Openweight , also known as Absolute , is an unofficial weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling . It refers to bouts where there is no weight limit and fighters with a dramatic difference in size can compete against each other. It is different from catch weight , where competitors agree to weigh in at a certain amount without an official weight class. While weight classes are usually mandatory now, openweight competition was the norm for combat sports since antiquity and continues into the modern day.
122-435: Ancient Greek boxing was an openweight competition. Boxing did not use weight classes until being standardized for modern competition, though there continue to be unlimited divisions. Daniel Mendoza was a boxer famous in the 1780s and 90s for regularly fighting and beating taller and heavier challengers before being decisively beaten by John Jackson , who was 4 inches taller and 42 lbs heavier than Mendoza. Bob Fitzsimmons
244-419: A kneebar from there, but his grip on the judoka inexplicably failed again. Having Sakuraba trapped against the ropes and struggling for his submission, Akiyama was free to attack with ground and pound for the referee stoppage. Words were exchanged between Sakuraba and referee Yoshinori Umeki prior to the stop, which was brought on by the sounding of a bell at the behest of Akira Maeda , the event coordinator,
366-474: A triangle choke , Sakuraba found himself hefted into the air and repeatedly slammed to the canvas in the way of a powerbomb . Later, he attempted an armbar against Jackson, only for the Tennessee native to again lift him up and this time attempt to drop him from the ring. His expression unchanging through the course of Jackson's assault, Sakuraba continued to flow from one lock to another. Eventually, he took
488-487: A "real pro wrestler." Sakuraba did not request the match due to any grudge against Minowa, but rather because he believed that he and Minowa would put on a fight worthy of the Shockwave event. The bout was a competitive one, with Sakuraba choosing to fight from the bottom and using both men's submission attempts to force scrambles. After long minutes pinned under Sakuraba, Minowa escaped and took his back, but Kazushi applied
610-492: A Hero's event wearing his street clothes (yellow shirt and blue jeans) and a pro wrestling mask in the style of one of his childhood heroes, Tiger Mask . He did not reveal himself, but it was apparent that it was a masked Sakuraba and that he signed with K-1 and FEG. A day later, Sakuraba appeared at a FEG press conference to announce he would fight in Hero's. His defection to Hero's was a culmination of several signs that suggested he
732-466: A Kimura lock which, although Minowa would not tap to it, nonetheless prompted the referee to halt the contest. The victory marked his final bout under the Pride banner; it also marked one of the few times he was matched against an opponent of his own size from the 183-pound division and his first bout against a Japanese fighter. On 3 May 2006, Sakuraba surprisingly appeared with Hero's head Akira Maeda at
854-482: A barrage of light blows by Silveira, Sakuraba dropped for a low single leg takedown, but referee John McCarthy stopped the fight before Sakuraba could complete it, believing he had been knocked out by the punches. A loud protest followed from the crowd and an angry Sakuraba attempted unsuccessfully to take the microphone and address the Japanese audience. However, after reviewing tape, McCarthy changed his decision to
976-498: A bastion of openweight fights, nicknamed " freak show fights ," with fighters such as Ikuhisa Minowa and Genki Sudo commonly facing much larger opponents. Not all open-weight fights were "freak shows" however, PRIDE Fighting Championships organized in 2000 a two-night 16-fighter "Grand Prix" (tournament) called the Pride FC: Grand Prix 2000 with the objective of finding "the world's best fighter" and consisted with
1098-424: A bout Sakuraba dominated and then against Rickson Gracie protege Antônio Schembri . With a win over Schembri, it was speculated that Sakuraba might be then groomed for a championship fight in a new weight division for fighters of his size. Sakuraba controlled the fight initially, landing plenty of hits and breaking Antônio's nose, but when he was going for one of his trademark Mongolian chops, Schembri stunned him with
1220-414: A break to recover and possibly undergo surgery Sakuraba scheduled to return to action on December 31, 2006, against Yoshihiro Akiyama at K-1 Dynamite!! . During the bout, Sakuraba was hit with several punches and he rushed to get the takedown, but in doing so he slipped from Akiyama's body. As the sequence repeated itself over and over while Sakuraba took punishment, he opted to drop to his back and attempt
1342-479: A coach. However, at the last minute, he decided to continue his road to professional wrestling. Having weighed 68 kg (150 lb) for most of his amateur wrestling career, Sakuraba was encouraged by his peers to gain weight, as it would be difficult to compete as a smaller fighter in pro wrestling. After working to gain the weight needed to compete, he never wanted to lose it anymore, something that would be reflected in his MMA career. Finding himself attracted by
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#17327828422241464-417: A comical entrance and traded strikes with Silva in his own field of specialty. The Japanese utilized a strategy of faking takedowns and attacking with uppercuts , followed by a real takedown attempt which Silva blocked with knees to the head. Sakuraba escaped and kept trading hits, but despite his best efforts to match his opponent's striking acumen, Wanderlei knocked him out with a jab-cross combination. After
1586-576: A full-time member. The rivalry between Sakuraba and Suzuki culminated in a match on January 4, 2015, at Wrestle Kingdom 9 in Tokyo Dome, where Sakuraba was defeated. On April 5 at Invasion Attack 2015 , Sakuraba submitted Katsuyori Shibata in a tag team match, where he and Yano defeated Shibata and Hiroshi Tanahashi , igniting a rivalry between the former Laughter7 partners. The two faced off on July 5 at Dominion 7.5 in Osaka-jo Hall in
1708-411: A grappling-oriented contest, while Sakuraba, standing, landed punishing kicks to Royler's legs, thighs and head. Eventually, with less than two minutes remaining, Sakuraba finally engaged Royler on the ground and instantly caught him in a Kimura lock . As Sakuraba wrenched on the submission, the referee intervened with 1 minute and 44 seconds remaining on the clock, ending the contest and awarding Sakuraba
1830-408: A kick, but as he was coming in to follow up he was caught and knocked down to his knees and hands. Kazushi then turned over, sliding beneath the bottom rope, and Smirnovas unleashed repeated blows to his head. As Sakuraba seemed at this point unable to defend himself, when the referee stepped between the two fighters it seemed likely he was moving to put an end to the contest. However, instead of halting
