Kazushi Sakuraba joins 2017 UFC Hall of Fame class
By Mike Heck
At UFC 212, UFC veteran and PRIDE legend Kazushi Sakuraba was announced as an inductee into the 2017 UFC Hall of Fame class.
Another legend will be enshrined in the UFC Hall of Fame.
The UFC announced during Saturday night’s UFC 212 broadcast that UFC veteran and PRIDE legend Kazushi Sakuraba will be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame class of 2017. The Hall of Fame ceremony will take place in Las Vegas on Thursday, July 6 as part of the UFC’s International Fight Week.
Sakuraba, who held a professional record of 26-17-2 with one no-contest, made his only UFC appearance in December 1997 at UFC 15.5: Ultimate Japan, which took place at the Yokohama Arena. Sakuraba replaced pro wrestler Hiromitsu Kanehara in the heavyweight tournament, and declared his weight at 203 pounds for the event, even though he weighed in 20 pounds lighter than that. Sakuraba faced Marcus Silveira in the first round of the tournament, in what turned out to be one of the most controversial fights in UFC history.
Silveira was landing multiple strikes, which forced Sakuraba to shoot for a takedown. As he shot in, referee John McCarthy stopped the bout and declared it a KO victory for Silver. After learning he wasn’t knocked out after looking at the tape, McCarthy declared it a no-contest and restarted the fight. After an injury forced Tank Abbott out of the tournament, Sakuraba re-entered as his replacement, and was once again paired up with Silveira in the tournament finals. This time, Sakuraba was able to get the victory with an arm bar submission to win the fight, and the Ultimate Japan championship.
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Sakuraba would move onto PRIDE, going undefeated in his first nine fights in the organization, including victories over Vernon White, Vitor Belfort, Guy Mezger and Royce Gracie. “The Gracie Hunter” would defeated Roylar, Ryan and Renzo Gracie along the way. Sakuraba also holds victories over Quinton Jackson, Kevin Randleman and Ken Shamrock in his PRIDE career.
After PRIDE was bought by the UFC, Sakuraba would continue to compete for K-1: Heroes, Dream, Fields Dynamite and RIZIN. He would lose the final five fights of his legendary career, including his final one in December 2015 to Shinya Aoki at the RIZIN Fighting World Grand Prix.
Sakuraba will join Urijah Faber, Maurice Smith and former matchmaker Joe Silva in this year’s UFC Hall of Fame class.