Sakuraba vs. Minotoro 12/31 Pride SP

[Dikslapu]

From Fightsport:

"Brazilian journalist Eduardo Alonso reports the following matchups will take place at the PRIDE SP show on December 31st:

Rogerio 'Minotoro' Nogueira vs. Kazushi Sakuraba"
Mario Sperry vs. Don Frye



This better be for real.

[FULL_CONTACT[MBRP]]

reliable sources at brazilian top team have confirmed sperry x frye for the new year's eve show.
i heard nothing about minotoro x sakuraba, but if it was published by this journalist it may be for real too.

[robbypark]

If this is true, it's awesome!

Finally, they're setting Sakuraba up with a fighter whom he can really show his goods with instead of a heavy striker. The younger brother of Nog is no slouch and it should be a great technical fight.

I'll take Saku by sub

[cordiance]

Sakuraba vs little Nogueira should be an awesome fight. I think Sakuraba is better at both standup and on the ground than Minotoro is, so I'll give the win to Sakuraba.

As for Sperry vs Frye, both are aged and somewhat has-beens. Anything can happen with that fight, but I'll take Frye for kicks.

[FULL_CONTACT[MBRP]]

yes, brazilian top team has confirmed both fights!
it will be great to see sperry and minotoro back in action

[crucible]

Awesome news! I can't wait to see Saku back in action against a fighter we know he'll do good against!!

[dunemako]

Thx for the news Dikslapu. Botht hose fights should be great, especially the Sakuraba one. I look to see Sakuraba and Minotoro have a true ground war with excellent submission attempts. Eventually Sakuraba will pull it off and get another victory. For Frye and Sperry, I think Frye will knock him out.

[Lefty]

great fights. i'd pick sak over little nog by dec, and sperry over frye by sub.

with all these great fights on three different cards(inoki,pride,k-1), you'd think at least one company would air it over here in the u.s ? now thats what you call being cruel.

[dogofwar]

I really 50/50 on Sak/Lil Nog...

[Booker M]

Sak vs. little Nog is confirmed??
I heard Sak still hesitates to join the Pride SP due to his ankle injury.
But I don't know.

[robbypark]

Bad ankle or not, it's time for The Gracie Hunter to take Minotoro back to school and teach him a few things about the art of fighting.

[dogofwar]

Lil Nog is no slouch on his back and trains w/ maybe the best submission fighter in the world, Big Nog..

Would be a hell of a fight and if Sak has a bad wheel, who knows..

Very interesting fight.

[backphist]

Sakuraba destroys everys single BJJ fighter there is. His fighting style is a perfect counter to the BJJ gueard-submission style. Sakuraba has fought tons of BJJ practitioners like Royce, Renzo, Royler, Ryan, Carlos Newton, Silveira, and Fontes Braga and he has beaten every single one of them in awesome fashion.

Little Nog isn't going to knock Sakuraba out and he 100% guaranteed will not submit Sakuraba(impossible). I see no way that Sakuraba loses this fight, bad wheel or not.

[dogofwar]

That was then, this is now...

If we were back in 2000 I would agree, but Sak has lost a step or two and a bad wheel ain't going to help.

[Dikslapu]

I've been hearing that little Nog is even more skilled on the ground then

his brother.Murilo Bustamante calls Minotoro a bigger version of himself. I

never bet against Sakuraba though, except for when he fights Silva of

course.

[waldman]

This is tremendous news! I'm so happy for Sakuraba because now he can fight in his element. No grappler can and ever will beat Kazushi Sakuraba in a fight because Kazushi Sakuraba is the god of grappling.

[tamara]

Sakuraba and Minotoro will fight to a close decision.

Sperry will beat Don Frye.

[caveman]

Just like Sakuraba can't beat Silva, a BJJer can't beat Sakuraba.

Sakuraba by kneebar in the second round.

[just Brian]

I think that Sak is going to kick box, much like he did against Elvis, with a better end result though. No doubt they'll fight on the ground too, but I bet Sak will spend a lot of time standing and striking, wearing down Minotoro.

I could not care less about Frye vs. Sperry. However, I think Sperry will take it. Frye just seems like he has no speed, no flexiblity, and explosiveness...none. I think all the muscle he's put on over the past few years has just slowed him down too much.

I would rather see a rematch between Frye and Yvel...that way maybe Frye would finally see the light and retire.

[porkstar]

Saku's standup is vastly underrated. When he doesn't face guys like Silva and Cro cop his standup has been quite good. I think he's a better striker than Minotoro and when it comes to the ground work, it's no contest.

[bottlesmuck]

It has now been announced that the Frye vs Sperry fight will not take place anymore but the Sak fight is still on.

[makavelli]

It has now been announced that the Frye vs Sperry fight will not take place anymore but the Sak fight is still on.

Are they replacing it with another fight or are one of the fighters still fighting?

[Cbear]

Sak is fighting and of course his injury will not be healed by then. No wonder we don't see the Sak of old...he hasn't fought free of injury in about 3 years. Arggghhhh

[mrcanazza]

He is not nog's younger brother. They are twins...

[robbypark]

you're right they're twins. It's just that Minotauro has accomplished so much compared to his brother, that many refer to Rogerio as little Nog.

[dunemako]

Sak is fighting and of course his injury will not be healed by then. No wonder we don't see the Sak of old...he hasn't fought free of injury in about 3 years. Arggghhhh

If Sakuraba had fought without injury all those years and at 100%, he would still be the #1 fighter in the world today. Oh yeah it's true, he was just that damn good back in the day.

[juntao]

I think a 50% Sak will take a 100% Minotoro.