1952-527: A match, where Shibata was victorious. After wrestling sporadically for independent promotions for a few years, Sakuraba returned to wrestling full-time for Pro Wrestling Noah , aligning himself with the Sugiura-gun faction headed by Takashi Sugiura . On 30 August 2020 Sakuraba and Sugiura defeated AXIZ ( Go Shiozaki and Katsuhiko Nakajima ) for the vacant GHC Tag Team Championship , Sakuraba's first ever pro-wrestling title. In September Sakuraba entered
2074-529: A no-contest. As Tank Abbott , who had earlier defeated Anjoh, had dropped from the tournament due to an injured hand, it was ruled that Sakuraba and Silveira faced off once more that night in what would be the championship bout of the tournament. Silveira opened their second match taking Sakuraba's back, which the Japanese wrestler answered by attempting to apply a Kimura lock . After freeing his arm, Silveira capitalized on another Kimura attempt by Saku to try to twist it into an armbar from his guard , only for
2196-490: A series of knee strikes (controversially preceded by an illegal headbutt), winning by TKO. After the defeat to Schembri, Sakuraba expressed desire to gain weight and move up to the heavyweight division, hoping to fight either Bob Sapp or PRIDE Heavyweight Champion Fedor Emelianenko . However, nothing of this was realized, and instead Sakuraba faced Wanderlei Silva for the third time at Pride Total Elimination. The bout reminisced their first encounter, as Sakuraba flashed again
2318-466: A sharp combination, staggering Smirnovas and bloodying his face. Having turned the tide of the match, Sakuraba began dominating the Lithuanian on the striking segments until Smirnovas dropped to the ground to escape the assault. Sakuraba then accomplished an armbar, forcing his opponent to give up. Initially there were some doubts as to whether Sakuraba would be able to make it into the next round of
2440-469: A stop to the fight at the conclusion of the second round, due to the amount of damage he had sustained. Following the loss, Pride president Sakakibara suggested Sakuraba might move down in weight to compete in their newly formed 183-pound division. However, instead of moving down in weight, Sakuraba began training at Chute Boxe Academy in Brazil alongside his one-time rival Wanderlei Silva. The move had also
2562-418: A stronger emphasis on combat-ready skills and training without a gi . At the time of his bout with Sakuraba, Renzo's only loss in 10 bouts was a closely contested decision to Sakuraba's former UWFi stablemate and rival, Kiyoshi Tamura while Maurice Smith , Oleg Taktarov and Abu Dhabi champion Sanae Kikuta numbered amongst his victims. Renzo's stylistic differences from his cousins were in evidence from
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#17327828422242684-489: A super heavyweight division; it was abolished and incorporated into the unlimited division. Deep currently has an openweight division called "Megaton" although the first champion was Yusuke Kawaguchi, who weighed less than 100 kg. The Japan-based mixed martial arts promotion and sanctioning organization ZST has an openweight division. Dream , now defunct, had an openweight division with tournaments called "Super Hulk Tournament - World Superhuman Championship". This table
2806-413: A symbolic value, as Chute Boxe was at the time in a rivalry with Arona's Brazilian Top Team . Upon completion of his training, he made his return to the ring to engage in yet another contest at the 205-pound limit, this time against fellow shoot wrestler Ken Shamrock . Three minutes into the bout, Sakuraba struck through Shamrock's guard with a left hand. Shamrock staggered back and ultimately fell into
2928-557: A tag team match to remain undefeated since their return. On January 4, 2013, at Wrestle Kingdom 7 in Tokyo Dome , Sakuraba suffered his first defeat since his return to professional wrestling, when he unsuccessfully challenged Shinsuke Nakamura for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship. Sakuraba and Shibata returned to their winning ways at the following pay-per-view, The New Beginning on February 10, where they defeated Hirooki Goto and Wataru Inoue in
3050-534: A tag team match. On April 7 at Invasion Attack , Sakuraba and Shibata suffered their first tag team loss, when they were defeated by Hirooki Goto and Yuji Nagata via referee stoppage, when Sakuraba injured his right elbow, after taking a belly-to-back suplex from Nagata, and unable to continue the match. New Japan later announced that Sakuraba would be sidelined for two to three months. Sakuraba wrestled his return match on July 20, defeating Yuji Nagata via submission. On September 8, Sakuraba and Shibata took part in
3172-532: A tag team match. Sakuraba and Shibata, collectively dubbed Laughter7, continued their winning ways at the following two pay-per-views , King of Pro-Wrestling on October 8 and Power Struggle on November 11, both times defeating the team of Togi Makabe and Wataru Inoue. Also at Power Struggle, Shinsuke Nakamura nominated Sakuraba as the next challenger for his IWGP Intercontinental Championship . On December 2, Sakuraba won his first exchange with Nakamura, when Laughter7 defeated Nakamura and Tomohiro Ishii in
3294-662: A talented grappler. Accordingly, the match was a back and forth grappling affair between the two fighters. At the second round, after several exchanges on the mat, Newton looked to capture Sakuraba's back, but the Japanese trapped him in a rolling kneebar and finished him. Eager to capitalize on Sakuraba's shoot wrestling prowess to reverse the perception that Japanese professional wrestlers were inferior to Brazilian combatants (in part perpetuated by his teammates' own defeats), Sakuraba's next three bouts were scheduled against Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belts Vitor Belfort , Allan Goes and luta livre black belt Ebenezer Fontes Braga . In
3416-436: A tournament champion. However, during a hard sparring session for the upcoming bout Sakuraba began vomiting and fainted. After being rushed to the hospital he was diagnosed with vertebrobasilar damage that restricted blood circulation to the head and neck area. The doctors determined the damage was caused from years of untreated head injuries dating back to his college years. In spite of this revelation, rather than being granted
3538-430: A trend that would continue through Sakuraba's Pride career, each opponent occupied a spot near the top of the 205-pound class at the time of their meeting with him and held a weight advantage of around 20 pounds. Sakuraba's match against Goes would be an instrumental point in his fighting's style evolution, pitted against an opponent with a strong defensive guard. Through the bout, Sakuraba attempted several moves to bypass
