GSP vs Sakuraba

I just rewatched & thought BJ took 1 & 3 for the W.

Prime Sak beats GSP however he wants.

GSP got out of Dodge as soon as real competition and drug testing arrived. He saw an opportunity to add to his legacy by returning & moving up only when one-eyed, needing-knee-replacement Bisping got a fluke win at MW.

Meanwhile, Sak fought -and won- against guys almost always a lot bigger than him. He beat Belfort and Rampage, both of whom would absolutely annihilate GSP. He also fought murderers like Wanderlei, Igor, Arona, Cro Cop, etc.

Sakuraba toys with GSP until he gets bored and finishes him with strikes or a sub.

It’s been along time but i remember thinking it was close . Bj basically defended a single leg the whole match or at least that’s how I remember it .

Thanks.

That means a lot, coming from a bear!

It really is kind of an abstract fight to visualize, don’t you think?

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Lol not too far off

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For sure. Esp with Saku. Just dont know who’s he’s gonna beat.

Id be so excited fior this. Lioke I said above just to see if Saku can ankle pic GSP would have me on edge of my seat.

Should be noted, in his absolute prime (2000-2002) the only guys to beat Saku were Cro-Cop, Wandy, Igor! And those Wandy & Cro-Cop fights prob took years off his life and prime.

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What do you mean bear? Shucks im just an average joe like everyone else here enjoying super bowl saturday while drinking beer.

I agree with your breakdown alot including the biased judging that would inevitably follow which i hadnt considered.

I think it sort of becomes whoever is stronger mentally wins.

On paper gsp should dictate the fight easily with his wrestling and make it one sided. I feel his key to victory is to “stick to the gameplan” as dumb as that may sound. Whereas with saku his gameplan is to create chaos and disorder like fuck for gsp to destroy gsp’s own gameplan. If saku can create disruption to gsp’s focus then he takes it easily and would probably even overcome gsp’s heart. Gsp would unravel and lose even though i think on paper he has the tools to win easily.

Saku by sub or gsp via decision after brutal ground and pound. I want this fight in a ring though. Feel like its been ages since the ug argued cage vs ring venue impacting a fight outcome

People judging saku by the tail end of his career when he was broken down arent being very fair

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Prime Sak couldn’t beat Guy Metzger. Giy is a good fighter but would never win a title in the ufc

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GSP could probably beat Igor, but Wandy and CroCop would probably be too much for GSP to handle.

I won’t offer an opinion on who’ll win, but these responses highlight how weird it is that these are my two favorite fighters when their attitude towards fighting in the cage/ring and in the opponents they fought were diametrically opposed.

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It would have been a difficult fight for either one of them.

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No f’n way, Igor is killing GSP and fast.

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Guy was no joke and a MW. And Ken even freaked out becasue Guy shoula beat Saku. He beat Tito in 1st fight.

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Could’ve possibly beaten Wand if not for the headbut

Agree with you, GSP “could probably beat Igor” is not accurate at all. If GSP was afraid to compete with MW’s he would certainly not want to deal with 235 lb HW wrecking machine Igor. Igor never lost to a WW or a MW in his entire career.

300 lb NCAA DII champ Bobish’s wrestling was not enough to deal with Igor, nor was 255 lb NCAA D1 champ/ADCC champ Kerr or 230 lb D1 All-American Nick Nutter. And talking BJJ guys, prime Barreto could not beat Igor either.

Igor is the heavy favorite vs GSP.

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Mezger did win a title in the UFC.
He beat Tito Ortiz with a broken hand.

Mezger was a fucking stud.
He was right on the edge of being one of the elite guys, and on a given night he absolutely could be.

Mezger was more of a sportsman than a killer, and I think maybe that’s where his ceiling was.
But in terms of ability he was near the front of the curve for most of his career.

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GSP would never take a fight with Igor.
I doubt he would play in traffic either.

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Guy was also lighting up liddel and wanderlai in pride until he got blitz late and KO’d . He was a good fighter , he would fall apart at clutch times

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Oh jesus christ

Just admit you wanna suck his dick and get on with it

The Mezger/Wandy fight is one of my unsung favorites.
It doesn’t get mentioned a lot, probably because there are so many epic figjts from that era.
It was short, but an absolute barn burner.
Both guys looked great.
Wandy just more of a killer – but Mezger could hang with anyone.

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