From March 1998 through December of 2000, Kazushi Sakuraba
establishes himself as the number-one-ranked fighter in Japanese MMA, in
addition to being widely recognized as one of the ten best pound-for-pound
mixed martial artists in the world. Despite this, the organization in
which Sakuraba competes – Pride Fighting Championships – has no formal weight
class champions. As a result, Kazushi Sakuraba manufactures his own
belt, wearing it as the “unofficial” champion of Pride.
Kazushi Sakuraba debuts as the Saku openweight champion on
December 23, 2000 at Pride 12.
Kazushi Sakuraba and Ryan Gracie compete for the Saku
openweight championship.
Since the Saku openweight championship is not
recognized as an official organizational title, the championship history
presented below is that of a lineal concept covering all bouts taking
place within Pride Fighting Championships.
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1
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Kazushi Sakuraba
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N/A
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N/A
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Debuts as Undisputed Saku
OW Champion
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Pride 12: Cold Fury
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12.23.00
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def.
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Ryan Gracie
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Decision (unanimous) @
10:00 of R1
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Pride 12: Cold Fury
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12.23.00
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2
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Wanderlei Silva
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def.
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Kazushi Sakuraba
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TKO (knees & soccer
kicks) @ 1:38 of R1
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Pride 13: Collision
Course
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03.25.01
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def.
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Shungo Oyama
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TKO (punches) @ 0:30 of
R1
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Pride 14: Clash Of The
Titans
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05.27.01
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def.
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Kazushi Sakuraba
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TKO (doctor stoppage) @
10:00 of R1
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Pride 17: Championship
Chaos
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11.03.01
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def.
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Alexander Otsuka
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TKO (doctor stoppage) @
2:22 of R3
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Pride 18: Cold Fury 2
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12.23.01
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def.
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Kiyoshi Tamura
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Knockout (punch) @ 2:28
of R1
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Pride 19: Bad Blood
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02.24.02
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drw.
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Mirko Filipovic
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Draw (time expired) @
3:00 of R5
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Pride 20: Armed And
Ready
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04.28.02
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def.
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Tatsuya Iwasaki
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Knockout (head kick
& punches) @ 1:16 R1
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Pride: Shockwave 2002
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08.28.02
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def.
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Hiromitsu Kanehara
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TKO (corner stoppage) @
3:40 of R1
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Pride 23: Championship
Chaos 2
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11.24.02
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def.
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Kazushi Sakuraba
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Knockout (punch) @ 5:01
of R1
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Pride: Total
Elimination 2003
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08.10.03
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def.
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Hidehiko Yoshida
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Decision (unanimous) @
5:00 of R2
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Pride: Final Conflict
2003
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11.09.03
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def.
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Quinton Jackson
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TKO (knees) @ 6:28 of
R1
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Pride: Final Conflict
2003
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11.09.03
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def.
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Ikuhisa Minowa
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Knockout (punches) @
1:09 of R1
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Pride: Bushido 2
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02.15.04
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def.
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Yuki Kondo
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Knockout (stomps) @
2:46 of R1
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Pride: Final Conflict
2004
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08.15.04
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def.
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Quinton Jackson
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Knockout (knees) @ 3:26
of R2
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Pride 28: High Octane
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10.31.04
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2
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Mark Hunt
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def.
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Wanderlei Silva
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Decision (split) @ 5:00
of R3
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Pride: Shockwave 2004
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12.31.04
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def.
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Mirko Filipovic
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Decision (split) @ 5:00
of R3
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Pride: Shockwave 2005
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12.31.05
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def.
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Nosuke Nishijima
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Knockout (punch) @ 1:18
of R3
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Pride 31: Unbreakable
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02.26.06
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def.
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Tsuyoshi Kohsaka
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TKO (punches) @ 4:15 of
R2
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Pride: Total
Elimination Absolute
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05.05.06
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3
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Josh Barnett
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def.
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Mark Hunt
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Submission (kimura) @
2:02 of R1
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Pride: Total
Elimination Absolute
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05.05.06
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def.
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Antonio Rodrigo
Nogueira
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Decision (split) @ 5:00
of R2
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Pride: Final Conflict
Absolute
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09.10.06
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4
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Mirko Filipovic
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def.
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Josh Barnett
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Submission (punches) @
7:32 of R1
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Pride: Final Conflict
Absolute
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09.10.06
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Pride Fighting Championships ceases operations and folds
on October 4, 2007 after being purchased by UFC parent company Zuffa and
ultimately merged with the UFC.
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Saku Openweight: No Weight Limit
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