3660-520: A win over Mark Silver in October 1994. Though his record remained below .500, Sakuraba continued to edge his way closer to mid-card status through the rest of the year. Then, in 1995, the UWFi began an interpromotional feud with New Japan Pro-Wrestling . The vast majority of UWF-i workers came out on the losing end of the booking to the larger and more mainstream promotion and Sakuraba was no exception. He
3782-401: Is de facto openweight only. Ancient Greek boxing Ancient Greek boxing ( Greek : πυγμαχία pygmachia , "fist fighting") dates back to at least the 8th century BC ( Homer's Iliad ), and was practiced in a variety of social contexts in different Greek city-states. Most extant sources about ancient Greek boxing are fragmentary or legendary, making it difficult to reconstruct
Openweight - Misplaced Pages Continue
3904-476: 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
4026-415: Is believed that any type of blow with the hand was permitted, though using the hands to gouge at the eyeballs was not. Holding or wrestling one's opponent was also prohibited. If the fight lasted too long due to the tenacity of the competitors, the athletes could choose to hit each other in turn without either man defending themselves, to speed up the process of a knockout or surrender. Judges probably enforced
4148-767: Is considered to be one of the greatest mixed martial art fighters of all time, 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
4270-481: Is not always up to date. Last updated on January 17, 2018. Some professional wrestling promotions have officially designated Openweight Championships ( IWGP U-30 Openweight Championship , GHC Openweight Hardcore Championship , NEVER Openweight Championship , KO-D Openweight Championship , MLW National Openweight Championship ) while other promotions ignore weight classes to the point that most, if not all of their championships are effectively openweight. For example,
4392-434: Is notable for being the lightest World Heavyweight Champion , weighing just 165 pounds when he won the title. Although wrestling was contested at the first modern Olympic Games , there were no weight classes until wrestling returned in 1904 . The wrestling at the ancient Olympic Games never used weight classes and competitors were simply divided into two categories: men and boys. Early professional wrestling , which
4514-532: Is part of the Japanese judo triple crown (ja:三冠) alongside the Olympics and World Championships . The Nanatei Jūdō ( ja:七帝柔道 , Seven Emperors Judo ) tournament has been held annually since 1952. It has no weight classes and a unique ruleset that has drawn comparisons to Brazilian jiu-jitsu . The IJF held the first World Judo Open Championships for openweight competition in 2008. The World Judo Championships were originally an openweight competition from
4636-509: Is some evidence of kicks in ancient Greek boxing, this is the subject of debate among scholars. Because of the few intact sources and references to the sport, the rules can only be inferred. Unlike modern boxing, the Greeks did not enclose the competitors in a ring to encourage fighting in close quarters. Therefore, most boxers fought defensively as opposed to offensively to encourage patience and caution. In addition, boxing in ancient Greece
4758-481: The Tiger Mask manga , with the eponymous New Japan Pro-Wrestling wrestler Tiger Mask being his favorite. After being convinced against dropping out of high school to pursue professional wrestling, Sakuraba began a career in amateur wrestling at the age of 15, hoping to gain a useful background to achieve his childhood dream. A high school stand-out, he finished as high as second in the nation before joining
4880-457: The Gracie family took great umbrage over the incident, feeling that they had been cheated by Pride. Despite Sakuraba challenging Royler's older brother Rickson Gracie after the match, it was his younger brother and former UFC Champion Royce Gracie who, compelled to set the record straight and re-assert the dominance of his family, returned to the sport of mixed martial arts in 2000 and entered
5002-838: The Ultimate Fighting Championship , Pride Fighting Championships , Hero's , Dream and most recently Rizin Fighting Federation . He is known as the Gracie Hunter or the Gracie Killer 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
Openweight - Misplaced Pages Continue
5124-533: The WWE Championship , traditionally promoted as a heavyweight title, has been held by wrestlers billed as weighing as light as 175 lbs., well below the traditional minimum weight for a wrestler to be classed as a heavyweight. The All-Japan Judo Championships have been held annually since 1930. Organized by the Kodokan and All Japan Judo Federation , this tournament has only one openweight division. It
5246-529: The Wrestle-1 promotion's inaugural event , defeating Masakatsu Funaki and Masayuki Kono in a tag team match. Sakuraba continued his rivalry with Yuji Nagata at the September 29 Destruction pay-per-view, where he and Shibata defeated Nagata and Manabu Nakanishi with Sakuraba pinning his rival for the win. On October 14, Sakuraba was defeated by Nagata in a singles rematch between the two. Following
5368-654: The freestyle wrestling squad of Chuo University , a team which had counted Olympic gold medalists Shozo Sasahara and Osamu Watanabe amongst its ranks. He won the East Japan Freshman championship in his first year and served as their team captain thereafter. In his senior year, he finished fourth place in the All-Japan tournament. Amongst his notable wins was one over future Olympic bronze medalist Takuya Ota . Upon graduating from college, Sakuraba initially thought about remaining with Chuo University as
5490-628: The shoot wrestling movement, which had been by his childhood idol Sayama, Sakuraba considered joining the mixed martial arts organization Pancrase , but he ultimately chose the promotion Union of Wrestling Forces International , a professional wrestling league that was nonetheless known for its highly technical and realistic-looking bouts. His time in the UWF-i would prove to be a formative experience for Sakuraba. He received his initial instruction in both grappling and striking under main trainer Yoji Anjo , later honing his catch wrestling skills under
5612-582: The 16-Man Pride Grand Prix alongside Sakuraba and several other top fighters of the era. Placed on the same side of the bracket, a special set of rules were requested by the Gracies in the event of a Sakuraba-Royce match, including no referee stoppages and no time-limits, the fight ending only in the event of a submission or knock-out (something prohibited in modern MMA because of the widely adopted Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts limiting matches to 25 minutes overall, 5 x 5 minute rounds). In his first fight of
