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Inoue and Sotiropoulos both begin and end their seminar with classic jiu-jitsu escapes. Among the simple and fundamental movements that every black belt masters, escapes are especially valuable to the beginners in attendance who often find themselves in bad positions.

Inoue remembers when he learned how important it is to win the battle for positional dominance, and how it led to one of the most controversial moments of his fighting career.

The first bout between Enson Inoue and Joe Estes took place twelve years ago in Tokyo’s Korakuen Hall, but Inoue laughs, “I remember it like it was last month.”

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The PRIDE & Shooto legend and the budding UFC & TUF6 star talk to Total-MMA about their different martial arts paths and fighting spirit they share

“We always say, we’re cut from the same cloth,” Enson Inoue says with a smile. The pioneering MMA legend is about to begin conducting a jiu-jitsu seminar with current UFC star George Sotiropoulos at Fisticuffs Gym in Vancouver, WA. The two are friends from the days when Sotiropoulos was cutting his teeth in Guam, fighting MMA at a show promoted by an old friend of Inoue.

“When I first met George, I looked at him,” Enson begins. “He was to fight this guy Sergio, this famous jiu-jitsu guy. And look at George, he doesn’t look like this mean dude. He looks like a nice guy, you know. I mean, he’s not a nice guy.”

“Hey! Come on now!” Sotiropoulos yells in a sarcastic protest.

Enson continues, mimicking George’s Australian accent: “‘Hey! I know you, Rites of Passages! Yeah!’ He wants to shake my hand… and I think, oh my God, this guy’s gonna get his ass kicked.”

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On May 3rd the greatest MMA promotion of all-time, Japan’s venerable SHOOTO promotion, will be running its 20th Anniversary show. The show will, fittingly, be headlined by SHOOTO’s greatest fighter and most loyal star-Rumina Sato. Many of today’s new fans don’t know Sato. His record stands at a modest 24-11-2. He’s never fought for the UFC or for PRIDE. He’s never held a major MMA World Title, even in his home promotion. But he’s quite simply the most dynamic and exciting fighter. Ever. Anywhere. He never compromises. Of his 37 fights, only five have gone to a decision. He never looks to play it safe. His sole goal in a fight is to submit his opponent, which he’s done 18 times. Securing the best position, playing it safe, grinding it out for a decision-these are concepts that are utterly foreign to Sato. He plans for the fight to end spectacularly, whether he wins or loses.

And for that we pay tribute. MMA needs more Rumina Satos. Please enjoy the following visual proof:

Sato v. Uno Parts I and II

Sato Highlight

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It’s safe to say that the deepest, and most consistently entertaining division in mixed martial arts is the lightweight division. Just a glance at fight of the year candidates over the last several years and you’ll see a slough of classic lightweight bouts. Uno/Sato 5/99, Penn/Pulver 1/02, Sato/Nakayama 11/02, Uno/Hansen 3/05, Hansen/Azeredo 4/06, Gomi/Diaz 2/07, Griffin/Edgar 2/07 and Huerta/Guida 12/07 are just a sampling of the fantastic lightweight fights that have taken place over the last several years.
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