Kazushi Sakuraba

Kazushi Sakuraba
Sakuraba in 2015
Born (1969-07-14) July 14, 1969 (age 55)[1]
Shōwa, Akita, Japan[1]
(now Katagami, Akita, Japan)
Other namesThe Gracie Hunter
Height1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Weight75.75 kg (167.0 lb; 11 st 13.0 lb)
DivisionWelterweight
Middleweight
Light Heavyweight
Openweight
Reach186.7 cm (74 in)
StyleCatch Wrestling
Shoot Wrestling
StanceSouthpaw
TeamTakada Dojo
Laughter7
Teacher(s)Nobuhiko Takada
Yoji Anjo
Billy Robinson
Years active1996–2011, 2015 (MMA) 1993– present (Wrestling)
Mixed martial arts record
Total46
Wins26
By knockout4
By submission19
By decision3
Losses17
By knockout10
By submission3
By decision4
Draws1
No contests2
Other information
Mixed martial arts record from Sherdog
Last updated on: May 18, 2010

Kazushi Sakuraba (Japanese: 桜庭 和志, Sakuraba Kazushi, born July 14, 1969) is a Japanese professional wrestler, submission wrestler and former mixed martial artist, currently signed to Pro Wrestling Noah, where he was formerly one-half of the former GHC Tag Team Champions with Takashi Sugiura. He has also competed in traditional puroresu for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) and shoot-style competition for UWFi and Kingdom Pro Wrestling (KPW). He has fought in MMA competition in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Pride Fighting Championships, Hero's, Dream and most recently Rizin Fighting Federation.[2][3][4] He is known as the Gracie Hunter[5][6][7][8] or the Gracie Killer[9][10][11][12] due to his wins over four members of the famed Gracie family: Royler Gracie, Renzo Gracie, Ryan Gracie, and Royce Gracie. Sakuraba is famous for beating 15 champions of different top MMA organizations; opponents who were often many weight-classes above him.

Known for his excellent skills in catch wrestling and unorthodox fighting style, he is considered to be one of the greatest mixed martial art fighters of all time,[13] and also holds notable victories over 7 UFC champions, 3 Pancrase Champions, a DREAM champion, a King of the Cage champion and Battlecade Extreme Fighting champion; former Welterweight Champion Carlos Newton, two former Light heavyweight champions Vitor Belfort and Quinton Jackson, former Heavyweight Champion Kevin Randleman, 3-time UFC Tournament champion Royce Gracie, former Superfight champion and King of Pancrase Ken Shamrock, former King of Pancrase Masakatsu Funaki, DREAM Super Hulk Tournament Champion Ikuhisa Minowa, former King of the Cage Light Heavyweight champion Vernon White, and former Battlecade Extreme Fighting champion Marcus Silveira. He is also the first of only two Japanese champions in UFC history. Sakuraba's Pride fights routinely draw more than 20 million viewers in Japan.[14] Sakuraba is the founder of the submission wrestling promotion Quintet, where he has competed since 2018.

  1. ^ a b "桜庭 和志". New Japan Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved 2015-09-29.
  2. ^ "Fedor, Sakuraba-Aoki Confirmed for 3-Day NYE Event; Fuji TV Discussions Ongoing". Sherdog. Retrieved 2015-11-25.
  3. ^ "Scheduled Fighters". RIZIN FIGHTING FEDERATION. Archived from the original on 2015-11-22. Retrieved 2015-11-25.
  4. ^ "Rizin FF – Rizin Fighting Federation 1". Sherdog. Retrieved 2015-11-25.
  5. ^ T.P. Grant (13 September 2013). "Gods of War: Kazushi Sakuraba". Bloody Elbow.
  6. ^ "Kazushi Sakuraba". Tapology.
  7. ^ "'The Gracie Hunter' Returns: Sakuraba vs. Ralek Gracie Booked for DREAM.14 – Cagepotato". cagepotato.com. September 2017.
  8. ^ "Kazushi "The Gracie Hunter" Sakuraba Fight Results, Record, History, Videos, Highlights, Pictures, Bio – ESPN". ESPN.com.
  9. ^ Jeffrey McKinney. "20 MMA Legends That Will Never Be Replaced". Bleacher Report.
  10. ^ [1] Archived April 20, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
  11. ^ "Sakuraba fan, 'TUF: Brazil' finalist Rony 'Jason' promises Japanese flair at UFC 147 – MMAjunkie". MMAjunkie. Archived from the original on 2013-11-09.
  12. ^ "Ten tough MMA debuts". ESPN.com. 16 December 2008.
  13. ^ Cite error: The named reference Shooters was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  14. ^ Iole, Kevin (April 13, 2020). "Top 10 biggest draws in MMA: UFC's Conor McGregor owns No. 1 spot". Yahoo Sports. Yahoo. Retrieved 27 December 2020.