DREAM.8: When the Past Becomes The Future
Posted by Alan Conceicao on April 5th, 2009
It seems not long ago that PRIDE introduced a second tier show, Bushido, and ultimately used that event to push forward its non-heavyweight stars. Inargurably one of its centerpieces was Hayato “Mach” Sakurai, a former Shooto champion and even UFC welterweight title challenger, a popular and exciting fighter with a storied background in Shooto. His value was such to PRIDE that the lightweight division there was ostensibly built around him; the weight class of 160 was not used by Shooto or any American organization, and like EXC’s lightweight division. The number came to exist because the fighter intended to become its champion (Sakurai could realistically be no lighter, a move mimicked by the Shaws to promote Nick Diaz (a move that, in retrospect, ended exactly the same way).
The successes of himself and of Takanori Gomi helped buoy the company’s “B-show” until its cancellation and reintegration with PRIDE FC’s main events during its death throes, and as such, made him a minor star in MMA, capable of bolstering interest in shows, though not necessarily filling large arenas all on his own. Following PRIDE’s collapse, Sakurai looked purely human against Hidehiko Hasegawa and frequent UFC loser Hironaka. Worse yet was his loss in Shooto to general unknown David Baron, leading many on this side of the Pacific to wonder if Sakurai’s days were over.
Sakurai’s quick win over the vaunted judoka/lightweight contender/Shooto 167lb; champion Aoki will now undoubtedly put him squarely back in the spotlight of Japanese MMA circles, as well as among hardcore fans in the US. The flash win shouldn’t necessarily return him to the top 10 or even erase the questions of where his true overall standing is, however. He has not beaten a top 10 opponent in any weight class in over 2 1/2 years, and while Aoki was the 167 lb Shooto title holder, he hadn’t competed there against any decent fighters in years. Sakurai should, however, have a very reasonable path to the welterweight title in DREAM, where the division’s talent pool is awfully shallow.
In fact, the pool is so shallow, it resembles more the Cage Force tourneys of two years ago. Jason High and Marius Zaromskis have both emerged from also-ran prospect status to semifinalists following wins over even less impressive competition. By far the most interesting participant is Andre Galvao, who’s armbar victory over solid midtier gatekeeper John Alessio is his second solid career victory in a career that has run a mere 8 months. His high level BJJ will undoubtedly pose some problems for Sakurai, who has in the past been defeated by black belts Crosley and Rodrigo Gracie, neither of whom is considered by anyone to be anything resembling an elite MMA fighter.
That problem with talent carried over to much of the rest of the show. It was a mix of aging and mediocre names from PRIDE and HERO’S shows past mixed with second tier fighters in fights that typically would have only made the two round prelims of a Bushido show. The split in Japan, combined with the lack of elite fighters from the west, has made events like DREAM into extended versions of DEEP shows. That may sound like a bitter conclusion to reach, but its entirely true. With K-1 and Sengoku pushing hard to find new stars for the future, one has to wonder; How long can DREAM realistically keep recycling the same old names?
Aside from the generally unimpressive names of the welterweight tourney, DREAM had a number of other fights, running the gamut from heavyweight tussles to wrestlers duking it out:
-DREAM threw out its final featherweight GP bout with Daiki “DJ Taiki” Hata’s win over everyone’s favorite janitor, Hideo Tokoro. Both men had knocked on the door of major success before in MMA, and both had typically come up short. Hata’s win doesn’t make him elite, but it at least keeps him alive in a tournament filled with skilled fighters that could force him to elevate his game.
-Murilo “Ninja” Rua only handed the naysayers more ammunition to fire at him with an abyssmal performance against late substitution Riki Fukuda in what was admittedly an entertaining fight. Rua has, with each subsequent performance, attacked less and less, been easier and easier to hit, and reacted worse and worse to those punches. Fukuda, for all his naysayers, has put together a perfectly decent career at the moment, and would be a solid, albiet unspectacular, call-up for Strikeforce, or as an opponent for Mayhem Miller or Jacare.
-Andrews Nakahara may not have started his career off on the right foot, losing to the washed up Sakuraba, but wins over Dong Sik Yoon and Shungo Oyama make him now among the best middleweights in Japan. Oyama was totally outclassed, manhandled, and destroyed in his worst performance since the Cro-Cop mismatch.
-If Frank Mir beating the #2 heavyweight in the world means that he should become #2, what does that mean for Monson beating a guy who generally lay anywhere from #6-#10 on most lists? He took down Kharitonov, got any position he wanted, then submitted him with virtual ease, this just a couple weeks after the highly contentious decision win he picked up over Roy Nelson and roughly a week since beating nobody Sergei Maslobojev in Ireland. Disregarding the likely agreed to loss to training partner Josh Barnett, Monson’s beaten a strange collection of names, including Ricco Rodriguez, and he’s done it in relatively short order. Aside from one night tournaments, its hard to think of anyone doing what Monson has accomplished in years. Clearly, this is a man looking to get a paycheck and looking for that paycheck now. I wonder where he’ll fight next week? Is there an MMA Xtreme event going on in Mexico?
