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Interested in Mayhem vs. Sakuraba?

By Zach Arnold | May 13, 2008

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DREAM 4 is set for June 15th at Yokohama Arena. Any desire to see Mayhem Miller vs. Kazushi Sakuraba in a fight? The claimed paid attendance for DREAM 3 at Saitama Super Arena on the 11th was 21,789.

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Topics: DREAM, HDNet, Japan, K-1, Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 18 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

18 Responses to “Interested in Mayhem vs. Sakuraba?”

  1. liger05 says:

    What did Mayhem miller say after his fight?

  2. Grape Knee High says:

    To be honest, I haven’t wanted to see Sak fight pretty much anyone since he got destroyed by Arona. He is a death in the ring just waiting to happen.

    Well, okay, let me take that back. If he’s just limited to “seniors” type matches against the likes of Funaki and Tamura, I have no problem with that.

  3. Ultimo Santa says:

    Josh Barnett thinks Fedor will destroy Tim Sylvia, and that Tim is a big fat cheater. I can’t disagree with that.

    Question: Affliction Vice-President Tom Atencio has said the plan is to match the winner of your fight with Rizzo against the winner of Fedor-Sylvia. How do you see the Fedor-Sylvia fight going?

    Josh Barnett: Let’s see — a couple of jabs from Sylvia, (then) I think Fedor, at some point, will step in with some overhands and hooks, and paste him right in the face, and put him down and either finish him there, or put him on his back and submit him within two.

    Q: Affliction will be using a ring. I’m told that Tim Sylvia has said he’s happy to fight in a ring. Would you rather see a ring or a cage?

    JB: Oh, I’d rather fight in a ring, personally. I think the ring is a superior surface for conducting matches — I think it keeps the fights a lot faster.

    A guy like Sylvia, unfortunately, with the cage, he’s able to grab and hook onto it, on the top of it, to reach out and grab the links. He has a great history of hooking and grabbing the cage, so I imagine he’ll probably transition that to the ring as well. I expect him to hook the rope with his elbows, overhook them, grab them; as long as he’s penalized for it, that should hopefully deter him, but it’ll make it difficult for Fedor to take him down if he’s constantly doing stuff like that.

    Q: What sort of approach would you take with Sylvia or Fedor?

    JB: With Sylvia, I would just train really hard and come in in really good shape and then just pick him apart until I put him on his back and then submit him. Fedor — just try and impose my will.

  4. Zack says:

    Any news on when Affliction tix go on sale?

  5. Donny says:

    Sakuraba is the reason i dont watch japanese mma anymore.

    complete and utter mismatchs. i feel embarresed to be an mma fan and watch shows like dream

    they want to get guys killed.

    sakuraba should of retired 7 years ago and he should not get a liscense to fight.

    japanese mma is quickly turning into a complete joke.

  6. Zack says:

    “should of ”

    This is an intelligent post.

  7. The Gaijin says:

    Japan is for all intents and purposes a very modern and progressive society, so why the hell don’t they have sanctioning bodies to protect the safety of fighters and regulate the fight game?

    Manhoef fought 2 weeks after getting tko’d in a K-1 match AND having freakin’ surgery!

  8. Grape Knee High says:

    Gaijin, you’re asking for quite a lot from the country that invented bukakke. 🙂

  9. cyph says:

    In terms of sports, Japan is still trapped in the feudal period.

    http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/02/08/japan.sumo/index.html

    Japan is so modern in some things and yet so ancient in others.

  10. Dave says:

    I think it has to do with how vastly different their forms of entertainment are, as well as the value systems. I mean, one thing you are less apt to see in a Japanese fighter is them defending as opposed to being aggressive and attempting to put on a strong performance. They seem overall more willing to take a punch and go down in a blaze of glory as opposed to the American mindset of living to fight another day.

    I also think a lot (lot) of politics have to do with it. A guy like Sakuraba probably both wants to fight and is told that he should fight, and won’t want to upset people. We all know Saku shouldn’t step into a ring again, or if he does it should be against a can. A part of me really wants to see Mayhem vs Saku, while another part feels really bad about it.

  11. Tobin says:

    Sakuraba passed the CSAC physicals less than a year ago. California has proven to be the most stringent physical to pass. If he was a death waiting to happen, no way would California let him into the ring. Let the man fight.

    On another note, HDNet should not be blamed for the production of the Dream3 show, FEG should. The only thing HDNet did was broadcast the show in the states with English announcers.

  12. Jonathan says:

    I keeping thinking that the only avenue that Sak would have to win a fight against Miller would be if Jason came in lackadaisical and basically handed him the fight. Other than that, every check mark, from the ground to the feet to the wrestling goes to Jason “Mayhem” Miller.

  13. Michael says:

    For everyone who has a problem with Sakuraba fighting, should have a problem with mark coleman fighting Lesner. Oh wait its the UFC I guess that makes it OK.

  14. IceMuncher says:

    ^^^ I’d be willing to bet that most of the posters here do have a problem with Coleman fighting Lesnar.

  15. Grape Knee High says:

    Coleman/Lesnar is a freak show worthy of K-1 in its heyday.

    How exactly did this match get sanctioned given the supposedly high standards of athletic commissions in the US?

  16. cyph says:

    Nice biased statement. Coleman is an over the hill fighter. Lesnar is a raw untested talent. Pretty competitive if you ask me. I don’t think either fighter will kill the other. I don’t see how that’s a freak show.

    Sakuraba may be over the hill, but he’s also very experienced. I don’t expect a complete beat down against Miller. Jason Miller is not the supreme fighter that many here may think. It was just a case of his domination against a very weak opponent in Dream 3 that makes him look better than he actually is. Sakuraba VS Miller would be competitive.

  17. Grape Knee High says:

    Nice biased statement.

    The definition of irony.

  18. Jonathan says:

    I guess it is worth mentioning that Sakuraba dominated Shibata as much as Miller did…except I believe he finished him quicker.

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