History YMMV / KazushiSakuraba

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: Back at the time in which mixed martial artists used to be quite one-dimensional, Saku was a significantly well rounded fighter, being able to strike, wrestle and submit, aside from being incredibly proficient in the last two, and very creative overall. Nowadays, when everybody cross-trains and dips into everything, uninformed fans often call him a mediocre fighter.

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: Back at the time in which mixed martial artists used to be quite one-dimensional, Saku was a significantly well rounded fighter, being able to strike, wrestle and submit, aside from being incredibly proficient in the last two, and very creative overall. Nowadays, when everybody cross-trains and dips into everything, uninformed fans often call him a mediocre fighter.
* WhatAnIdiot: While Saku can be pardoned for underestimating Wanderlei Silva's striking the first time they fought, he can hardly be for their third match, in which he tried a similar strategy and got knocked out for his efforts. Bonus points for it being after their second bout, which showed an infinitely better strategy by Saku and only was lost for him by a bad luck injury.

* CriticalResearchFailure: Not Saku, but Renzo Gracie, who gave a spectacularly clueless review about his background in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJFBCuBvmr0 this interview]] for Graciemag. Not only he insists Saku is a UsefulNotes/BrazilianJiuJitsu fighter, which every MMA fan knows he is absolutely not, he seems to believe that [[Wrestling/UniversalWrestlingFederation shoot-style]] and freaking Wrestling/{{WWE}} are the same thing.
-->"He is very efficient in what he does and... he is a good, jiu-jitsu man, in reality! They may call it “catch-as-catch-can” or “WWE” or, or “pro wrestler” or... ''[shakes his head]'' He is a jiu-jitsu man, with a lot of experience."

** Several years before Saku unveiled his Yurikamome, Wrestling/AndreiKopylov pulled off the same move in the RINGS 1997 Mega Battle Tournament against Wrestling/VolkHan.

* BadassDecay: Even although Saku's failed feud against Wanderlei Silva is possibly his lowest point, his loss to Ricardo Arona and his departure from PRIDE are arguably the time in which he started going downhill due to the injuries caused by his wild career matchmaking. When he fought the infamous rematch with Royce Gracie, the difference between Saku's physical condition then and the first time they fought was just heartbreaking.
%%* CrazyAwesome: Throwing cartwheels and puroresu chops in MMA had never been so cool.
* CriticalResearchFailure: Not Saku, but Renzo Gracie, who gave a spectacularly clueless review about his background in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJFBCuBvmr0 this interview]] for Graciemag. Not only he insists Saku is a UsefulNotes/BrazilianJiuJitsu fighter, which every internet fan knows he is absolutely not, he seems to believe that [[Wrestling/UniversalWrestlingFederation shoot-style]] and freaking Wrestling/{{WWE}} are the same thing.

* OlderThanTheyThink: As [[https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-T-AU_8yuVAQ/WTyhxwLQ9hI/AAAAAAAACq4/6PDQu6ClKDIm4OJjGvCeErFRg1M1rR8iwCLcB/s1600/tumblr_o4vz5vTQKb1vol7qpo1_400.gif this gif]] by master Tsunetane Oda shows, Saku's cartwheel guard pass already existed in the times of kosen judo.
** Wrestling/AndreiKopylov pulled off a Yurikamome in the RINGS 1997 Mega Battle Tournament against Wrestling/VolkHan.
* PoorMansSubstitute: He is probably one of the most imitated fighters around.
** Shungo Oyama was it terms of fighting style and persona, bonus points for being a real Saku fan. He had a couple of victories against Gracies by imitating Saku.
** Kazushi's long time Lancer Daijiro Matsui has a similar profile. Very much like Saku, Matsui was known for his heart and creativity, as well as his will to fight whoever Pride put in front of him.
** Daiju Takase also imitated Sakuraba for a time, and even wore tights and spats based in Saku's.

