The Comeback Vol1 - Sakuraba v Smirnovas

[superfisto]

The highlight was longer than the actual fight!

[chuckycol]

the fight should have been stopped, this is insane.

[blackbandana01]

that fight was over in the U.S.

[UFCritical]

Smirnovas - "Where's Herb Dean?"

Akira Maeda (Hero's Chief) - "No Herb Dean, we like real fights with proper ending!"

Smirnovas - "Sheeeeet"

The rest is history.

This is why the UFC is NOT the be all and end all of MMA !!!

[justrelaxin]

That fight was obviously fixed. Saku was out and got totally smashed in the beginning, he didn't even protect himself properly. Even the referee didn't stop the fight. There was more than 20 shots to the head but referee kept it going. What a bs

[nospacesallowed]

@justrelaxin Not saying it wasn't fixed, but those aren't the signs of a fixed fight. A phantom punch or judges maybe bad judging are signs of a fix, although bad judging is normal now, those are signs of a fight. You don't want to risk your fighter getting ko'd if the fix is in. The judge might have been and probably was very biased towards Saku, but that is not how you fix a fight.

[justrelaxin]

@nospacesallowed That is not fixed if referee is paid to give advantage to another fighter in situation where he is hitted 20 times in a head? He was paid not to stop the fight there. There is no sense why that ref wasn't stopped that fight. Saku was terminated but ref still kept them fighting, obviously Saku wasn't fighting in that point :D

[panther2552]

@justrelaxin how was it fixed? he goes down. he's half out of the ring, tries to bring his hands up they get caught in the ropes. the ref restarts same position back in the ring. Sakuraba goes for a singleleg (not out). Saku gets rocked again and Smir has his back. ref calls for action and Saku changes position. Sakuraba gets himself up. begins to beat the crap out of smirnovas then subs him with the armbar. The only thing the ref did which is in the rules was restart inside the ring.

[justrelaxin]

@panther2552 First when Saku gaught like 10 hits straight in the face on the ground it should be stopped. Saku didn't try to cover him intelligently. He just ate those punches straight to the face and was in the la la land. it was one sided onslaught that should have been stopped.

[panther2552]

@justrelaxin actually you can see him twice trying to get his hands up and both times the ropes get in the way. The ref then restarted the fight in the same posistion and Smirnovas couldn't finish it. instead Saku works a singleleg.

[justrelaxin]

@panther2552 Yes, he works single leg after that barrage of punches, but still he isn't protecting himself intelligently. That is still wrong call by the referee.

[panther2552]

@justrelaxin umm working a single is defending yourself intelligently. Also changing position when a ref calls for action is a show of not being out. If the ref had been the one to get Sakuraba up then i would agree with you. But Sakuraba got back to his feet on his own and finished the fight on his own. The restart in the middle of the ring in the same position was the right thing to do because Saku was half out of the ring. it's protocal when fighting in a ring.

[justrelaxin]

@panther2552 How come it's intellectually defending when you take shots to the head all the time but only try to get single leg? 

[panther2552]

@justrelaxin because before the restart when they're in the ropes he's trying to get his hands up. that's defending yourself. the ropes hinder it. then the restart comes. he goes for the single leg that's trying to change position to defend himself aswell as go on the offensive. the second time he goes down the ref calls for action or there will be a stoppage and he changes position showing he's still capable of going on. Obviously he's not out or there's no way he could have got himself up.

[startkapital]

take some pressure in first round and revolt at 2nd

great charge

thank you Sakuraba

[MrNoirtoise]

i wish ufc let fights go on this long

[discoandherpes]

@MrNoirtoise

I'm all in agreement that there are a lot of politically correct, early stoppages in North American Mixed Martial Arts, but Sakuraba is going to get killed one day in the ring because of this kind of shit.

[hamidious]

Damn, Sakuraba is a tough SOB.

[drunkensailor112]

a testimony to how strong the mind and the heart can be. sakuraba proved it to us. thank you

[tracon117]

this shows you that that the fight should have not been stopped, he won. his heart will never be matched nor will his personality. war saku !

[tracon117]

this shows you that that the fight should have not been stopped, he won. his heart will never be matched nor will his personality.

[SkyrimOwns]

UFC would have stopped this fight at 2:20

[foolsauce420]

this video makes me feel like a fucking man

[KarlosBudkiller]

Kaz is a legend who doesn't understand the meaning of GIVE UP!!

what a fight....yes, probably should have been stopped, BUT.....how can someone comeback from having their head bounced off the mat that many times?!?!

