyo Dome next door, and there was a certain buzz around the neighborhood. I hopped in and out of the pro wrestling and fight gear merchants before ending up at the old Fitness Shop Kakutogi, where I purchased a pair of Harbinger gloves and my arch-nemesis, the jump rope. Before heading back home, I ate at the well-heeled Men Hitosuji for the first time. I may post a review of the standard Tamashi Ramen sometime, under separate cover.

Last on today's agenda is a great post made by one amlee to http://www.adcombat.com/ADCC_Forum/index.html. I had a hard time reaching this gentleman, especially since I am not an active internet forum troll. The Diseased Monkey Island Theory. Nonetheless, I made a good faith effort to reach him to secure his permission. Moreover, I am assuming that someone this lucid and reasonable also happens to be a nice guy. Many thanks to amlee in advance.

Topic: Saku/Silva 4 is being blown out of proportion. My take on the fight.

Most people on this forum, Sherdog, and the MMA Underground are saying that Silva is going to end Sakuraba for good, the fight is unethical, it should never happen, etc...

I beg to differ.

Now, first of all, let me say that I don't really believe that this fight should be taking place.a. Sakuraba should focus (for the first time in 4 years) on someone in his damn weight class. Instead of fighting Igor, Rampage, CroCop, Silva, Randleman, etc, he should fight B.J. Penn, Henderson, Bustamante, Rodrigo Gracie, or someone like thisb. Silva needs to continue to prove that he is the #1 LHW in the world. Fighting Sakuraba for a fourth time isn't going to prove much.

That being said, I train with someone who works for Pride in the U.S. and this is what he has told me (he is an insider). Contrary to popular belief, Sakuraba is not the only one asking for the fight. Silva wants it too. They both want to fight each other again. In addition to this, Pride (being the ultimate protector's [sic] of Silva's somewhat padded record) did not want to put him up against someone like Henderson, Arona, Couture, etc. two months after he fought a very tough match in the form of Rampage "I've found God" Jackson. So DSE sees this as an easier fight for Silva.

What is to say of all of this information? Well, for starters, call Saku what you want, nuts, obsessed, batty, or whatever, but one thing is for sure, this guy has balls. He literally asked for this fight. I mean he wants to fight Silva.

I am also very sick of people completely trashing Sakuraba just because he is no longer the fighter than he was five years ago. Well, simply put, he is a fighter, and more than any other MMA fighter in the world, he challenged himself. He has told this to dozens of Japanese reporters. He wanted to challenge himself. People ask him why he has lost so much of late and he says that he wants to challenge himself. This whole notion of DSE trying to kill him is basically false. Yes, they are setting up the fights, but he is willing doing them. He is a Japanese fighter and as such, he doesn't have a "Tito Ortiz" mentality whereby a fighter picks, chooses, and ducks fights as he sees fit. Sakuraba more than any other fighter has gone up against the top dogs and never stopped doing that. Believe me, unlike some fighters we know, he's not going to take huge paychecks to fight old washed Japanese pro-wrestlers.

People say over and over, "If Saku would have stayed in his weight class, he never would have been beaten." Perhaps this would have been true, but he wanted to do something else,...Silva is trying to do the same thing now. If Silva goes after Nog, Fedor, or CroCop again and loses, will he be considered a lesser fighter?...I doubt it.

Finally, people are overexagerrating how "terrible" Sakuraba is. Some people are talking as if he is a completely inept MMA fighter. That's ridiculous. In the past year, he submitted Randleman, beat Schembri, and went toe-to-toe with Lil Nog, and lost by decision. Yes, he is not the same fighter, but yes, he is going to continue to keep fighting.

People keep saying "look at his other fights with Silva...he got killed!" Um, did you see Silva's two fights with Rampage? Rampage got more beat up in his two fights than Sakuraba did in his three. Sakuraba lost in big ways all three times, but his defeats did not look like Rampage's. Silva destroys people. That's what he does. But Sakuraba is not a B-class fighter. He has a shot, just like any other top fighter.

Perhaps this will be the defining fight for Sakuraba, but way too many people have forgotten that 1. Sakuraba made Pride what it is today; 2. He is a true pioneer of the sport in term of his ring presence and grappling innovations; 3. He was the first person to completely debunk the myth of the Gracies by tooling four of their best fighters in succession; 4. He is one of the most humble and classy fighters that the sport will ever see. The same cannot be said of the Titos, Baronis and Gilbert Yvels of the game; and 5. Finally, there will never be another Sakuraba. He is classic and that can never be taken away from him. He is a fighter that actually had a real fighting career and has done it with humor, pride, and excitement the whole way through. His role in the sport makes other so-called pioneers' contributions' [sic] (those of Rickson, Frank Shamrock, etc.) look pretty minor. He is the Japanese Royce Gracie, the one who influenced so many people to get involved in the game as a fan or as an athlete. When 39 retires (even if it is after his 4th fight with Silva), the MMA world will never be the same. Period.

[posted 12-01-2004 12:30 by amlee]