5734-425: The 2000 Pride tournament Sakuraba once again found himself matched up against a heavier opponent, this time the well-regarded 205 pound fighter, former King of Pancrase Guy Mezger . After a closely fought 15 minutes the judges requested an overtime round, and the fight ended in controversy when Mezger's coach Ken Shamrock forced his fighter back to the locker room claiming that no additional rounds were agreed upon in
5856-461: The Brazilian to open the match, Sakuraba went unscathed and took Belfort down, proceeding to land ground and pound . As Belfort would not leave the mat through the match, in part due to a broken hand in one of his own combos, Sakuraba deployed his improved strategy and punished Vitor with leg kicks and jumping stomps to the head, as well as landing unanswered striking combinations every time Belfort
5978-643: 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. Sakuraba is the founder of the submission wrestling promotion Quintet , where he has competed since 2018. Sakuraba became a fan of Japanese professional wrestling during his childhood thanks to
6100-477: The Gracie family". Renzo has since referred to the bout as his proudest moment in mixed martial arts. Similarly, years later Gracie called Sakuraba "his hero" and remembered their match as "one of the biggest lessons he learned in his life". Commentator Stephen Quadros stated too: "if any fans still doubted the abilities of Kazushi Sakuraba in MMA competition, they are now silent." Ryan Gracie , who had fought on
6222-577: The Gracies on May 3 at Wrestling Dontaku 2014 , where he teamed with Shinsuke Nakamura. On May 25 at Back to the Yokohama Arena , Sakuraba ended the Gracies' win streak by defeating Rolles in a singles match. Sakuraba then started a new rivalry with Minoru Suzuki , while also forming a partnership with Toru Yano , who was also involved in his own rivalry with Suzuki's Suzuki-gun stable. The partnership led to Sakuraba becoming an associate of Yano and Nakamura's Chaos stable, eventually becoming
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#17327828422246344-505: The Hero's tournament based on the severity of the damage he endured against Smirnovas. However, Sakuraba reported that a follow-up CAT scan had found no irregularities and was then slated to face one-time Olympic judoka , Yoshihiro Akiyama in the tournament's semi-finals on October 9 in what K-1 hoped would be a high revenue match-up. The winner of that bout was to face the victor between Melvin Manhoef and Shungo Oyama to determine
6466-464: The Japanese media referring to Randleman as Donkey Kong . In the match itself, Randleman was fast in showing his wrestling accolades at taking down Sakuraba, but the Japanese countered by setting submissions from every available position, until the American made a mistake and was caught in an armbar in the third round. At Pride Shockwave 2003, Sakuraba would face Antônio Rogério Nogueira , brother to
6588-399: The Japanese to escape to his knees. Silveira then tried his own Kimura, but at that moment Sakuraba reversed it in the same way and locked the armbar, making the Brazilian submit. Afterwards, in the post-fight interview, Sakuraba famously stated, "In fact, professional wrestling is strong" ( プロレスラーは本当は強いんです , Puroresurā wa hontōwa tsuyoi n desu ) . With the victory Sakuraba remains one of
6710-603: The Pride Fighting Championships on the heels of a defeat of stablemate Nobuhiko Takada at the hands of Rickson Gracie in the organization's initial event, Sakuraba was paired off against Vernon White , then a veteran of 32 bouts in Pancrase who also boasted a 20-pound weight advantage. Showcasing a balance of wrestling and submission prowess, Sakuraba came after White with constant takedowns and unceasing submission attempts. White held Sakuraba off for
6832-655: The annual N1-Victory tournament as a singles competitor, finishing on 4 points with 2 wins and 3 losses. As of 22 November Sakuraba and Sugiura have successfully defended the GHC tag titles on two occasions. Though sources often cite Sakuraba's match with Kimo Leopoldo on July 14, 1996, as his first experience with mixed martial arts, there is debate about whether it was a shoot or a worked match. Sakuraba himself has stated that he doesn't remember it. However, his first contact with MMA can be traced to his different style fight at 26 June 1996 against Dutch kickboxer Rene Rooze , which
6954-566: The back of an exhausted Jackson and submitted him with his first rear naked choke victory. The contest was a launchpad for Jackson's career, leading to a long-term contract with Pride where he eventually became regarded as a top middleweight competitor, and later, a UFC champion. The Jackson bout also re-established Sakuraba's proficiency in dealing with larger opponents and placed him back in line for another shot at Wanderlei Silva in Pride's next event, this time to decide Pride's inaugural 205-pound champion. Usually prone to humorous entrances, it
7076-419: The battle, the referee re-positioned the fighters from underneath the bottom rope into the ring and resumed the bout. Though the restarting of fighters who have found themselves near or outside the ropes is common practice, it was nonetheless controversial. Following the restart, Smirnovas picked up where he'd left off and proceed to pound a turtled Sakuraba, but the Japanese managed to escape to his feet and land
7198-513: The beginning, but submissions were later added for safety measures. One of the reasons pugilatus was later banned was its brutality, as matches often ended with the death of one competitor. Boxers also suffered serious injuries, including bruises, concussions, brain damage, internal hemorrhages and broken bones. [REDACTED] Media related to Ancient Greek boxing at Wikimedia Commons Kazushi Sakuraba Kazushi Sakuraba ( Japanese : 桜庭 和志 , Sakuraba Kazushi , born July 14, 1969)
7320-479: The canvas even as he wrenched his arm behind his back. Like Royler and Helio before him, Renzo refused to submit to the hold despite his elbow being snapped prior to hitting the ground and, even as the referee stopped the contest due to the injury, which awarded victory to Sakuraba. Renzo took the microphone and, before the 35,000 fans assembled at the Seibu Dome , stated that Sakuraba was "the Japanese version of
7442-410: The competitive sport, the legitimate aspects continued into the 1970s as wrestler vs. fan challenges. Originating in 19th century carnivals, wrestlers would challenge locals from the crowd, with the promoter offering cash or a prize if the fan could win or last a certain amount of time. While plants were sometimes used, usually as a set-up to convince a local to compete, matches were mostly shoots that
