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Smell the desperation — Kazushi Sakuraba to fight Rubin Williams at DREAM 11
By Zach Arnold | October 3, 2009
No other conclusion to reach for booking him at the last-minute for the Yokohama Arena event on 10/6.
update (10/4): Sakuraba’s opponent will be boxer Rubin Williams (Gladiator Academy/Ring Media Group).
Topics: DREAM, Japan, Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 25 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Card changes with 5 days left before the event. Madness. Reminds of New Japan a few years back when dome show cards were changing all the time.
come on Zach, any translation on what he’s saying?
seems like a the whole video is like a huge joke
Everything DREAM has been doing smells of desperation. Having a White Cage in Japan is another example.
Keiichi Sasahara’s been studying at the Atencio dojo
This is so sad. Sakuraba fights are like Ali’s final fights: you cringe for the guy being in there and fear for what condition he’s going to be in when he’s old. I fully understand being addicted to the rush of fighting and not being able to say no to a good pay day. But I’d be amazed if his seizure training a few years ago if the worst thing his brain damage from fighting has done.
Sakuraba in a weird way probably feels obligated to come back to try to save the sport he built in Japan. I wish somebody could talk some sense into him. I really hope this show disappoints so he stays gone, although it probably won’t matter. I wish Sakuraba had a gimmick like the Inoki Slap that he could show up, do to no harm to himself, pop the crowd and leave safely.
Wish there were subtitles on that video. What is with the Neon Genesis Evangelion references?
[…] Sakuraba Will Not Run Away Jump to Comments As Zach Arnold pointed out so eloquently, this reeks of desperation on FEG’s part. DREAM.11 will be only the […]
You can use the beta English subtitles and they work pretty well. I mean, about as well as Google Translate works.
Basic gist is Sakuraba loves the old anime EVA, and if anybody else has seen it, they’ll recognize the “I will not run away! I will not run away!” that Shinji would chant (jesus christ why do I know this?). They mention him fighting a “foreigner.”
As for why, well, we all know why. This is what could be their last live show on TBS and they are trying to impress. Will SAKU be the answer? Hell no.
Sakuraba is in the same category as guys like Ken Shamrock, Pedro Rizzo, and Wanderlei Silva. They have taken too many big shots throughout their career and it is time to call it quits.
I was VERY sad to see Pedro Rizzo beat Jeff Monson again. It is obvious that stylistically the is the one fighters he can beat. But it also means he will go on to fight again and likely get another vicious KO.
I would be shocked to see Sakuraba not have some major issues later in life (if not already). The brain shouldn’t be taking that type of abuse.
Dave: I think you mean Neon Genesis Evangelion.
And Mark, what do you mean by seizure? I don’t remember any reports of him having one.
Wait, forget I asked. I read it as “a few days ago” then just realized you actually wrote “a few years ago”. My mistake.
I agree that it looks like desperation on Dream’s behalf. Sakuraba should not be fighting anymore, and that statement has been true for years now.
translation: The Sakuraba video message is up and it seems like he will participate at DREAM.11 next week. The video is basically the FEG voice (his father) telling Sakuraba to do a sally at DREAM.11, Sakuraba saying but it’s only a week left, and then the voice provoking him and asking if he’ll run away or not. Sakuraba once again mumbles to himself: “I must not run away, I must not run away, etc.”. In the end it says to be continued.
@ pizzachef
Yeah, I know. Sadly I also know it was shortened by fans as “Eva.”
it’s worth noting that the gruff voiced guy who narrates pre-fight packages for PRIDE and Dream actually played the father in that show
At least Rubin can’t really hurt Sakuraba. I mean, I’d feel bad for the guy but he crossed into “Holyfield territory” a long time ago. If he gets hurt, its his fault.
He should have retired after the Minowa fight. But if he had to continue past that, the Funaki fight was a perfect victory to end his career with: the two Japanese legends finally face off and Sakuraba wins, it was perfect for him. But anything else, even if it’s against someone like Royce Gracie who can’t hurt him, isn’t something I even want to see. I refused to watch the Manhoef fight because that entire ordeal was nauseating for DREAM to do. Thank God something like that would be difficult to pull off with American commissions.
I guess a fight against a guy that hasn’t won since 2006 makes sense.
I really thought it said Robin Williams…I was really happy for Saku then, but now he might get KTFO.
“I really thought it said Robin Williams…”
I swear to God that I did as well.
Saku is dressed up like Shinji from Eva. That’s cool. who the hell is Rubin Williams?
Funny people are talking like Saku is going to get knocked out by this Boxer…..Rubin Williams is a freakin boxer, all they did was feed him an opponent.
My only concern is that he is fighting a ‘boxer’ who will have infinitely better punching power than Saku. If he lands a strike standing up he could easily K.O Saku causing all sorts of damage.
If however Saku shoots, grapples and works his magic he will be fine, but Saku doesn’t need to be punched in the head anymore and this guy’s bread and butter used to be punching people in the head!
A couple of guys said:
Why is is a strange relief to me that I wasn’t the only one who first read that? ::shakes head at self and drinks more coffee::
They are just grabbing at anything they can at the moment. Prime example with the whole cage situation really.
I do not think it is a bad promotion though. I have a feeling the white cage will be a fixture to stay