How did Sakuraba beat Rampage, Vitor if it took him 1 hour to beat Royce?

[mjfan23]

Styles make fights to an extent, but we're talking UFC 1 guys compared to modern talent.

Modern talent? Dude glover Tex is about to get a title shot

 

[JacJeanFinger]

Lol @ the title of this thread........

It took Sakuraba 15 minutes to beat Royce by 3-0 decision. The rest was fought to honor the gracie legacy. Please let me know if someone has found something called the rampage legacy anywhere on the planet.

 

[Bearknuckle]

Those fights in japan were all fixed - Kenny Florian

 

[NoSmilez]

Short notice rampage and early in his career.

 

[Oooxente]

I wouldn't say he gave up. He just reached his physical limit. At the end of the round, he doesn't seem like he can get up. Honestly, without Royce's special rules, I think he would have submitted Igor based on how he did in his drained state.

I didn’t used that term with bad intention.
Dude was exhausted.
Funny was he commenting,to his team,how much Igors punches were painful ,when he was coming back to the locker rooms backstage.

 

[Kforcer]

I didn’t used that term with bad intention.
Dude was exhausted.
Funny was he commenting,to his team,how much Igors punches were painful ,when he was coming back to the locker rooms backstage.

Oh, I know you weren't using it with bad intentions. Sorry if it came off like that.

I'm just saying that based on having just viewed the fight and the way it seemed like he basically couldn't get up at the end of the round. I don't know if his corner threw in the towel, but it just reminded me of a Sugar Ray Robinson-Joey Maxim type of situation. It just seemed, at the end, like Sakuraba was just totally spent physically.

 

[Kforcer]

Funny was he commenting,to his team,how much Igors punches were painful ,when he was coming back to the locker rooms backstage.

LMAO, that's actually hilarious...especially given everything he went through that day. After all that, he cracks up about getting hit hard by a huge Russian.

 

[Kforcer]

Those fights in japan were all fixed - Kenny Florian

You're taking Lee Wylie out of context.

 

[the ambush]

The thing is, Yakuza have or at least, had a hand in every major Japanese entertainment outfit. Its just that Pride's connection was made public. As far as Pride though, Japanese MMA was still huge when Pride was around. Hero's did better numbers, but it was still huge.

I do not believe Japan's MMA scope was still huge when PRIDE FC was in its final years. I am speaking of fan interest.

The event in Nevada signaled that it was only a matter of time before the tent folded.

 

[Kforcer]

Yeah, when fixing a fight clearly you try to take your opponents head off (Vitor's blitz vs Saku) or slam them through ring (Rampage).

Lmao

Maybe they mean "fix" in the old-fashioned sense, i.e., "I'm gonna fix you!"

 

[Shotcy]

Your sentence doesnt make sense to me. Anyone else?

 

[abject]

I remember those days. Rampage was green. He lost but gave a lot of trouble to Sakuraba. Vitor dominating at the beggining but his cardio failled him (out of supplement?). Also I think he was in a "dark" moment of his life. Isn't this around the time his sister got abducted? Could be wrong there...

The Rampage that joined the UFC and TRT Vitor would have destroyed Sakuraba tbh.

And as for Royce, he probably simply had a good night. Sakuraba >> Royce.

Btw, while Sakuraba is from the first gen of MMA fighther, he was an evolution vs other fighters. He was the first to do it all. We had to wait on GSP for the next evolution.
Much respect for Sakuraba.

Belfort broke his hand. Thats why he was dominating early then got dominated.

 

[Bluesbreaker]

Saku carried Royce. Also, Royce fought like a spazzy child.

 

[arcadeperfect]

Cuz those weren't the best versions of Vitor or Rampage. There are plenty of current champions or top fighters that lost to mediocre or downright shitty fighters early on in their career. It's not that unheard of. Usman lost in his 2nd pro fight by getting choked unconscious yet that's his only loss. He's fought Burns and Maia who are world champions in BJJ and beat them both.

 

[pankrat]

Kidnappin´was later.

Huas was realistically the 1st,tho... SAKU G. belongs to the modern era, not really a pioneer.

Why Ruas?
I mean, what separate Ruas from, for example, Euclides Pereira?

 

[pankrat]

vitor had 2 broken hands
rampage was forced to cut the most weight ever
saku also took the terrible gils arsene to decision
why?
maybe yakuza asked him to?

Saku finished Arsene

 

[Koro_11]

Different cultures, hard to judge.

 

[AgentSmecker]

There were a shit load of suspect looking fights in Pride. I'm not saying they were works but they sure looked like works.

 

[Achilles00]

Sakuraba's approach to the Royce fight was very different. Similarly, look at his fight against Carlos Newton.

 

[xMTDx]

Vitor broke his hand early in the fight