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#17327828422247564-545: The contract. Sakuraba ended up winning the match by forfeit. Meanwhile, Royce defeated Nobuhiko Takada by unanimous decision and thus set the stage for their much anticipated showdown. In the tournament quarterfinals Royce and Sakuraba battled for an hour and a half (six 15 minute rounds). Gracie opened the fight aggressively, raining punches from Kazushi's back while the Japanese fighter worked an armlock from standing, but Sakuraba kept calm, knowing Royce had no knockout power and expecting him to waste his energy; he even came to
7686-700: The end Igor was able to reverse a takedown and draw the first round even with ground strikes. After the first round was declared a draw Sakuraba's corner threw in the towel before the beginning of overtime, primarily due to fatigue. Following the Grand Prix, Sakuraba was christened the "Gracie Hunter" by the Japanese sports media. Keeping in tow with his new nickname, Sakuraba sandwiched a swift victory via achilles lock against Shannon Ritch between fights against brothers Renzo Gracie and Ryan Gracie . In contrast to Royler and Royce, Renzo and Ryan were products of Carlson Gracie 's approach to jiu-jitsu , which placed
7808-408: The exterior of the thong was notably more rigid and hard. In addition, "sharp thongs" were introduced during this time period to facilitate greater damage and remained popular up until around 200 AD. Soon before the implementation of the sphairai, the oxys were introduced to boxing. They consisted of several thick leather bands encircling the hand, wrist, and forearm. A band of fleece was placed on
7930-414: The face. It marked Sakuraba's second defeat in mixed martial arts and his first loss in the 205-pound division. Sakuraba then shocked the audience further by giving Silva his belt with Saku engraved on it. Wanderlei then stated that he would willingly give Sakuraba a rematch if Sakuraba wanted one, which the Japanese accepted. After sitting out the next Pride to recuperate, Sakuraba found himself across
8052-650: The fallen, though it is possible that the Homeric epics reflect later Greek culture. Boxing was among the contests held in memorial of Achilles ' slain friend Patroclus , toward the end of the Trojan War . It was in commemoration of Patroclus that the Greeks later introduced boxing ( pygme / pygmachia ) to the Olympic Games in 688 BC. Participants trained on punching bags (called a korykos ). Fighters wore leather straps (called himantes) over their hands (leaving
8174-511: The famous Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira . The Brazilian, having promised to knock out the Japanese, opened the match lunging at him with punches, but Kazushi answered in kind and opened a cut on Nogueira's eye which almost stopped the bout. The action resumed, both men battled for several minutes, with Rogério gaining the upper hand in striking and Sakuraba in wrestling, allowing him to get in Nogueira's guard and inflict significant damage again. During
8296-582: The federation closing its doors once and for all in December 1996. In their final show it was Sakuraba who at long last headlined, defeating Anjoh by submission. Following the close of the UWFi, Nobuhiko Takada , the most popular of the UWFi workers amongst the mainstream public founded Kingdom Pro Wrestling , taking in Sakuraba and the majority of his fellow UWFi alumni. In the vein of its predecessor, Kingdom
8418-616: The field and more specifically over professional wrestlers , left the Japanese public ever more unconvinced as to the fighting ability of Kingdom's stable of athletes. On August 12, 2012, Sakuraba, alongside Katsuyori Shibata , started appearing in New Japan Pro-Wrestling . It was Sakuraba's first work for the company since 1995, and the first ever as a free agent instead of a representative from another promotion. Sakuraba and Shibata wrestled their first match on September 23, defeating Hiromu Takahashi and Wataru Inoue in
8540-411: The fight was limited to a single 10-minute round, where Ryan's spirited efforts were generally stymied and controlled by Sakuraba, who noticeably avoided attacks on his younger opponent's injured arm. Despite it, Kazushi later argued in an interview that he believed Ryan would have been faking the entire injury in order to catch him off guard. Nonetheless, the Japanese threw some of his usual antics during
8662-412: The fight, there was talk of Kazushi planning to retire, but nothing came from it. Those defeats seemed to mark a turning point in Sakuraba's career; though he was unbeaten in his first nine Pride bouts, he thereafter split his next six matches. He had a notable victory over Kevin Randleman , a former UFC Heavyweight Champion, widely remembered due to his ring entrance as Mario , a pun intended to reflect
8784-473: The final bell when the bout was stopped. It is worth noting that the last Japanese athlete to defeat a Gracie prior to Sakuraba's win against Royler, legendary judoka Masahiko Kimura , had used the very same technique Sakuraba utilized to beat Royler. That time, the recipient had been Royler's father, Hélio Gracie , who had, like Royler, also refused to submit but likewise lost. While the Japanese fight media rejoiced and elevated Sakuraba to superstar status,
8906-496: The fingers free), wrists, and sometimes breast, to protect themselves from injury. There was no protection for the face or head, meaning Greek boxing was quite dangerous compared to modern day boxing. Women were prohibited to watch games, especially boxing. The scholar and historian Philostratus maintained that boxing was originally developed in Sparta . The early Spartans believed helmets were unnecessary and boxing prepared them for
9028-446: The first edition in 1956 until the introduction of weight classes in 1965 . The Olympics also featured an openweight category from the sport's introduction in 1964 until the 1984 edition. Absolute divisions are a staple of submission grappling at all levels. All weight categories are welcome inside the absolute division and smaller competitors must rely on skill and technique against larger opponents. Organizations that hold some of
9150-411: The first two rounds, but was ultimately submitted by armbar towards the end of the third round. Next, in Pride 3, Sakuraba was matched against Ultimate Fighting Championship veteran Carlos Newton . Though relatively new to mixed martial arts , Newton had recently disposed of the reigning Shooto light heavyweight champion Erik Paulson with a swift armbar victory and already developed a reputation as
9272-552: The forearm to wipe away sweat. Leather braces extended up the forearm to give greater support when punching and the knuckles were reinforced with leather as well. Korykos were the equivalent to modern punching bags. They were used for practice in the Palaestra and were filled with sand, flour, or millet . They were commonly depicted in art depicting boxing of the time. The currently accepted rules of ancient Greek boxing are based on historical references and images. Although there
