Sakuraba >>> St. Pierre and Hughes, is that correct?

[JosephDredd]

I've literally never considered Saku vs GSP before and never heard anyone else speculate about it either. Every now and then there's a thread that comes along to offer something new.

I love Sak. I love GSP. I can't even speculate as to who would win.

But GSP could not have beat the top guys that Sak beat, imo. Sak was amazing.

 

[TheGZA]

The bottom line is that Saku never actually dominated at WW, so the answer is "no". It's easier to fight at a higher weight class, get a few wins that look great and have a ready made excuse when you lose than it is to dominate a division (see Conor). Saying that such a person could have dominated at lower weight if they wanted to is speculation and doesn't prove anything.

Are you really comparing SAKU to the Irish jabroni?

 

[JohnMandick]

I love Saku (fav of all time) but I don't he'd beat GSP.

 

[bubby]

Hendricks was 200+lbs on fight night AFTER cutting weight.

And gsp couldn't legitimately beat him and got pummeled out of the sport, good point. Mark in sakuraba's favor.

 

[SuperNerd]

Gsp would make saku look old slow and stupid. Get real mma hipsters

 

[DaPunkMinowaMan]

Read what I'm saying more carefully please.

Stop trying to intimidate over the internet and have an adult discussion.

ok, I apologize

 

[DaPunkMinowaMan]

Newton
Belfort
Royce
Renzo
Rampage
Shamrock
Randleman

people forget about Ebenezer Braga too, and the draw with Allan Goes... Those guys were legit.

 

[locust rising]

Saku, to me, is like hendo.

They aren't the goats of their weight classes, but still have INSANE records, and are among MMA goats, but still not goats of there weight classes.

 

[DaPunkMinowaMan]

He has 26 wins. How many of those fighters were elite?

Give a specific number and specific list please.

Wont even talk about the potential HOFers..

do u know ol´school fighters like Allan Goes or Ebenezer Braga?

 

[DaPunkMinowaMan]

Saku, to me, is like hendo.

They aren't the goats of their weight classes, but still have INSANE records, and are among MMA goats, but still not goats of there weight classes.

Dude.. Saku was a fake MW.

 

[Taric]

GSP for sure would've beaten Saku, and maybe Hughes would've as well. However I don't think GSP or Hughes would have lasted 30 seconds against Rampage, let alone beat him. Rampage would have done terrible terrible things to GSP, and it would've been ugly.

 

[DaPunkMinowaMan]

Yes which is MW technically

GSP doesn't fight MW's

The Randleman fight has always been suspect to me. Either way Saku is still a legend in my book and I like him more than GSP & Hughes combined

no, he didnt cut weight in the 'modern' sense.

The Randleman fight was vintage Randleman: elite TD, elite shoot, but... then? No submission game.Clueless.

 

[markg171]

Proof to back that up or are you just talking out your ass?

If so fuck off.

Prior to making his PRIDE debut against Kazushi Sakuraba (Pictures) in July 2001, Quinton Jackson (Pictures) said PRIDE executives offered to pay him a $2000 bonus if he lost by knockout or submission and did not tap.

Speaking with MMA Today before his UFC light heavyweight championship winning performance, Jackson said he signed to fight for $10,000, but alleged that PRIDE executives, whom he said "screwed" him over, offered $12,000 if he was finished in the ring by the Japanese star.

"I'm never the type of fighter that would lose for money," Jackson said. "I don't do that. But they told me, 'If you win this fight, you get $10,000.' But they told me -- these are like the two people from PRIDE who got fired recently, I don't know if the president of PRIDE knew about it -- but they told me themselves: 'If you lose by knockout or submission and you don't tap, you get $12,000.'

"I said, 'But what if I knock him out?' and they said 'You get $10,000.' Then I understood what was going on. This was my first time fighting in the big show in Japan and I learned sometimes they wanted the other guy to win."

http://www.mmaplayground.com/discussion/topic/rampage-claims-pride-tried-fix-fights-6024p1.html

 

[DaPunkMinowaMan]

He had a handful of fights at lower weights toward the end, but he spent the vast majority of his career at >=205.

what... are...u ....talkin...about...

 

[DaPunkMinowaMan]

Yeah, beating a guy in his first fight when he sucks is so much more meaningful than beating guys at their peak.

who?when?

 

[DaPunkMinowaMan]

http://www.mmaplayground.com/discussion/topic/rampage-claims-pride-tried-fix-fights-6024p1.html

u´re always gonna have independent groups trying to fix fights..

Good Ol´Daddy Goodridge said 90% of the early Prides [1-10] were fixed.

U agree with him?

 

[Taric]

http://www.mmaplayground.com/discussion/topic/rampage-claims-pride-tried-fix-fights-6024p1.html

FYI, your quote is proof that the Rampage fight wasn't a work lol
He specifically stated he doesn't lose fights for money

 

[horc00]

One thing for sure is that Saku had the P4P biggest heart and balls in MMA history.

 

[Taric]

u´re always gonna have independent groups trying to fix fights..

Good Ol´Daddy Goodridge said 90% of the early Prides [1-10] were fixed.

U agree with him?

90% of early PRIDE was fixed. Absolutely.
Just like 90% of early Pancrase was fixed, and a whole wack of early UFC as well.

90s MMA was fixed. That's just how the game was.
MMA wasn't real until the 2000s.

All those early 90s fixed fights doesn't make all MMA fixed forever.
I'll never understand how PRIDE gets this fixed fights stigma when every organization was caught with fixed fights early on. And that includes the UFC.

 

[DaPunkMinowaMan]

That is laughable. Sakuraba was great for his time and he might also be a bigger WW legend than GSP, but if you seriously believe he would beat GSP you must be high. How many times have we seen ranked Japanese fighters look like shit as soon as they start fighting legit competition? I love Sakuraba and he is by far the toughest WW we have ever seen, but you are completely delusional if you think his skills are better than GSP's.

ure the clueless dude here. One more...

Hughes was no match for Saku.

Saku vs GSP b4 mid 2006, is a relatively easy win for Saku.

After, it depends on the rules.