* SuspiciouslySimilarSong: Sakuraba's catchy J-pop theme song sounds like the start of the VillainSong "Ankoku no Tsubasa" from the anime ''Manga/MermaidMelodyPichiPichiPitch''. Given his penchant for costumed entrances, it would not be too surprising if any time Saku showed up in the arena dressed like Lady Bat. (The anime cosplay entrance itself is a concept already taken by Yuichiro Nagashima, but you never know.)
* WhatAnIdiot: While Saku can be pardoned for underestimating Wanderlei Silva's striking the first time they fought, he can hardly be for their third match, in which he tried the very same strategy and got knocked out for his efforts. Bonus points for it being after their second bout, which showed an infinitely better strategy by Saku and only was lost for him by a bad luck injury.

* CriticalResearchFailure: Not Saku, but Renzo Gracie, who gave a spectacularly clueless review about his background in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJFBCuBvmr0 this interview]] for Graciemag. Not only he insists Saku is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu fighter, which every internet fan knows he is absolutely not, he seems to believe that [[Wrestling/UniversalWrestlingFederation shoot-style]] and freaking Wrestling/{{WWE}} are the same thing.

* CrazyAwesome: Throwing cartwheels and puroresu chops in MMA had never been so cool.

* CrowningMomentOfAwesome: Every time he defeated a Gracie or another mighty foe.

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: Back at the time in which mixed martial artists used to be quite one-dimensional, Saku was a significantly well rounded fighter, being able to strike, wrestle and submit, aside from being incredibly proficient in the last two. Nowadays, when everybody cross-trains and dips into everything, uninformed fans often call him a mediocre fighter.
* SuspiciouslySimilarSong: Sakuraba's catchy J-pop theme song, at least for some people, really sounds like the start of the VillainSong "Ankoku no Tsubasa" from the anime ''Manga/MermaidMelodyPichiPichiPitch''. Given his penchant for costumed entrances, it would not be too surprising if any time Saku showed up in the arena dressed like Lady Bat. (The cosplay entrance itself is a concept already taken by Yuichiro Nagashima, but you never know.)
* WhatAnIdiot: While Saku can be pardoned for underestimating Wanderlei Silva's striking the first time they fought, he can hardly be for their third match, in which he tried the very same strategy and got knocked out for his efforts. Bonus points for it being after their second bout, which showed an infinitely better strategy and only was lost by a bad luck injury.

* CriticalResearchFailure: Not Saku, but Renzo Gracie, who gave a spectacularly clueless review about his background in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJFBCuBvmr0 this interview]] for Graciemag. Not only he insists Saku is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu fighter, which every internet fan knows absolutely not, he seems to believe that [[Wrestling/UniversalWrestlingFederation shoot-style]] and freaking Wrestling/{{WWE}} are the same thing.
-->"He is very efficient in what he does and... he is a good, jiu-jitsu man, in reality! They may call it “catch-as-catch-can” or “WWE” or, or “pro wrestler...” He is a jiu-jitsu man, with a lot of experience."

* CriticalResearchFailure: Not Saku, but Renzo Gracie, who gave a spectacularly clueless review about his background in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJFBCuBvmr0 this interview]] for Graciemag. Not only he insists Saku is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu fighter, he seems to believe that [[Wrestling/UniversalWrestlingFederation shoot-style]] and freaking Wrestling/{{WWE}} are the same thing.

* BadassDecay: Even although Saku's failed feud against Wanderlei Silva is possibly his lowest point, his loss to Ricardo Arona and his departure from PRIDE are arguably the time in which he started going downhill due to the injuries caused by his wild career matchmaking. Upon the infamous rematch with Royce Gracie, the difference in Saku's physical condition compared to the first time they fought was heartbreaking.
* CrazyAwesome: Throwing cartwheels and chops in MMA had never been so cool.

