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Selected matches from DSE
SKY PerfecTV! LIVE SPECIAL PRIDE.5 4/29/99 Aichi Nagoya Sogo Taiikukan Rainbow Hall (7,565/4,000) Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Vitor Belfort |
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Sakuraba was wrongly the "underdog" going into this fight because he "hadn't proved much," so this was seen as a huge win for Sakuraba. It made for a great story that the native defeated the Brazilian sensation, and that "put Sakuraba on the map" when it came to name value and widespread acclaim. In reality, the story was not anything new. Sakuraba has had the ability for quite a while, although he's obviously getting better and better with each fight. On the other hand, Belfort may sport a "black belt" in BJJ, but his ground skill is negligible at best, and he was once again exposed as a guy that can only win if he can knock you out in the first couple of minutes with a lighting quick barrage of punches. "Not much of a battle, really. Vitor Belfort was topping many people's overrated lists at this point. He had very fast hands and was a hard puncher. However, his mauling loss to Randy Couture had exposed his weaknesses, lack of stamina and pacing, and lack of ground fighting skill (ironic when you consider he's supposed to be a Brazilian JJ fighter). His 'sparring' win over Joe Charles and KO of Vanderlei Silva got him back on the winning track, but had done nothing to show that he had solved these weaknesses. On the other hand, Sakuraba was little know at the time of this match. He'd won UFC Japan, but gotten little respect for it, despite beating Belfort teammate Conan Silviera. This looked like it could be a fast match because Sak had shown poor defense against punching against Conan, but he's improved vastly since UFC Japan, while Belfort has not progressed at all. End result was a match notable only for Vitor putting up so little of a fight" wrote Miko. Belfort threw a lot of punches early, but Sakuraba did a good job of avoiding getting hit with any big ones. Even the ones that hit didn't seem to phase Sakuraba. Once Sakuraba survived the first few minutes, the fight was pretty much over because Belfort is a sprinter. He punched himself out, and Sakuraba surviving was demoralizing. From here he lacked the technique and the stamina to mount any kind of an offensive. "He opened circling, looking for a chance to flurry and KO Sak, but Sakuraba was very aware of Vitor's punching and once Belfort starting throwing bombs Sak tied him up, blocked, went for a single leg or even just ran away. That two minute flurry was Vitor's only offense of the match and after getting taken down he spent the rest of the round doing the butt scoot and getting his legs bruised with kicks," wrote Miko. Sakuraba had clearly prepared for the butt scoot because he was welting Belfort's legs with kicks. He even tried this unorthodox technique where he basically leaped over Belfort's knees and trying to footstomp him, but it didn't really work. "The second round was even worse, Vitor being out punched by Sak before taking a spinning back kick to the body and flopping on his back again. Vitor's only chance of winning was punching, once he was losing there the match was pretty much over. Vitor lost the decision and showed very little fighting spirit while doing so, looking content to just last the distance," wrote Miko. It just proves that to be one of the elite fighters, you always have to be prepared to go the distance. If you have that kind of stamina and understand how to pace yourself so you don't waste it all early, then you'll be able to do your best work at the end of the match if your opponent doesn't have a similar level of stamina. Certainly in the first minute, Sakuraba had no chance of matching Belfort in striking, but by the end he looked like the striker in this match. Sakuraba's ability to kick was really important because Belfort couldn't escape damage being done to his legs. In standup, Sakuraba could use his punches to open up his kicks or vice versa, and while Belfort was doing the butt scoot, Sakuraba was mainly waiting for openings to kick him. The fans really got behind Sakuraba by the end. Don't get me wrong, it was a good fight, but their enthusiasm was the reason some people felt it was very good or better. Had the fans not been into it, it would have been more frustrating that Belfort kept flopping to his back for more butt scooting. Belfort was able to last the 20:00 without sustaining any serious physical damage, but he was totally exposed as a guy who has no tank and nothing beyond his punching. He's still very young and could wind up reaching his potential, but he's going to have to train a hell of a lot harder and probably with different people if he plans to do that. If not, he might get a "lucky" win here and there, but he'll be lucky to continue lasting long enough against the top fighters to lose a decision like he did here. Special Thanks to: Miko Kubota - Michiku Pro 20:00 |
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