Martin Köpp

Whether he competes in boxing or mixed martial arts, the toughest decision any professional prizefighter must confront is deciding when to end his career. Boxing history is littered with countless once great fighters that diminished their legacy and put their health and well being at risk by sticking around too long. As evidence that MMA has matured as a sport, it appears to be experiencing the same phenomenon with fighters such as Ken Shamrock soldiering on despite being well past their prime. Kazushi Sakuraba is definitely the most legendary fighter in the history of MMA in Japan, but unfortunately he too must be added to that list following his brutal knockout loss to Melvin Manhoef at DREAM 4.

Whether he competes in boxing or mixed martial arts, the toughest decision any professional prizefighter must confront is deciding when to end his career. Boxing history is littered with countless once great fighters that diminished their legacy and put their health and well being at risk by sticking around too long. As evidence that MMA has matured as a sport, it appears to be experiencing the same phenomenon with fighters such as Ken Shamrock soldiering on despite being well past their prime. Kazushi Sakuraba is definitely the most legendary fighter in the history of MMA in Japan, but unfortunately he too must be added to that list following his brutal knockout loss to Melvin Manhoef at DREAM 4.

Mixed martial arts is booming in America, but there's not one specific fighter responsible for its upswing in popularity. That's not the case in Japan, as Sakuraba is almost universally acknowledged as having brought MMA to the mainstream of Japanese sports and popular culture. In particular, his on-going feud with Brazil's Gracie family made him a major superstar and national hero.

While Sakruaba's record in the sport is certainly worthy of this acclaim, the reality is that he hasn't defeated a credible opponent of any sort since his 2003 win over Kevin Randleman. At this point, he's doing nothing to enhance his legacy and is putting it at risk by continuing his career well past his competitive prime.

Sakuraba is not only 38 years old, but he's what fight experts consider an 'old 38' based on the number of grueling, physically and emotionally draining battles he's competed in. His 90 minute classic with Royce Gracie alone took a toll that some suggest that Sakuraba has never recovered from. Despite this, he continued to face the best opponents in the world after that fight.

Compounding Sakuraba's 'ring age' was his tendency to face much larger superstars--these 'dream matches' would sell tickets in Japan, but are the sort of matchup that would never get sanctioned in the better regulated US fight sport industry. The quality of opponent he faced at heavier weights is mind boggling and includes Wanderlei Silva, Mirko Cro Cop, Vitor Belfort and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. Unfortunately, the old saying that 'a good big man will beat a good little man' was proven true in these matchups with most ending in losses for Sakuraba by brutal KO or stoppage.

Sakuraba, unfortunately, has shown little indication that he'll retire any time soon. Hopefully his prolonged career won't undermine his legacy of greatness, or more problematically damage his long term mental or physical well being.