Wanderlei Silva is hanging up his gloves after one of the most storied careers in MMA history. The famed light heavyweight made the announcement via a YouTube video on Friday afternoon. “I am stepping down from the ring. After today, Wanderlei Silva will not fight again,” he said. “My career is over. Because I don’t […]
Wanderlei Silva is hanging up his gloves after one of the most storied careers in MMA history. The famed light heavyweight made the announcement via a YouTube video on Friday afternoon. “I am stepping down from the ring. After today, Wanderlei Silva will not fight again,” he said. “My career is over. Because I don’t […]
While kidnapping princesses in Japan last month, UFC president Dana White spent some time with MMA legend Kazushi Sakuraba (and a translator, and another Japanese dude who was apparently just there to hang out), and talked to Saku about his days in PRIDE. The resulting video is above, although as Dana tells us, there was a lot that Sakuraba asked him not to include. Some thoughts and observations, in no particular order…
– Is it me, or does DW seem really jet-lagged in the intro? Dude is running on fumes.
– The sociopathic matchmakers at PRIDE wanted Sakuraba to fight Fedor Emelianenko at one point; that was the only fight he ever turned down. And no, Sakuraba wasn’t paid extra money whenever he fought a 205-pounder or a heavyweight.
– White can’t help crapping on PRIDE a bit for their handling of Sakuraba. “Imagine if they promoted fights the right way, and did it the way it should have been done,” White says. “Sakuraba is a fighter and an attraction that they could have took all over the world…if Sakuraba was at 170 and, at that time we’re talking the 170-pound division was Matt Hughes, Carlos Newton, Pat Miletich. All those guys that competed at 170 at that time, imagine Sakuraba coming into Las Vegas to take on one of those guys. They could have done big things.”
While kidnapping princesses in Japan last month, UFC president Dana White spent some time with MMA legend Kazushi Sakuraba (and a translator, and another Japanese dude who was apparently just there to hang out), and talked to Saku about his days in PRIDE. The resulting video is above, although as Dana tells us, there was a lot that Sakuraba asked him not to include. Some thoughts and observations, in no particular order…
– Is it me, or does DW seem really jet-lagged in the intro? Dude is running on fumes.
– The sociopathic matchmakers at PRIDE wanted Sakuraba to fight Fedor Emelianenko at one point; that was the only fight he ever turned down. And no, Sakuraba wasn’t paid extra money whenever he fought a 205-pounder or a heavyweight.
– White can’t help crapping on PRIDE a bit for their handling of Sakuraba. “Imagine if they promoted fights the right way, and did it the way it should have been done,” White says. “Sakuraba is a fighter and an attraction that they could have took all over the world…if Sakuraba was at 170 and, at that time we’re talking the 170-pound division was Matt Hughes, Carlos Newton, Pat Miletich. All those guys that competed at 170 at that time, imagine Sakuraba coming into Las Vegas to take on one of those guys. They could have done big things.”
– Dana apparently isn’t aware that Sakuraba did indeed fight Carlos Newton in PRIDE, and that it was awesome. White also never watched Sakuraba vs. Akiyama. When Dana says this, Sakuraba thinks he’s joking. Clearly, the UFC president isn’t a real fan.
– Somebody who speaks Japanese should do a transcript of this video. I’m guessing that White only got about 15% of what was actually being said at that table.
– The last 30 seconds of the video are great — Saku hasn’t lost his pro-wrestling ability to oversell an armlock — although we did shed a single tear when Dana sunk the rear-naked choke.
When Pride Fighting Championships was an active organization, their rules for fighting on the ground were a little different than the Unified Rules that we know today. In Pride, fighters were able to use kicks and knees to grounded opponents. That changes the dynamic of the ground game and submissions. Positions like side control and […]
When Pride Fighting Championships was an active organization, their rules for fighting on the ground were a little different than the Unified Rules that we know today. In Pride, fighters were able to use kicks and knees to grounded opponents. That changes the dynamic of the ground game and submissions. Positions like side control and […]
One of the head coaches on season 3 of The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil, Chael Sonnen, is pouring it on his arch nemesis Wanderlei Silva as TUF: Brazil 3 just hit Fight Pass last night. Coaching opposite “The Axe Murderer” prior to their May 31 showdown inside the Octagon, “The American Gangster” remains steadfast that his rival’s […]
One of the head coaches on season 3 of The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil, Chael Sonnen, is pouring it on his arch nemesis Wanderlei Silva as TUF: Brazil 3 just hit Fight Pass last night. Coaching opposite “The Axe Murderer” prior to their May 31 showdown inside the Octagon, “The American Gangster” remains steadfast that his rival’s […]
For his efforts, PRIDE awarded Coleman a massive trophy and an equally-massive novelty check for 20 million yen (about $200,000). And now he’s selling them on eBay, because the world is an unfair and depressing place. As the item description explains:
THIS IS THE HOLY GRAIL OF MMA MEMORABILIA! PRIDE FIGHTING CHAMPIONSHIP 2000 GRAND PRIX FINALS TROPHY AND CHECK. THE 2000 GP WAS THE MOST PRESTIGIOUS TOURNAMENT IN MMA HISTORY AND WILL FOREVER STAY THAT WAY. THIS TOURNAMENT HAD ALL THE TOP FIGHTERS IN THE WORLD INVOLVED. MARK COLEMAN IS A LIVING LEGEND AND A MEMBER OF THE UFC HALL OF FAME AND IS THE FIRST UFC HEAVY WEIGHT CHAMPION AND THE LAST UFC TOURNAMENT CHAMPION. COLEMAN WON UFC 10, 11 and 12 AND ALSO BECAME THE #1 FIGHTER IN THE WORLD BY WINNING THE GRAND PRIX 2000.
