The UFC's buyout of their largest competitor certainly has its downside for fighters and fans alike, but one positive side-effect is that we will see many matches between outstanding fighters that would have been unthinkable due to cross-promotional barriers that no longer exist (much like finally being able to get Mexican Coke in a glass bottle in So-Cal, but I digress).
Nick Diaz is finally slated to take on GSP, Jacare and Anderson Silva will tangle eventually , and who isnt looking forward to seeing Stikeforce's heavyweight elite take a run at the UFC belt?
I thought now would be a good time to take a look back at time some amazing match-ups that never happened. Fans may have wanted them, the fighters may have wanted them, but they just didnt get done. Often, but not always, there were issues between rival promotions that made these matches impossible, other times the issues were much more complicated. "Fans" who believe MMA started in 2005 with the Ultimate Fighter can just stop reading now, most of these names won't mean anything to you:
Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Frank Shamrock
The year was 1999. Frank Shamrock had just defeated a young challenger named Tito Ortiz with a dramatic come-from-behind KO in one of the greatest fights in UFC history up to that time. Frank carried his Middleweight belt out of the ring (yeah thats what it was called at the time) and walked away from the UFC. His destination was Japan, where he had started his career and made name on the Pancrase curcuit (what's Pancrase? ummmm...."slap boxing with padded boots on" is the best description I can think of "the Diet Coke of MMA" also springs to mind).
Kazushi Sakuraba was carving his way through the Gracie family at the same time. Bear in mind that this was back when a Gracie losing was a big deal. Royler, Royce. and Ryan all suffered their first losses to him and Renzo (thought by some to be the best MMA fighter in the family) had his arm mangled by the man who would become known as "The Gracie Hunter". EVERYONE wanted a piece of this guy. He took on the best and beat them with a combination of flare and technique that is rare in any sport.
SEG sports and its UFC brand was losing steam in the U.S. and Pride was paying top dollar, and thats where Shamrock hoped to end up. He had a K1 MMA fight against Elvis Sinosec to re-introduce himself to the Japanese fans, but the bout he wanted never materialized. The key to understanding it is the fact that Shamrock's stateside popularity didnt mean much to Japanese fans. The best ratings for Pride shows featured fights that the US audience wouldnt watch if you paid them between Japanese fighters with questionable skills. Bob Sapp, Giant Silva, and Hidehiko Yoshida were HUGE draws in Japan and freak-show contests that defied logic were mainstays overseas. Against that backdrop, Shamrock didnt draw the star-power necessary to get a shot at the king.
Wanderlei Silva vs Tito Ortiz II
If you ask most fans who Tito Ortiz beat to capture the UFC title they will draw a complete blank, and for good reason. The title was vacant at the time and this was during the "dark ages" of MMA when the UFC was banned from the PPV market (hard to picture now isnt it?). It was won in a match against Wanderlei Silva, who was most well known in the UFC at the time for being BLITZED by Vitor Belfort in 44 seconds (the first time the phrase "thats the old Vitor" was used, 1998 and I still CONSTANTLY hear it....but more on that later). Tito won the match via unanimous decision despite actually turning around and RUNNING from Silva at one point. Still, he worked his ground and pound game and began an historic run at light-heavyweight.
Wanderlei began an historic run of his own after that fight. He made the transition to Pride and cut a swath through the light-heavyweight ranks, capturing the belt and demolishing the aforementioned Sakuraba (a completely unnecessary) 3 times. He went undefeated for 4 years and didnt lose to another light-heavyweight for 5, at one time fighting 17 times without a loss.
Tito held the UFC gold for 3 1/2 years before being upset (yeah, it was an upset, everyone seems to forget that) by a 40 year old Randy Couture. From 2000- 2006 he held an impressive 11-2 record, losing only to Couture and Chuck Liddell. Many fans on both sides of the Pacific wondered who would own a rematch....but it was not to be.
By the time the UFC aquired pride in 2007, Wanderlei had simply been through too many wars and was past his prime. He has dropped down to middleweight and looked solid in beating Michael Bisping, but the "Axe Murderer" of old may be gone forever. Tito is in even worse shape. He has not had a victory since beating Ken Shamrock for the (COMPLETELY unnecesary) 3rd time and is 0-4-1 and has a longer list of injuries than a Evil Knievel. But when both guys were on top of their respective promotions, it would have been a match to see.
Jens Pulver vs Rumina Sato
The year was 2000. Jens Pulver was quickly making a name for himself as the the man to beat in the fledgling 155lb division in the UFC. His record was an impressive 9-2-1 with 7 of those wins coming by KO or TKO. He was a little dude with solid wrestling and a HEAVY left hand. He had just shown how heavy by breaking the jaw of John Lewis in a mere 15 seconds. If there was going to be any competition for this guy it would probably have to come from the land of the rising sun, where the lightweights reigned supreme.