9394-491: The gloves used: instead of the oxys , the Romans used the caestus , gloves made with metal knuckles, that required sheepskin reinforcement that wrapped all the way up the shoulder. Several depictions of caesti show them armed with spikes or blades. Another main difference was the fighting position, in which the boxer stood upwards instead of bending himself. The match ending was also changed, as tap outs weren't allowed in
9516-399: The ground to avoid him. As the confrontation stretched on, the Gracie's own no time-limit rules began to work against Royce as Sakuraba's wrestling skills and balance nullified Royce's ability to score a takedown and—in some instances—even pull guard. Even Royce's ever-present jiu-jitsu gi became a weapon for the wrestler to use against him as Sakuraba used it to help him control Gracie on
9638-429: The hands and knuckles numerous times. The thongs usually had loops in which an athlete could insert four of his fingers and clench them together in a fist. Generally, this was the only form of protection worn by participants from the era of Homer until the end of the fifth century. Classical sources describe these as "soft gloves", though modern study has indicated that these thongs were far from soft and were protection for
9760-407: The head of a downed opponent, a change that greatly benefitted Wanderlei. During the match, a Sakuraba willing to trade strikes managed to knock Wanderlei down with a right hook, but the Brazilian recovered and dropped the wrestler with a barrage of punches and kicks. As Sakuraba turtled while attempted a takedown, Silva delivered multiple knees to his head and ultimately finished him off with kicks to
9882-575: The inevitable blows to the head they would receive in battle. However, Spartans never participated in the competitive aspect of boxing, believing the means of defeat to be dishonorable. The style of protection utilized on the hands and knuckles could determine the style of fighting for the competitors. From the time of the Iliad until around 500 BC, himantes were used as protection for the knuckles and hand. They were thongs of ox hide approximately 3.0–3.7 m (9.8–12.1 ft) long that were wrapped around
10004-401: The instances the fight did come to the ground. However, with Sakuraba's control of the takedown, these instances of ground warfare became increasingly sporadic. After Kazushi landed a long series of punishing leg kicks in the fifth and sixth rounds, Royce's brother, Rorion threw in the towel. Exhausted from his battle with Royce, Sakuraba surprised many when he emerged from the locker room for
10126-411: The knuckles, not to soften the blow to the opponent, much like modern padded gloves, which protect the hand, allowing for harder punches. They can be found on many vases excavated from the fifth and sixth century BC. In around 400 BC sphairai were introduced. The sphairai were very similar to himantes. The only notable difference was that they contained a padded interior when wrapped around the hands and
10248-579: The last UFC tournament champions to date. With Nobuhiko Takada having left Kingdom to challenge Rickson Gracie in an event called Pride Fighting Championships , the still struggling promotion capitalized on Sakuraba's newly found popularity establishing him as Kingdom's top talent. He embarked on a winning streak against several foreign mixed martial arts competitors including Paul Herrera, Rene Rooze, Mark Hall and Orlando Weit. However, Kingdom continued to flounder and finally folded in March 1998. Entering
10370-478: The match was ruled a draw. Sakuraba, always humble, stated "I fight his style, not mine. I think I lost the fight", although Goes, a Carlson Gracie protege, would similarly state in a later interview "I've been training my whole life on the ground, and to me, [Sakuraba] was the best guy I ever faced on the ground". Belfort would be a different matchup, as his boxing prowess was known aside from his great grappling credentials. However, despite several big flurries by
10492-493: The match, Sakuraba and Nagata came together to accept a challenge issued by Daniel and Rolles Gracie On January 4, 2014, at Wrestle Kingdom 8 in Tokyo Dome , Sakuraba and Nagata defeated the Gracies via disqualification, after Nagata was choked out with a gi. A rematch between the two teams took place on February 11 at The New Beginning in Osaka and saw Rolles submit Sakuraba for the win. Sakuraba suffered another loss against
10614-462: The match, at some points delivering chops to Ryan's rear while controlling him. Following the win against Ryan, Sakuraba was slated to battle Pancrase veteran Bas Rutten , but the latter declined and was replaced by Brazilian muay thai specialist Wanderlei Silva . Sakuraba was a heavy favorite to win, but he was fighting through a significant weight disadvantage. The bout was also contested under Pride's new rules, which allowed kicks and knees to
10736-587: The most popular openweight competitions are ADCC (since 1998), IBJJF (gi since 1996 and no-gi since 2007), NAGA , Grapplers Quest , and Quintet . In amateur and international sumo events, as sanctioned by the International Sumo Federation , openweight competitions exist alongside 3-4 weight class competitions. In professional sumo, as organized by the Japan Sumo Association , there are no weight classes and thus
10858-500: The opening round, Sakuraba suffered a particularly devastating yet controversial loss against Ricardo Arona in the quarterfinal of the tournament in June 2005. Although Sakuraba put Arona on his back and seemed to put to work his signature jumping stomps, the heavier and stronger Arona soon overpowered him, landing a series of brutal knees to the head, as well as hard soccer kicks to the face. The Brazilian's toenail accidentally slashed open
10980-521: The origins of boxing in Greece . One legend holds that the heroic ruler Theseus invented a form of boxing in which two men sat face to face and beat each other with their fists until one of them was killed. In time, the boxers began to fight while standing and wearing gloves (with spikes) and wrappings on their arms below the elbows, but otherwise they fought naked. According to the Iliad , Mycenaean warriors included boxing among their competitions honoring
11102-447: The outset of his contest against Sakuraba, as he pressed the pace of the bout with a variety of kicks and punches, although few connected. Sakuraba responded in kind, and the striking seemed to go to a stalemate. Throwing his wrestling into the equation, Sakuraba timed a number of double and single leg takedowns against Renzo's flurries from where he alternately attempted to cartwheel past Gracie's guard, malign his legs with kicks from
11224-406: The perception that their athletes boasted legitimate skill in real fighting. In a bid to regain credibility, Yoji Anjo travelled to California to perform a dojo challenge on Rickson Gracie , only to be swiftly and brutally defeated before the assembled Japanese press that had followed him there. With the UWFi's formerly fearsome reputation in tatters, its attendance numbers swiftly decreased, with
