Sakuraba-Mezger: The BS decision that changed the course of MMA forever

Doggie > You · 08-02-2007, 06:26 PM

The epic 90 minute bout between Kazushi Sakuraba and Royce Gracie in the PRIDE Grand Prix Finals 2000 is largely considered to be one of, if not THE most important fight in the history of mixed martial arts. The fight and the event itself were so many things: the birth of a Japanese and mixed martial arts legend, the christening of the PRIDE Fighting Championships as an elite organization, the destruction of the old ways of thought. The passing of the old guard from one man to another, one country to another and one organization to another. The invincible mystique of Gracie Jiujitsu had now been shattered as not only had a Gracie been stopped for the first time in MMA, but he had actually willingly quit, and this paved the way for the all-encompassing school of thought which the sport is based on today.

Something always bothered me though. Technically, that fight should've never happened.

In the opening round of the Grand Prix, Guy Mezger had seemingly beaten the smaller Sakuraba and should've been awarded the decision win; however, the judges did not see it that way and they called for a mandatory overtime to settle it. An enraged Ken Shamrock took umbrage over this and basically forced his stablemate to refuse to fight in one of the more questionable decisions in the sport's history. His outrage was understandable, as anyone who saw the fight would've indicate Mezger as the winner, but his reaction was more than a bit rash. And the sequence of events this set off would forever be felt in the world of MMA.

But what if it didn't happen that way?

What if Mezger was given the win over Sakuraba, or what if Mezger had actually went on to fight him in the overtime round and won?

The eight participants in the Finals would've been:

Igor Vovchanchyn
Gary Goodridge
Guy Mezger
Royce Gracie
Mark Coleman
Akira Shoji
Mark Kerr
Kazuyuki Fujita

What would've the matchups been instead? Who would Royce have been matched up against and how far would he have gone? Could Guy have legitimately won the tourney and avoided his tough losses (and classic matches) against the likes of Liddell, Silva, Arona and Nogueira that closed out his career? Could Mark Kerr had stayed on course as the most dominant fighter in the world if he had never fought Fujita? Would Fujita had ever been relevant and almost KO'ed Fedor Emelianenko in a future match if not for his fight with Kerr? Could goods friends Kerr and Coleman have possible met up in the Finals? Could Igor have won the elusive title of baddest man on the planet? Would Coleman have won the tourney and breathed life into his waning career?

And those are just a few of the questions I ask.

Would Sakuraba had ever fought Royce, Renzo or Ryan and become known as the Gracie Hunter? Would PRIDE and Japanese MMA become as popular, attracted as many great fighters and held as many great events as it did if Saku-Royce had never happened? Would the UFC and American MMA attracted better fighters and more attention? How many more Grand Prix's would Pride have held? Would the Gracies have started pouring into PRIDE/MMA and diversifying their skillsets so much if Royce had gone far in the tourney? Would the loss to Mezger just have made Sakuraba a "good Japanese fighter" instead of an MMA legend?

Would Wanderlei Silva have knocked out Mezger and then asked for a fight against Sakuraba? Would Wanderlei Silva have become the dominant PRIDE Middleweight champion that he was if he hadn't faced Sakuraba for the title and someone like Ricardo Arona instead? Would Chutebox ever become such a big force in MMA and been able to develop and bring in guys like Ninja, Shogun, Azeredo etc if Wanderlei was not their posterboy? Would somebody like Mirko Crocop had entered MMA if he hadn't destroyed Sakuraba so easily at Shockwave 2002? Could a relatively unknown fighter known as Quinton "Rampage" Jackson have won the PRIDE 2003 MWGP title?

Could PRIDE have kept their Yakuza scandal under wraps if everything had went a different course?

There are so many questions that can be asked and it's pretty fascinating to think about. It's amazing how one fight, one BS decision, could've influenced the sport of MMA so much.

Feb 2007 · 08-02-2007, 06:30 PM

I agree, the decision was the biggest bullshit I have truly ever seen in the history of my MMA viewing life. Pride really wanted Royce vs Sakuraba, so they declared the fight a draw (shooting for takedowns>getting pwned in the face repeatedly in those judges eyes). I normally don't complain about BS decisions, but when something like that where it was clearly not a matter of interpretation but the fact they didn't want one guy to win really upset me a lot.

eggshen · 08-02-2007, 06:35 PM

well i for one agrred with Ken... Pride basically CREATED a round on the fly. It wa sthe biggest farce ever.. guy would have fucked Gracie up tho.

Ancient Warrior · 08-02-2007, 06:46 PM

It's possible the bout could've effected the outcome of the finals. Coleman's bye against Fujita may have been erased and he could've faced Vovchanchyn in a more drained state, but it's all speculation.

I think the Mezger/Sakuraba bout was actually quite close, but if there had to be a decision, it should've went to Mezger. Guy was a tremendously talented fighter, but had problems with durability and stamina. The win may have catapulted him into more recognition, but I think his shortcomings would've shown themselves eventually.

Fedorisgod28 · 08-02-2007, 06:50 PM

i laughed so hard when i saw that reaction of ken

Reanimated · 08-02-2007, 06:52 PM

It's something to think about, but all it will ever be is a "What if" question. No matter what... What already happened, happened.

Hotcheetos · 08-02-2007, 07:00 PM

I thought Ken was gonna riot. It was pure Pride bullshit tho this aint the 1st time Pride pulled some shit like that

kidego365 · 08-02-2007, 07:08 PM

nice write-up.

as great as PRIDE is (was?), these kinds of obviously biased decisions and worked fights always nag at me.

same thing with old-school pancrase.

Cpl. Cam · 08-02-2007, 07:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Feb 2007

I agree, the decision was the biggest bullshit I have truly ever seen in the history of my MMA viewing life. Pride really wanted Royce vs Sakuraba, so they declared the fight a draw (shooting for takedowns>getting pwned in the face repeatedly in those judges eyes). I normally don't complain about BS decisions, but when something like that where it was clearly not a matter of interpretation but the fact they didn't want one guy to win really upset me a lot.

That's funny, I usually do complain about BS decisions but in this case I couldn't care less. If he couldn't go three rounds against Sak how the hell was he supposed to continue on in a tournament where his next round match could not be finished by decision.

LiverKicker · 08-02-2007, 07:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doggie > You

An enraged Ken Shamrock took umbrage over this and basically forced his stablemate to refuse to fight in one of the more questionable decisions in the sport's history. His outrage was understandable, as anyone who saw the fight would've indicate Mezger as the winner, but his reaction was more than a bit rash.

My feeling about this has always been that, of course, the decision was crazy, but Ken's reaction was way too far over the top. I would have left the Lion's Den at that point if I was Mezger and moved on to a more progressive MMA team. There were better ways to deal with that situation than what Ken did, and staying with the Lion's Den after that was Mezger's decision, and one I think was a mistake.