There wasn't any lightweight more feared than Rumina Sato. He didn't just fight for the Shooto organization, he WAS Shooto. The fans loved this guy. He had a combination of technical slickness and near suicidal aggression that was entertaining every single time. The guy actually won an MMA fight via "flying reverse triangle choke" and his flying armbar win over Charles Diaz looks like something out of a Jet Li movie. He was a huge name in MMA and if you knew one name from overseas it was Rumina Sato.
Zuffa had just purchased the struggling UFC from SEG Sports and was looking to put on their first show. Dana White was a huge fan of Sato and wanted to bring the Shooto star over to his promotion. The match was a great fit on many levels: Japanese icon vs. up and coming U.S. superstar in the making, Brawler vs. Submission Specialist, #1 vs #2 for the inaugural lightweight championship.
Too bad no one told Caol Uno.
He had already beaten Sato once, a grueling match that saw Uno come back and win via rear-naked. Most Japanese fans saw it as a fluke and were sure Sato would avenge himself in a rematch. A vicious punch-kick combo proved everyone wrong as Uno KO'd Sato a mere 2 1/2 minutes into their rematch.
Zuffa, to their credit, went with the winner and pitted Uno against Pulver for the lightweight belt, a belt Pulver would hold for less than a year before walking away from the UFC in 2002. It was an outstanding fight and tempers the regret that the Japanese legend never fought in the octagon.
Wanderlei Silva vs. Vitor Belfort II
Is anyone else sick of everyone mentioning or referencing this fight every time Vitor Belfort gets in the ring? It seems like everyone is waiting for a performance like that again and are so sure it is just around the corner.
The year was 1997 and Vitor Belfort was the Mike Tyson of MMA. He was 19 years old looked completely unstoppable. He had dispatched his first 4 opponents in a combined 3:05. He had blinding hand speed and was thought to be one of the greatest BJJ fighters on the planet (anyone remember this quote "[Belfort] and Rickson Gracie are the best in the world on the ground", still hilarious). He trained with the Carlson Gracie Team when it was at the height of it's power and seemed destined for the heavyweight crown.
Then along came Randy Couture. He didnt just beat Belfort, he ground him into the mat. Not only did he out-grapple Belfort, he out-boxing him as well. It was the performance that really put Randy Couture on the map.
Belfort's next performance was a little bizarre. He beat Joe Charles without throwing a single punch, I think he was trying to make up for the fact that Couture had passed his guard like it wasn't even there. He responded to the post-fight interview question with inaudible one-word answers, it was the first hint that this dude had some confidence issues.
At Ultimate Brazil in 1998, Belfort moved down to 205 to take on the "Axe Murderer". Silva was only 5-1 and completely unknown at the time. This fight was his big break and he made the least of it. Belfort TORCHED Silva in a mere 44 seconds with a flurry of unanswered punches that has been replayed so many times I'm sick of seeing it.
As I went over in the Tito-Wanderlei section, Silva went on to an INCREDIBLE run in Pride. The weird thing is that Belfort fought for the same organization, in the same weight-class, and at the same time, yet they never faced each other again. Considering how badly I'm sure Silva wants payback, its strange that this fight never took place under the Pride banner.
There are basically two factors to keep in mind when analysing when this rematch never took place. Number one: UFC history meant very little to the Japanese fans and number two: Belfort was never really a title contender in Pride. Although he went 4-1 with the organization, he was never really a fan favorite and only finished one opponent. Wanderlei was the proverbial "wildman" from Brazil and decimated his opponents, while Belfort never fought like the man who has devastated Silva in the UFC.
Both guys now find themselves in the octagon at the same weight-class, so this re-match could potentially still happen. But considering the wars Wanderlei has been through and the inconsistent nature of Belfort's performances since that beating by Couture, it may be too late to see the fight all would have hoped for.
Tank Abbot vs. Ken Shamrock
There were basically four names that dominated the early tournament-based UFCs: Royce Gracie, Dan Severn, Ken Shamrock, and David "Tank" Abbott. Of those four, Abbott is the only one who never fought any of the other three.
Abbott was a brawler who was the original "Huntington Beach Bad-Boy". We knew when we saw him make fun of a convulsing John Matua that this guy had a serious attitude problem and KO power. To say he was not particularly technical is a bit of an understatement. This guy had 24 fights and NEVER WENT PAST THE FIRST ROUND!!! He was certainly fun to watch though. He actually knocked Don Frye on his ass with a JAB. In the early days, when MMA was more spectacle than sport, he was a mean brawler with a style that was easy for fans to understand. He looked, talked, and acted like a guy who punched people for money.