11346-405: The point of smiling to the cameras during the attack. Towards the end of the round, Sakuraba nearly ended the match with a kneebar , while Gracie came back with a guillotine choke at the second, but Kazushi again joked to show he was out of danger by simulating to pull down Royce's gi pants. Sakuraba switched to attack at the third round, dominating the stand up and making Royce lie repeatedly on
11468-606: The professionals won, though fans have also been known to win. Most folk disciplines such as oil wrestling , lutte sénégalaise , Mongolian Bökh , Persian pahlevani , belt wrestling , etc. may rarely utilize weight classes, if ever, unless being standardized for international competition. In the International Lethwei Federation Japan , Dave Leduc is the Openweight Champion. Like its ancient Greek ancestor pankration ,
11590-400: The ring from Quinton Jackson , a former collegiate wrestler who had compiled a record of 10–1 on the American circuit. At the sound of the bell, Sakuraba immediately took the bigger man to the canvas with a low single-leg takedown. However, Jackson's superior size and enormous physical strength allowed him to muscle out of Sakuraba's submission attempts. After locking his legs around Jackson for
11712-447: The ropes, his head hanging out of the ring and his back turned to Sakuraba. Sakuraba rushed in to follow up but before any meaningful offense could be launched, the fight was halted by referee Yuji Shimada . Shamrock got up following the KO and protested vigorously. Opinions were mixed regarding the KO's legitimacy, though Ken's adopted brother and rival, Frank , stated to believe the stoppage
11834-535: The round, the Japanese locked on a tight guillotine choke , but was countered by a wild slam from Wanderlei which ended up breaking his collar bone. The wrestler managed to end the round with submission attempts from the bottom, but not willing to let him go on so hampered, his corner threw in the towel between rounds. Sakuraba took time off to let his shoulder heal, also briefly training basic Brazilian jiu-jitsu with Sergio Penha at Takada Dojo. He then returned against heavyweight kickboxer Mirko Cro Cop . Sakuraba
11956-733: The rules by beating the offenders with a switch or a whip. The form of boxing in the Roman Empire was called pugilatus , from pugnus , "fist" (Greek pygme ). Greek influence came through the Etruscans . Boxing was a very popular sport until it was banned around 400 CE by Theodosius the Great because of its violence. Evidence for Roman boxing comes from ancient literature, sculpture, wall paintings, and mosaic. Techniques and rulesets were similar to Greek boxing: The following actions were violations: The main difference between them were
12078-478: The rules, customs and history surrounding this activity in great detail. Still, it is clear that gloved boxing bouts were a significant part of ancient Greek athletic culture throughout the early classical period. There is archeological and artistic evidence of ancient Greek boxing ( πύξ - pyx or πυγμή - pygme in Αncient Greek ) as early as the Minoan and Mycenaean periods. There are numerous legends about
12200-400: The same card and emerged victorious, jumped into the ring issued a challenge to Sakuraba, which was accepted. Vitor Belfort also demanded a rematch, although Sakuraba had stated not to be interested in rematches due to his interest in facing Frank Shamrock , Tito Ortiz and Dan Henderson . The fight between Sakuraba and Ryan was scheduled to happen at Pride 12 . Due to a shoulder injury,
12322-409: The second round, Nogueira managed to catch Sakuraba in a triangle choke/armbar combo, but the Japanese escaped the hold and sought his own submission, to no effect. Finally, the third round saw Nogueira taking over with punches and knees, exchanging strikes with Sakuraba almost until the last minute, and ultimately winning the decision. After a quick TKO victory over decorated judoka Yoon Dong-Sik in
12444-442: The skin over Sakuraba's left eye, which Ricardo then capitalized on by squeezing the cut and digging his finger into it in order to force the doctor stoppage. The Japanese tried to keep on, but Arona hit another flurry of knees to the head, and ended the fight landing soccer kick after soccer kick, rendering Kazushi's face severely swollen and bloody. Sakuraba would eventually lose the fight by technical knockout after his corner called
12566-441: The sport of mixed martial arts originally had no weight classes, with martial artists of different styles and sizes drawn together to prove which martial art is most effective in unarmed situations. The original King of Pancrase Championship , UFC Superfight Championship , and the first thirteen UFC tournaments were openweight. By the late 1990s, weight classes became common and mandatory in many countries. However, Japan became
12688-486: The standing position and even attack with a baseball slide . However, Renzo's defensive skills from bottom nullified the entire gamut of Sakuraba's offensive attempts, and after using an entry derived from the De la Riva guard , he took the wrestler's back, pressing him against the turnbuckle as mere seconds remained in the battle. With time ticking away, Sakuraba locked in a kimura from the back and spun around, flipping Renzo to
12810-400: The stationary Goes's defense, including leglocks , dives and kicks to the legs, but he also would have to defend, as Goes was relentless in his upkicks and submission counterattacks. Sakuraba was threatened by a rear naked choke several times, and in turn he almost finished Allan as well with an armbar, but none of it came to fruition. Due to the absence of judges in Pride's ruleset at the time,
12932-438: The tap out. After defeating Anthony Macias at Pride 7, Sakuraba was matched against Royler Gracie , who had previously conquered Sakuraba's stablemate Yuhi Sano . It marked the largest weight advantage Sakuraba has enjoyed in his career to date (being around 30 pounds heavier than Royler). Royler, unable to score a takedown or strike effectively from a standing position, remained on the ground in an effort to bait Sakuraba into
13054-428: The top fighters at the time, from 75.75kg (167 lb) Kazushi Sakuraba to 116 kg (255 lb) Mark Kerr . PRIDE did again an open-weight tournament in 2006 with the Pride FC: Grand Prix 2006 which was divided in three separate events instead. The openweight division in mixed martial arts (MMA) generally groups fighters above 265 lb (120.2 kg). Road FC currently has an openweight division. Pancrase originally had
13176-411: The tournament semi-finals. His opponent, Igor Vovchanchyn , outweighed him by close to sixty pounds (Sakuraba had come into the bout with Royce lighter than usual, at 176 pounds) and was considered to be the top heavyweight striker of the day. Sakuraba surprised many by taking Vovchanchyn down and nearly finishing him with an armbar. Sakuraba was actually leading the fight past the 10-minute mark, but near
