https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfRDE_asnMo Going from a striker back to a wrestler, we look at probably the earliest Japanese MMA pioneer of the modern era, Kazushi Sakuraba. Sakuraba was originally a wrestler who got into Japanese pro wrestling and made a huge career of it. In 1996 he competed in an event in Japan where he submitted to Kimo Leopardo. After that he competed in the UFC Japan tournament where are after a controversial stoppage he was re-entered into the tournament and won. From there he turned to Pride FC where he has his famous trilogy with Wanderlei Silva. He also made a name for himself as the "Gracie Killer" when he defeated four members of the Gracie family. Sakuraba actually had a long career in MMA and didn't slide until the last three years. He retired in 2011 after a loss to Yan Cabral at Dream 17. To this day he still competes in pro wrestling where he will probably make enough to retire on when he decides to. While he has yet to show the punishment he sustained in MMA, his one dimensional grappling based fighting style is still obvious. That is why he lost his last four fights in a row to fighters who could be considered average by today's standards.
Matthew Salzer fell in love with Mixed Martial Arts when he watched Pride Fighting Championships on Japanese TV. He is a lifelong wrestler having earned a Bachelor of Science at Missouri Baptist University. Matthew is the Senior Editor at MMA Freak and has written for Funky Monkey MMA, H4 Entertainment, and MMA Fiends.