Ken Shamrock was the only fighter other than Royce Gracie who had any business being in the first UFC. He was well-rounded, experienced, and could bench-press a small truck. Before leaving MMA in 1997 for a stint in the WWE, Shamrock's only octagon losses were to Gracie and Severn and his overall MMA record was an impressive 23-5-1. He was a MAJOR star for the organization and was a force to be reckoned with in the heavyweight division.
Why these two never met in something of a mystery. They were aggressive, crowd pleasing strikers with big names and they HATED each other. These were two guys with no shortage of ego and their ability to trash-talk was legendary. Abbott would bad-mouth Santa Clause with no hesitation and famously called his nemesis "Glam-rock". Shamrock had a knack for building up fights by making them into "grudge-matches" filled with personal venom. Three not-even-a-little-bit-competitive matches with Tito Ortiz drew HUGE rating for no discernable reason other than the words leading up to them.
They never settled their differences in the cage however. The old SEG Sports UFC was always challenged when it came to making the most of its brand. It seems obvious in hindsight that these two should have squared off, but the powers that ran SEG never put it together.
Rickson Gracie vs. Anyone significant in MMA
Most people would put Kazushi Sakuraba in that "anyone" spot, but the point is that there was more than one option.
Have you heard the story? Rickson Gracie walks into Barra Gracie (or Gracie Humaita in the story I heard) and lines everyone up against the wall and taps them out one at a time. Black belts, world champions, guys who out-weigh him by 100 pounds, they all submit. He beats them EASILY, none of the matches are even close, no one even gets an offensive position on him, and he does it using moves that any blue-belt would know.
In his competitive years he was simply unstoppable, he was the lion of the Gracie family. His brothers were good, but he was light-years better. No one I've spoken to seems to know why, he was just better. He has never lost in BJJ, in fact he never even came particularly close to losing. I've literally heard of black belts bragging about how LONG it took Rickson to submit them, as it that were tantamount to a victory. Too many people I respect in the sport have told me that Rickson is the best Jiu-Jitsu fighter to ever set foot on a mat...period.
My belief that he is makes his career in MMA somewhat disappointing. Aside from his two fights against Rei Zulu in the early 80s, Rickson spent the bulk of his career competing in the mid-late 90s in Japan. He was the "Vale Tudo Japan" champion in 1994 and 1995, he also fought in the inaugural Pride show in 1997 and the promotion's fourth show exactly one year later.
Before taking on Masakatsu Funaki in 2000 Rickson's record was 10-0 with all of his wins coming by submission. The record is impressive, until one realizes that exactly ONE of Rickson's opponents, Yuki Nakai, won more matches than he lost and Nakai himself only beat one opponent with a winning record.
That's not a rarity for a fighter in the mid-1990s. It wasn't unusual for a fighter to make their name against fighters who had never fought before. The sport was just beginning and cards were full of neophytes making their debuts in what were, at the time, major promotions.
By the end of the decade though, the landscape had changed. Professional MMA athletes were taking the sport to a new level, style vs style was giving way to MMA fighter vs MMA fighter. Fighters like Bas Rutten, Frank Shamrock, Igor Vovchanchyn, and Kiyoshi Tamura were paving the way for the MMA fighters of today. How would the lion of the Gracie family have performed against any of these more well-rounded fighters? We will never know. In both of his Pride appearances he fought the pro-wrestler Nobuhiko Takada, submitting him both times. On the same show in which Rickson submitted the ummm..."physical entertainer" for the second time, Kazushi Sakuraba, Igor Vovchanchyn, Akira Shoji, Alan Goes, and Mark Kerr all fought. Any of those men would have been more fitting opponents for the greatest Jiu-Jitsu black belt of all time.
In 2000 Kazushi Sakuraba was carving his way through the Gracie family. At the time it was assumed that the best of the clan would step up and defend the family name. Instead, Rickson took on Masakatsu Funaki in his first full-rules MMA fight at the Colosseum 2000 show. It was a puzzling choice to most MMA fans. Funaki had a solid reputation and was a founder of the Pancrase promotion, but by 2000 he had gone 3-3-1 in his last 7 fights and was near the end of his competitive days. Rickson's submission victory over Funaki would be the last one of his MMA career. Sakuraba would beat 4 Gracies before losing a rematch to Royce in 2007.
Would "The Gracie Hunter" have bagged the biggest lion of them all, or would Rickson have redeemed him family's name in dramatic fashion?
We will never know...