13298-528: The tutelage of Billy Robinson . He also trained in muay thai under master Bovy Chowaikung, the main UWF-i striking teacher. Those disciplines would serve as the base of the unorthodox game that would later lead him to success in the Pride Fighting Championships . Over time he became one of Takada's four main trainees, along with Kiyoshi Tamura , Yoshihiro Takayama and Masahito Kakihara . In spite of his amateur pedigree, Sakuraba
13420-401: The win by TKO. Sakuraba's victory over Royler constituted the first loss by a Gracie in professional fighting in several decades and as such, sent ripples of shock and controversy through the mixed martial arts community. Some protested that the victory was tainted due to the fact that Royler (although placed in a debilitating submission hold) never conceded defeat and was little time away from
13542-453: Was a somber and focused Sakuraba that came down the aisle for his rematch with Silva. As with Jackson, Sakuraba was able to score an early takedown in the bout, where he then worked from Silva's guard. After several minutes searching for a leglock , he finally found one when Silva attempted to escape to his feet. Sakuraba started to control the fight, avoiding Silva's strikes and threatening him with clinches and takedown attempts. Halfway through
13664-571: Was called up by the referee. At the end, as Pride had just implemented the judges system, Sakuraba was awarded his first decision victory unanimously. Unlike the previous two matches, Kazushi faced in Braga a consistently aggressive opponent, with the luta livre practitioner landing effective muay thai knees and kicks until Sakuraba put him down. The Japanese wrestler continued his signature guard assault, but also outstruck Braga in his last standing segment before taking him down again and lock an armbar for
13786-431: Was defeated in high-profile bouts to Tokimitsu Ishizawa , Koji Kanemoto and Shinjiro Otani , bringing Sakuraba a new level of exposure to the public. The ring psychology and technical prowess he displayed in the bouts also impressed the management of the UWF-i enough that he was finally pushed towards main event status. New Japan's dominance in the feud injured the marketability of the UWFi promotion, which had pressed
13908-511: Was forced to work his way up from the bottom of the UWFi's rung, as it is traditional in puroresu . Sakuraba lost his debut on August 13, 1993, to Steve Nelson and went winless through his rookie year with the league. It is also popularly alleged that under the eye of Kiyoshi Tamura, he was made to perfectly perform menial chores about the dojo. Still undeterred, Sakuraba steadily built a working knowledge of submission holds upon his freestyle wrestling base until his efforts were at last rewarded with
14030-518: Was justified: "He got clocked. He went down. According to the rules, he was no longer defending himself and that's the end of the fight." Prior to Pride's Shockwave 2005 New Year's Eve event, Sakuraba strongly petitioned for a match against fellow shoot wrestler and professional wrestling proponent, Kiyoshi Tamura , even going so far as to publicly request a bout with Tamura. However, with Tamura refusing to face him, Sakuraba recommended another shoot wrestler, Ikuhisa Minowa , who referred to himself as
14152-431: Was leaving Pride. It was reported that Sakuraba left Takada Dojo (run by Pride's general manager, Nobuhiko Takada ), and conspicuously was not entered into Pride's 2006 Open Weight Grand Prix Tournament. Sakuraba was then scheduled to compete in Hero's Light Heavyweight Tournament. His first opponent was the 16–5 Lithuanian Kęstutis Smirnovas . Sakuraba opened the fight striking aggressively, even flooring Smirnovas with
14274-601: Was mostly based on the catch-as-catch-can and Greco-Roman styles, was usually an openweight competition. Heavyweight championships commonly functioned as openweight championships, such as Martin "Farmer" Burns frequently defending the American Heavyweight Championship against challengers outweighing him by 50-100 lbs, or the championship match between 180 lb Evan "Stranger" Lewis and 300 lb Yusuf İsmail . Though match-fixing led to predetermined results and theatrics that gradually replaced
14396-420: Was nearly twenty pounds beneath the UFC's 200 pound designation for the weight class. Having reported himself as 203 pounds ( Light heavyweight by modern standards) in order to gain entry, Sakuraba was paired off against the 240 pound Brazilian jiu-jitsu blackbelt and former Extreme Fighting champion, Marcus Silveira. The match saw the two grapplers exchanging leglocks without any decisive movement. Following
14518-613: Was not divided into individual rounds. Competitors fought until finish, usually by surrender or mutual exhaustion. Felled boxers could be attacked without consequence, just as if they were standing. The modern practice of dividing boxers into weight classes was an unheard of among the Greeks. Typically, any man who wished to participate in the event was welcome to regardless of strength or muscle mass, and participants competed with each other through random drawings. The precise rules of boxing in antiquity cannot be known for certain, and are thus inferred from historical references and images. It
14640-412: Was primarily a league devoted to shoot-style realistic-looking works. Having by now established his ability, Sakuraba was this time booked as a main-eventer from the outset. However, unlike the UWFi, Kingdom struggled from the beginning to draw substantial crowds. Mixed martial arts was growing in popularity, and the dominance of the Gracie family and their fellow Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioners over
14762-537: Was proposed a special ruleset of no strikes on the ground as part of the "K-1 vs Pride theme", but he rejected the offer, not wanting any special rule for him. Ironically, although he managed to take Cro Cop down through hard kicks, Sakuraba would end losing the match while exchanging strikes on Mirko's guard when an upkick from the kickboxer broke his orbital bone. Finally assenting to place him in competition against fighters of his own weight class, Pride management put him against French jiu-jitsu champion Gilles Arsene in
14884-474: Was won by Sakuraba via ankle hold. In an attempt to gain attention for the embattled Kingdom Pro Wrestling league, Hiromitsu Kanehara and Yoji Anjoh signed on to compete in the Ultimate Fighting Championship 's Ultimate Japan tournament. Kanehara was injured in his training for the tournament, and Sakuraba wound up as his late-hour substitute. The tournament was intended for heavyweights, but Sakuraba who weighed 183 pounds ( middleweight by modern standards),
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