Sakuraba is THE MAN!!! (deny this and your lying to yourself)

[jesxe69]

It kind of hurts deep down in the heart to see Saku take a beating like that at the begining and I can't help, but shed a tear to see that.

[Bmg391]

Sakuraba was getting his ass schooled ( as always ) and put his head out of the ropes, haha what a smartass.

[znawca28]

best hl ever....................

[pbrlimit]

This fight should have been stopped earlier, but it doesn't change the fact that Sakuraba took a beating and still came back from it.

[AKKressiv]

inspirating...

[ReversibelNagard]

Saku´s heart is bigger then Lesnar´s body ! 

[jungletiger911]

This is a MUST WATCH for anybody who wants to consider MMA for a career .....

A TRUE WARRIORS SPIRIT ! ( Even though I honestly think Rickson Gracie could beat Sakuraba )

[VOYTAZ666]

Music:

1: Robert Rodriguez – The Grindhouse Blues

2: John Murphy – Welcome To Britian

3: The Veils – Vicious Traditions

4: Wyclef Jean – Fortunate Son

[MrGravewalker]

He shouldn't have had the chance *to* comeback. If this fight is fought in Vegas then the ref calls the fight. Even Maeda was major pissed that the fight wasn't called. It's obvious K-1 had things stacked in his favor.

[panther2552]

@MrGravewalker I gotta ask, what things were stacked? He was taking shots, his upper body was outside the ring, restarts are part of Japanese mma. Smirnovas was left in dominant position on the restart and couldn't finish him. Each time the ref commanded "Action" Saku changed position, thus he hadn't given up and was still defending himself. There was no stand up, it was Saku who got himself up and finished the fight..

[deathtoakira666]

Saku is king i always wished he would get what he is owed in the world of mma he is the only known Gracie Hunter and Killer live forever SAKU!

[znawca28]

best hl ever, thank you Ghengis Con for your amazing work...

[xxpooheadxx]

Theres the Catch Then Theres the Drive And Now The Comeback Sakuraba just because of that fight is considered one of the best ever and plus he triangled a guy in a black suit lol thats gonna mean somthing right!

[XHollowXx]

EPIC COMEBACK XD

[makikihustle]

Sakuraba is hardcore, man.

[crxer]

i still say this is the best comeback ever honestly

[Zttbm]

Man it hurts to watch most of that fight.

[albusai]

what a HL,, like ea movie

[dimmunagar]

Saku = Pure Heart of a WARRIOR

[Aeglim]

times out of 100 if saku was on it. Heart like a a motherfucker. Thanks ghengis, and thanks saku for fighting. Makes my life great.

[Aeglim]

Did the better man win? Yes. Is that what matters here? Will smirnovas' life be better compared to saku because of the lack of damage? is it better to have a good chin and take a lot of hits and come back and do what saku did? Does he even have a good chin? Look at what wandy did to him. Does wandy hit that hard? chuck stood for it, he hit chuck clean a couple of times, and chuck's chin's been written up as glass nowadays. So what does that say for our Saku? all i know is i'd buy a PPV 100

[panther2552]

first, chuc was fighting an older out of prime Wandy who's won one fight in his last 6 i believe. two Chuck was the same size as Wandy. whereas Saku was around 30 lbs lighter. size make a difference when it's two high calibur fighters.

as for the other stuff youd asked, i reckon that depends on the person. some folks would rather live to fight another day and that's cool. others prefer to go out on their shields and that's cool if it's what they want.

[Aeglim]

This fight is one of those I think about when I see a fight stopped early. This one would have been stopped in the US probably ten times. and the best man won. Could nog have come back after mir? Could Kos have recovered from paulo thiago? just a couple of recent fights. yeah, i'm all about fighter safety,because it's better for the sport as well in addition to helping the fighters. but look at saku fighting "his way out of this one". I feel like a textbook. haha Discuss.

[BULLROTBASEL]

This man is unbelievable.

