Fyodor
19-08-2011, 09:57
Sakuraba says MMA has turned into a “business” and “lost its essence” (http://www.thefightnerd.com/sakuraba-says-mma-has-turned-into-a-business-and-lost-its-essence/)
The legendary Pride FC veteran and JMMA superstar, Kazushi Sakuraba, recently conducted an interview where he broke his silence on a variety of topics, including the downward spiral that is quickly becoming Japanese MMA.
Sakuraba spoke with Kamipro (http://kamipro.com/), which in turn was translated by Fighters Only (http://www.fightersonlymagazine.co.uk/news/viewarticle.php?id=7493), and then found its way on Middle Easy (http://middleeasy.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5570%3Asakuraba-thinks-mma-has-became-a-business-and-it-has-lost-its-essence&catid=34%3Aorganizations) where I came upon it (long story short), and had this to say about the state of his sport in his home country. “I see it [Japanese MMA] troubled. Nowadays the dream of young Japanese fighters is to fight in America. In my epoch, we wanted to fight for our fan base in the events that were held here. Japan has good events. I think many good fighters are fighting around here. The issue is the market. America produces events to make money. They only think about money.”
“We [in Japan] always concern ourselves with the entertainment, in bringing the best to entertain the public here,” Sak continued, “We never think about turning the sport into business. Today MMA became a business, lost its essence. I have already fought in America [K-1 Dynamite!! USA 2007] and I don’t think on coming back there. Not to fight. I don’t care about purses anymore. The young fighters worry about it.”
Sakuraba also mentioned that a fight against Hayato “Mach” Sakurai could be happening before the year is up, and that he will never compete in another Grand Prix tournament again nor will he ever have a chance to fight Rickson Gracie.
Bron (http://www.thefightnerd.com/sakuraba-says-mma-has-turned-into-a-business-and-lost-its-essence/)
Een juiste constatering van The Gracie Hunter lijkt me. Toch zal zijn Pride carrière hem financieel gezien geen windeieren hebben gelegd. Een gevecht met Sakurai is leuk, maar ik hoop wel dat hij er daarna mee stopt. Hij heeft een mooie carrière gehad, maar het doet pijn hem nu hard te zien verliezen.
The legendary Pride FC veteran and JMMA superstar, Kazushi Sakuraba, recently conducted an interview where he broke his silence on a variety of topics, including the downward spiral that is quickly becoming Japanese MMA.
Sakuraba spoke with Kamipro (http://kamipro.com/), which in turn was translated by Fighters Only (http://www.fightersonlymagazine.co.uk/news/viewarticle.php?id=7493), and then found its way on Middle Easy (http://middleeasy.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5570%3Asakuraba-thinks-mma-has-became-a-business-and-it-has-lost-its-essence&catid=34%3Aorganizations) where I came upon it (long story short), and had this to say about the state of his sport in his home country. “I see it [Japanese MMA] troubled. Nowadays the dream of young Japanese fighters is to fight in America. In my epoch, we wanted to fight for our fan base in the events that were held here. Japan has good events. I think many good fighters are fighting around here. The issue is the market. America produces events to make money. They only think about money.”
“We [in Japan] always concern ourselves with the entertainment, in bringing the best to entertain the public here,” Sak continued, “We never think about turning the sport into business. Today MMA became a business, lost its essence. I have already fought in America [K-1 Dynamite!! USA 2007] and I don’t think on coming back there. Not to fight. I don’t care about purses anymore. The young fighters worry about it.”
Sakuraba also mentioned that a fight against Hayato “Mach” Sakurai could be happening before the year is up, and that he will never compete in another Grand Prix tournament again nor will he ever have a chance to fight Rickson Gracie.
Bron (http://www.thefightnerd.com/sakuraba-says-mma-has-turned-into-a-business-and-lost-its-essence/)
Een juiste constatering van The Gracie Hunter lijkt me. Toch zal zijn Pride carrière hem financieel gezien geen windeieren hebben gelegd. Een gevecht met Sakurai is leuk, maar ik hoop wel dat hij er daarna mee stopt. Hij heeft een mooie carrière gehad, maar het doet pijn hem nu hard te zien verliezen.