In late
Wasn’t Sakurai in a car accident shortly before the Hughes fight? I recall that he had hurt his back badly in that. Either way Hughes worked him, but amazing how easy it was to throw together amazing cross-over fights back then.
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i agree they had some good fighters and sakarai was very good up until his last 10 fights or so
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I think Ruas was more well-rounded, but I still think Frye would have won.
I was always super impressed with Rumina Sato. I wanted to see him fight in the ufc but never happened
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Imagine Ruas fighting Rickson on the street and then filming it— that tape would be worth a million dollars today
Btw what was Yoji Anjou thinking in challenging Rickson?! Yoji never impressed me as a mma guy at all
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Man this is a phenomenal time capsule. Thanks for sharing
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Ruas is just as overrated as Rickson. More Brazilian carnieism. He lost to Alexander Otsuka lol. At least rickson beat all the Japanese pro wrestling cans they put in front of him.
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I just DL’d “Breathe” on Amazon Audible.
We believe you, bro. Screenshot proof not required 
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[quote=“ons_ear, post:449, topic:3680958, full:true”] Btw what was Yoji Anjou thinking in challenging Rickson?! Yoji never impressed me as a mma guy at all
[/quote]
Rickson talks about it in detail in the book. Really gives off the vibe that rather than intending to fight, Anjou was looking to score pro-wrestling promo points and up his status in that world.l by making it look like Rickson was afraid to fight him on the spot.
Seems like he got himself trapped between wanting to maintain his tough guy persona and backing down once he realized Rickson wasn’t playing.
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Otsuka was game. Some people still think he beat Anderson Silva when they fought.
Ruas was clearly better than him but got exhausted. Iirc Ruas was ill and on antibiotics during the fight.
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Plus he was very undersized against Hughes.
He was 5-13 with a win over Bob sapp via dq. He was also significantly bigger than Anderson and still lost by a lot.
Ruas is a legit great.
the Anjoh tape probly worth a lot ,If Ruas could have improved his staminia he could have been one of if not the best
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Otsuka’s record is garbage for sure, but it doesn’t really tell a good story of his career. Of those 13 L’s, only three were to people who either weren’t UFC/Pride champions or adcc medalists. And 2 of those 3 were Ninja Rua and Igor Vovchanchyn.
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I’d buy Rickson’s book if he released the Anjo tape
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No. Not really. More legend and hype. The Gracie nonsense gave the luta livre movement more credence than it deserved.
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his takedowns IMo were better than Royce and Renzo and he always managed to get top position Hes also done freestyle wrestling But I agree with many he did not face the top competition