The greatest of all times

[sumoshinobi]

am i the only one who thinks that sakuraba looks like mister bean no offense i'm a huge fan

[Pammachitis]

Despite some holes in his stand-up, Saku is one of the All Time Legends and he deserves it .Had he worked on Muay Thai more, would have made him nearly invincible! Respect for 39

[panther2552]

when you watch his fights he was pretty much as invincible as a fighter gets in his prime. even when you look at his losses to the likes a Wandy, Nog and Cro cop you see the size difference was the factor. they were heavyweights in lil nog and Wandy's case cutting from 225-230 to 205 whereas Saku's walk around weight was 185. if not for Wandy's size does he win the first two fights? he was dropped in the first and in a choke in the second. Schembri was the one upset at Saku's weight of course

[s1w2i3t2c1h]

It's highlights like this that remind me I must get more Saku t-shirts. :)

[drunkensailor112]

does anyone know if sakuraba actually has brain damage?? I know peter aerts has but sakuraba took so much beating through his career that he must have an incredible skull.

[panther2552]

i haven't heard anything about actual brain damage for Saku, seen some writers say he acts loopy (sumbling around) at weighins insinuating that something's wrong, but they're talking about the biggest joker (joker ina good way) in MMA. so reckon maybe they just don't know the guy.

[kklmjk]

I am Brazilian and have practiced BJJ, home os the Gracies, but I have to say...SAKU is the MAN, a legend. The best.

[byggarn]

This is why Sakuraba is the greatest fighter ever.

[dredwing99]

there will NEVER be another SAKU!!

[zaggers77]

What are you talking about, that ref should have stopped the fight when Saku's head was out of the ring. Saku got lucky. Bottom fucking line.

[panther2552]

@zaggers77 the ref did the right thing once Saku's head was out of the ring he restarted them back in the ring. That's what is done when MMA fights are in the ring.

[shoffma1999]

What is the name of the song at the very beginning of the video - with the electric and flamenco guitars then saxophone?

[giullo]

thanks to the author, a great video for one of the GOAT :)

[mrgianetti4]

It is sick when they get up and look at each other. Smirnovas was in awe. He just couldn't believe it.

[BoomRushThrill]

Well done Sakuraba! WELL DONE!

[MMACyborg]

What's the title of the song at the ending of the video!?? Is there someone that could help me to know??

[tiger557]

i think its our lady peace not enough

[StuffyG]

Name of the song is "Vicious Traditions" by The Veils. It's a good choice for this video.

[blodbotina]

jeez... props to both guys cuz they both took huge damage and still kept coming. good show of respect after the fight too!

[Dainanashi]

faved! what's the song?

[sakurabastheman]

sakurabas the man!!!!!!!!!

[Muffinmanv2]

Great fight. I was wondering why Smirnovas didn't pin him.

[blunderking]

most undeserved victory ive ever seen. sakuraba was down and after taking some heavy hits stopped blocking attacks and was knocked out, then referee stops them and literally dragged sakuraba to the center and giving him time to recover. sakuraba should be ashamed winning this one

[panther2552]

actually if you watch it. it was restarted because he was in the ropes. He couldn't get his hands in position to defend himself while in the ropes.

If he was knocked out he wouldn't have had a firm grip on the ropes just as the ref stepped in for the restart.

If the ref had stopped it i wouldn't have complained, but smirnovas simply couldn't put Saku away and in the end Saku did what he does best, tapped Smirnovas.

[blunderking]

the ropes wasnt blocking the area that was needed to try to block. its not like sakuraba wanted to get hit. according to mmarules if opponent in such a situation does not even try to block he is out. when the referee stepped in sakuraba was so far away he refused to let go of the rope several times and the referee restarted the fight in the middle of the ring in a different position where sakuraba was turned the other way giving sakuraba big advantage.and sakuraba was rested.

[blunderking]

if a opponent is flat in the ground and not guarding and not understanding that the judge is trying to communicate with him, isnt that a ko? then what is?

[panther2552]

ko is knocked out or being uncounsious. Obviously if you can grab onto a rope Firmly you're not out. The punches at that point were coming through the ropes. Saku didn't have the ability to raise his arms to a position of defense thus the restart. Which yes are part of the rules aswell. there was no refusal to let go of the ropes the restart took all of 7 seconds to get them into the same position where smirnovas should have been able to finish the fight, but couldn't.

[blunderking]

"Saku didn't have the ability to raise his arms to a position of defense thus the restart. Which yes are part of the rules aswell"

no its not. can you show me this rule that says if a opponent is trapped in a guard and unable to defend properly

because opponent is controlling your legs and your back and you are almost knocked out the fight must be restarted?

the ropes are not stopping any of the angles needed to block properly.