THIS IS FOR THE SERIOUS COLLECTOR. THE TROPHY IS WELL OVER 5FT TALL AND THE CHECK IS WELL OVER 6 FT LONG. THIS IS A MUSUEM WORTHY CENTERPIECE AND IS SURELY THE TOP COLLECTABLE IN ANY PRIVATE COLLECTION IN THE WORLD!!!! IT DOES NOT GET ANY BETTER THAN THIS!! THIS IS A ONCE IN A LIFETIME CHANCE TO OWN A FUTURE MMA MUSUEM CENTERPIECE…
The starting bid? $24,500. Now, that may be a lot of money to us working men. (Like my daddy before me, I get up before the roosters each morning and go about the hard, endless labor of bloggin’. It ain’t much, but it’s who we are. It’s our connection to this great land. And son I’m just sorry they’re just memories for you now.) Where was I…oh yeah, $24.5k is a nice chunk of change, but we’re talking about two of the most priceless artifacts in MMA history — the final reward for years of agony and struggle. And Coleman’s trading that for what? To pay off a truck and some back taxes, maybe?
The auction ends on Sunday, and there have been no bids placed thus far. So, there are two ways we can go about this…
(The world’s most badass coat-rack can be yours! Photo via eBay/gemcity1. More pics after the jump.)
For his efforts, PRIDE awarded Coleman a massive trophy and an equally-massive novelty check for 20 million yen (about $200,000). And now he’s selling them on eBay, because the world is an unfair and depressing place. As the item description explains:
THIS IS THE HOLY GRAIL OF MMA MEMORABILIA! PRIDE FIGHTING CHAMPIONSHIP 2000 GRAND PRIX FINALS TROPHY AND CHECK. THE 2000 GP WAS THE MOST PRESTIGIOUS TOURNAMENT IN MMA HISTORY AND WILL FOREVER STAY THAT WAY. THIS TOURNAMENT HAD ALL THE TOP FIGHTERS IN THE WORLD INVOLVED. MARK COLEMAN IS A LIVING LEGEND AND A MEMBER OF THE UFC HALL OF FAME AND IS THE FIRST UFC HEAVY WEIGHT CHAMPION AND THE LAST UFC TOURNAMENT CHAMPION. COLEMAN WON UFC 10, 11 and 12 AND ALSO BECAME THE #1 FIGHTER IN THE WORLD BY WINNING THE GRAND PRIX 2000.
THIS IS FOR THE SERIOUS COLLECTOR. THE TROPHY IS WELL OVER 5FT TALL AND THE CHECK IS WELL OVER 6 FT LONG. THIS IS A MUSUEM WORTHY CENTERPIECE AND IS SURELY THE TOP COLLECTABLE IN ANY PRIVATE COLLECTION IN THE WORLD!!!! IT DOES NOT GET ANY BETTER THAN THIS!! THIS IS A ONCE IN A LIFETIME CHANCE TO OWN A FUTURE MMA MUSUEM CENTERPIECE…
The starting bid? $24,500. Now, that may be a lot of money to us working men. (Like my daddy before me, I get up before the roosters each morning and go about the hard, endless labor of bloggin’. It ain’t much, but it’s who we are. It’s our connection to this great land. And son I’m just sorry they’re just memories for you now.) Where was I…oh yeah, $24.5k is a nice chunk of change, but we’re talking about two of the most priceless artifacts in MMA history — the final reward for years of agony and struggle. And Coleman’s trading that for what? To pay off a truck and some back taxes, maybe?
The auction ends on Sunday, and there have been no bids placed thus far. So, there are two ways we can go about this…
1)One of us buys it. Although most of CagePotato’s readership consists of broke trolls who live in basement apartments, there have to be a few rich eccentric-types who actually do have twenty-five large lying around. Doctors, lawyers, high-finance types…guys, we need you to put in a bid and make sure the spoils of the 2000 PRIDE Grand Prix are kept safe, and don’t wind up forgotten in some warehouse forevermore.
2) We raise $24,500 for Coleman so that he doesn’t have to sell it.We’ve held a successful fundraiser before and we can do it again. Part of me thinks that this might be Coleman’s plan all along — to generate sympathy (and donations) through the public auction of his most valuable possession. But hell, I’ll play ball as long as the Potato Nation wants to jump in on this too. Don’t do it, Mark. When you die, we want you to be wrapped in that check.