* HarsherInHindsight: His match with French jiu-jitsu player Giles Arsene was infamous at the time, with fans and pundits saying that a fighter really sucked if not even a showman like Kazushi Sakuraba could pull out a good match with him, but Arsene's posterior fate was actually much worse. According to insiders, Arsene was harassed by the French martial arts community, every gym or team he tried to join rejected him out in disgust, and supposedly his former coach told him to ''kill himself''. He only could continue his career because Jérôme Le Banner was his training partner and could protect him.
* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: Back at the time in which mixed martial artists used to be quite one-dimensional, Saku was a significantly well rounded fighter, being able to strike, wrestle and submit. In thise times in which everybody cross-trains and dips into everything, uninformed fans often call him a mediocre fighter.
* SuspiciouslySimilarSong: Sakuraba's catchy J-pop theme song, at least for some people, really sounds like the start of the VillainSong "Ankoku no Tsubasa" from the anime ''Manga/MermaidMelodyPichiPichiPitch''. Given his penchant for costumed entrances, it would not be too surprising if any time Saku showed up in the arena dressed like Lady Bat (the cosplay entrance itself is a concept already taken by Yuichiro Nagashima, but you never know).
* WhatAnIdiot: While Saku can be pardoned for underestimating Wanderlei Silva's striking the first time they fought, he hardly can be for their third match, in which he tried the very same strategy and got knocked out for his efforts. Bonus points for it being after their second bout, which showed a much more strategy and actually was lost by a [[GameBreakingInjury bad luck injury.]]

* BadassDecay: Saku's failed feud against Wanderlei Silva (in which he lost one fight by [[GameBreakingInjury bad luck injury]] and two more because he apparently thought he could outstrike a muay thai berserker like Silva) is considered one of his lowest points. He eventually recovered it, but consensus is that he was never the same again, especially after questionable matchmaking and a handful of injuries.

* HarsherInHindsight: His match with French jiu-jitsu player Giles Arsene was infamous at the time, with fans and pundits saying that a fighter really sucked if not even a showman like Kazushi Sakuraba could pull out a good match with him, but Arsene's posterior fate was actually much worse than that due to his bad performance in said bout. According to insiders, Arsene was harassed for the French martial arts community, every gym or team he tried to join rejected him out in disgust, and supposedly his former coach told him to ''kill himself''. He only could continue his career because Jérôme Le Banner was his training partner and was able to protect him.

* WhatAnIdiot: Choosing to trade strikes with Wanderlei was never a good idea. Even Silva himself looked a bit perplexed at their third match when Saku did not even attempt to take him down.

* HarsherInHindisight: His match with French jiu-jitsu player Giles Arsene was infamous at the time, with fans and pundits saying that a fighter really sucked if not even a showman like Kazushi Sakuraba could pull out a good match with him, but Arsene's posterior fate was actually much worse than that due to his bad performance in said bout. According to insiders, Arsene was harassed for the French martial arts community, every gym or team he tried to join rejected him out in disgust, and supposedly his former coach told him to ''kill himself''. He only could continue his career because Jérôme Le Banner was his training partner and was able to protect him.

* WhatAnIdiot: Choosing to trade strikes with Wanderlei was never a good idea. Even Silva himself looked a bit perplexed at their third match when Saku did not even attempted to take him down.

* BadassDecay: Saku's failed feud against Wanderlei Silva (in which he lost one fight by [[GameBreakingInjury bad luck injury]] and two more because he apparently thought he could outstrike a muay thai [[TheBerserker berserker]]) is considered one of his lowest points. He eventually recovered it, but consensus is that he was never the same again, especially after questionable matchmaking and a handful of injuries.
* CrowningMomentOfAwesome: Every time he defeated a Gracie or another mighty MMA foe.
* SuspiciouslySimilarSong: Sakuraba's catchy J-pop theme song, at least for some people, really sounds like the start of the VillainSong "Ankoku no Tsubasa" from the anime ''Manga/MermaidMelodyPichiPichiPitch''. Given his penchant for costumed entrances, it would not be too surprising if any time Saku showed up in the arena dressed like Lady Bat (the cosplay entrance itself is a concept already taken by Yuichiro Nagashima, but you never know).

* SuspiciouslySimilarSong: Sakuraba's catchy J-pop theme song really sounds like the start of the VillainSong "Ankoku no Tsubasa" from the anime ''Manga/MermaidMelodyPichiPichiPitch''. Given his penchant for costumed entrances, it would not be too surprising if any time Saku showed up in the arena dressed like Lady Bat (the cosplay entrance itself is a concept already taken by Yuichiro Nagashima, but you never know).