[blunderking]

yes you can grab a rope while uncounsious. ive even seen people lay in their back boxing in the air long after fight in thin air thinking there is a opponent there. and waking up later asking "what happend? what am i doing here? was it no enough that the referee tried 3 times to remove sakurabas hand from the rope when sakuraba probably was so wasted that he thought it was smirnovas who tried to remove it and refused? he was not counsious? he was way more out than nogueira in his last ko loss

[blunderking]

yes you can hold a rope firm when youre out. even when youre dead you can hold firm on things. its just the way it is. saku had area to move arms 100% freely. he had no space for reversing the mount i give you that. 7 seconds is enough to recover from many blows. saku did refused to let go of the rope betwen 2:26 and 2:29 any more arguments i need to prove against?

[panther2552]

actually in death you'd only be able to hold onto something firmly once riggamortis sets in. which is hours after death. when you're out your muscles slack after the initial tensing which is seconds.

and you hurt your own argument by saying he is out, yet he refused to let go of the ropes. if he's out he's not going to be able to refuse. His arms were hindered by the ropes they were under his left cutting off the ability to grab smir's hand. the right if you watch the vid is working for ctrl

[blunderking]

you CAN hold onto something when you are not fully concious. thats a FACT. if he is out he is not able to refuse? lets start with the basic question. why did he refused to let go of the ropes? because he was not concious enough to understand what was happening. and the ropes was not stopping him from grabbing the arm. it was smirnovas pinning sakus left foot holding him on the side and had won position. not like the position after the restart when saku was turned the other way around.

[blunderking]

and it was not the same position at all. as you can see when saku was in the ropes he couldnt defend himself properly because smirnovas held down sakus left foot with the right foot to secure that saku could not get front to front with him. good position. but when they restart position they started it without smirnovas foot stopping sakus possibilities and they were suddenly front to front and saku had alot of possibilities + getting enough time to get rested

[panther2552]

you're right it wasn't the exact same position. yet smirnovas still was in the basic position with one knee over saku's leg. Either way Smirnovas couldn't finish the fight. as soon as the restart came, Saku went for a leg.

and yes the ropes to obstruct Saku's ability to block.

Restarts are a part of the rules in some MMA venues including Pride and most Japanese MMA events. There is no unified MMA ruling body world wide. Smirnovas should have finished him, but couldn't and tapped.

[sadowolf]

what this vid doesnt show is that smirnovas was repeatedly trying to strike saku while the ref was repositioning them. he even got a clean shot right to sakus face while the fight had yet to be restarted. judging by those actions he had no problem with his position. i think that evens things out

[JDRC07]

you're retarded, they restarted with smirnova's leg pinning saku's in the exact same way, and any time to rest he got during the restart time must've been pretty quickly nullified when he ate 5 powerful hammerfists immediately.

Get the fuck over it, saku won this fight fair.

A fight isn't ended by TKO until the fighter is no longer intelligently defending himself, and grabbing for legs counts as intelligent defense.

[blunderking]

its not the same position. even the guys arguing against me agree on that. nullified when he ate 5 powerful hammerfists? it doesnt work that way, 5 " weak" punches doesnt equal one strong clean hit as he got standing.

"A fight isn't ended by TKO until the fighter is no longer intelligently defending himself, and grabbing for legs counts as intelligent defense"

huh he is not grabbing after legs. he grapped the rope. referee had to try 4 times to get sakus hand of the rope. intelligent?

[panther2552]

at the moment of restart Saku is grabbing for smirnovas legs. that's how they get back to standing position.

[blunderking]

you misunderstood this whole conversation is about the very controversial restart of the fight in different position. im all ok with the rest of the fight

[SnAkEsIdOl]

Stop being a hater, Sakuraba is a fucking legend.

[blunderking]

saku is a legend and a fantastic fighter but this one fight was bullshit

[enminatieda]

Yeah. Not Sakuraba's fault, but the ref work in Japan can be pretty fucking retarded at times. They'll give their fighter every chance to recover, even if it means receiving brain damage. Had it been Smirnovas taking those punches from Sakuraba, you can rest assured the ref would've stopped the fight after two or three of those clean blows.

[SONofEIRE1987]

i remember watching this fight and i knew he would'nt go down like that, he's to good a man.

amazing heart sakuraba

[dbizzle7353]

That's about the worst reffing I've ver seen in my life.