-Vitor Riberio returned to action for the first time since 2007. There was once a time where Riberio was considered hands down the best lightweight in the world following the dissolution of the UFC’s 155 lb weight class and BJ Penn’s decision to eat cupcakes. He dominated former Olympian Katsuhiko Nagata on the mat en route to a TKO following a massive laceration caused by knees on the mat. Riberio has wins over Mitsuoka, Daisuke Nakamura, Jean Silva, Menjivar, Ishida, and Hansen. If you think his two KO losses eliminate all those wins, you might as well cross out every fighter that’s active. A focused Riberio is capable of a whole lot, even if he’s still terrible in the standup.
-Minowaman lost to Shibata. I’m all for entertainment in my MMA and Minowa’s all about that, but really, If its not worth it to analyze TUF scrubs fighting (which it isn’t), why make exceptions for this?
April 5th, 2009 at 1:23 pm
“-If Frank Mir beating the #2 heavyweight in the world means that he should become #2, what does that mean for Monson beating a guy who generally lay anywhere from #6-#10 on most lists?”
If you had Kharitonov in your top ten right now I would argue you were on strong drugs. Probably LSD. Guy hasn’t looked good since 2005. Obviously people overrated him because he fought in PRIDE, but still. I’d have Monson somewhere in the top twenty.
“Inargurably one of its centerpieces was Hayato “Mach” Sakurai, a former Shooto champion and even UFC welterweight title challenger, a popular and exciting fighter with a storied background in Shooto. His value was such to PRIDE that the lightweight division there was ostensibly built around him; the weight class of 160 was not used by Shooto or any American organization, and like EXC’s lightweight division. The number came to exist because the fighter intended to become its champion (Sakurai could realistically be no lighter, a move mimicked by the Shaws to promote Nick Diaz (a move that, in retrospect, ended exactly the same way).”
Not really. The PRIDE WW division was always built around Gomi from right after he killed Ralph Gracie. Sakurai during that stage was fighting at 185lbs against Crosley Gracie and Vieira from BTT and stuff. He didn’t drop to 160lbs until Bushido *9*, and even there I believe he was an underdog against Pulver and IIRC him running through Pulver and Hansen was one of the shocks of that show. The weight limit was put in for *Gomi*, not Sakurai, as Gomi had trouble even making 160lbs after the Jean Silva fight.
April 5th, 2009 at 4:28 pm
“what does that mean for Monson beating a guy who generally lay anywhere from #6-#10 on most lists?”
I think you should take a closer look at “most lists.” Sports Illustrated is the only notable list to have Kharitonov in the top 10.
April 5th, 2009 at 6:17 pm
I got on Alan about this already. I think his general premise is right though: back-to-back wins over Nelson and Kharitonov (in one pay period!) has to make him a serious top 10 contender.
April 5th, 2009 at 7:52 pm
Well, technically it isn’t back-to-back, because he actually fought (and won) in between Nelson and Kharitonov. So it is more of some kind of Nelson-Kharitonov meaty sandwich.
Also: you should give Ikemoto vs Zaromskis more credit! It was the sleeper hit of the card. Relentless flying double punches, matched by a single moonsault double stomp? Mind blowing.
And come on, Minowaman deserves far more credit than what you’re currently giving him. When Minowaman fights, my eyes are glued to the screen. Connecting with the fans is a skill sorely underdeveloped in many MMA fighters.
April 5th, 2009 at 10:44 pm
My top 10 HWs:
1. FEDOR EMILIANENKO – RED DEVIL SPORT CLUB
2. FRANK MIR – STRIKING UNLIMITED
3. ANTONIO RODRIGO NOGUEIRA – IRON HOUSE
4. JOSH BARNETT – TEAM CSW
5. ALISTAIR OVEREEM – GOLDEN GLORY
6. BROCK LESNAR – MINNESOTA MARTIAL ARTS ACADEMY
7. RANDY COUTURE – TEAM XTREME COUTURE
8. TIM SYLVIA – MFS
9. ANDRE ARLOVSKI – RICKSON GRACIE JJ/TEAM PITBULL
10. JEFF MONSON – ATT OLYMPIA
April 5th, 2009 at 11:47 pm
With respect to the mighty TOM, my own top 10:
1. Fedor Emelianenko
2-10. Everybody else.
April 6th, 2009 at 11:55 am
All you did was copy mine, IMO.