The triumphant and tragic career of Kazushi Sakuraba will likely best be remembered for May 1, 2000, when he put on a performance that will almost surely never be duplicated in MMA competition. In one night, Sakuraba became a national sports hero in Japan and the catalyst for the heyday of MMA in that country.
Sakuraba only fought twice in the UFC, both fights on the same night and against the same opponent, in winning one of the stranger tournaments in company history. But for his success in building the sport in Japan — beating seven UFC champions, most much larger than he was — Sakuraba was announced on Saturday’s UFC 212 show as the latest inductee into the UFC Hall of Fame, in the Pioneer wing.