[resandelantis]

holy fucking shit that was epic as hell

[robmahalkita]

whats the song?

[wondeboy12]

Most promotions would of called that fight but still a brilliant shopwing of heart by sakuraba.

It also shows that Smirnovas has some skill too.

[crxer]

kazushi motherfucking gracie hunter sakuraba pure heart.

[robacoustic]

awesome musically and an eoic battle cannot detract from the mans heart but if the ref was doin his work his opportunity to rise wouldnt have been there.,.,. sad but true!

[graywolf87]

it was supposed to be stopped that was raw and negligent by the referee he wasn't protecting nor reacting, he was rocked...but besides all that, this guy had the heart, mentality and spirit to not give up, damn he demonstrated that clear here.

[panther2552]

It's Sakuraba every fight he's ever been in shows that. this fight is just another example of his greatness.

[craigf667]

definition of heart right there boys. fucking great video.

[chairmanwho]

wow. great fight and great highlight. Amazing. I didn't realize that Smirnovas was constantly pounding Saku to the back of the head for a majority of the beatdown. Damn.

[PAUonePUNCH]

This should have been stopped a the 1 min mark. Saku wasnt defending him self and tried to get out of the ring. I hate the RING had it been caged in the Saku get knocked out right there.

[strifed169]

fucking heart man

[MmaLegend420]

Holy crap I never saw such an amazing comeback, whats sad is that this fight woulda been over so quick in the ufc. Which is why the ufc kinda sux, but in the same respect it is safer for the figher. But u dont get amazing fights like this. Kudos to both these men. Beasts among men

[panther2552]

aye, matches like this show why Sakuraba is one of the greatest ever.

[KHARSUE111]

epic

[calidoggie]

Smirnovas had no skill on the ground. He had a dozen chances to win easily. There was an easy guillotine, an armbar opening ... he had a full mount! He had Saku in a rear naked choke! If you can't win when you have a rear naked choke sunk in, you are not very good. Saku should have lost; the fight should have been stopped when Saku wasn't defending himself and was getting beaten, but Smirnovas was so bad on the ground that he deserved to lose.

[chancesare]

Yeah and how many times has sakuraba been submitted not in pro-wrestling?

[Baios81]

wow incredible editing man.very good video :)

[PuertoRicanTakeOva]

HOLY FUKKN CRAP That's what you call HEART

[dr809badboy2]

damn does people r crazy is not like UFC....

[chepevc10]

i need the name of the track that starts on

1:46 please!!!!!

[craftystu]

Vicious Traditions by The Veils- great song

[yardape99]

Genghis makes the best MMA videos by far.

[deanbona]

Damn...That is spirit and heart

[Ntona]

"I will not die today!"

[mitmcl]

great highlight. is there any place i can download this so that i can put it on my mp3?

[Genkimark]

Sorry, but Saku lost this fight...

[panther2552]

Apparently he won the fight. If the ref had stopped it when saku was hurt i wouldn't have complained, but he didn't and smirnovas had ample opportunity to finish saku after the restart. If saku was completely out there's no way he should have been able to get back into the fight and submit smirnovas.

[odienman]

Amazing job man and an awesome fight. Although looks as though Sak. may of got saved with that 3 second breather from having the fight brought back into the ring. None the less still amazing.

[deanbona]

"I will NOT die today!"

[TeetoPlastic]

GOOD LORD why didn't they stop the fight?

Impressive video, like a mini-movie with the MRI interlude.

Japanese fight prejudice apparent, though. I believe the fight should have been most definitely stopped. It reminds of the Daniel-Day Lewis film, "The Boxer," where they kept letting the guy get up by slowing down the count.

[mrpopenfresh]

Holy shit! I didn't know Saku used the rope a dope style. Unfortunately, that fight could have ended any time during the beatdown and no one would have contested.

[ninetosixto]

wow that was amazing defo in my top 5 come backs i think, btw what song did you use

[craftystu]

Genuinely the best MMA video I've ever seen, superb! Thank you.

[poseid00n]

Incredible style, of sakuraba and of that video. Music, cuts, "script", composition,... perfect!

5 stars and favourite

[fug33]

one of the best MMA HL videos in existence

great job with music and editing

[tzutzescu]

Greaj Job dude! i've been searching this fight for some time now :D

[jenlans]

fucking nuts bra! saku is the greatest of all time!

[panther2552]

Thanks for posting this i've never seen this fight before.