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Mac Danzig and His Japanese Idol
There’s a young kid somewhere in the world that lives and breathes
Chuck Liddell (Pictures). Yet by the time he's ready to
turn pro or maybe even fight for a world title, Liddell will have
been retired for years.
Just imagine what it would be like, if you were a professional fighter, to prepare for and eventually fight a man you've looked up to ever since you first caught a whiff of mixed martial arts.
For most professional fighters, the idea of facing your idol in competition just isn’t realistic. But for former King of the Cage lightweight champion Mac Danzig (Pictures), it’s actually happening.
Come Feb. 24 Danzig will realize the dream he's had for years when he squares off against Japanese star Hayato Sakurai (Pictures).
"Hayato Sakurai (Pictures), to me, is one of the most well-rounded fighters in all of mixed martial arts, if not the most well-rounded fighter," Danzig told Sherdog.com. "It's actually a dream come true for me to fight Sakurai because I have looked up to him for years. When I first got into this sport, Sakurai was the guy I always followed the most because he is such a great fighter. He does everything well and, like I said, it's literally a dream come true for me to actually fight him, let alone meet him.
"I almost still can't believe that I am fighting Sakurai in a PRIDE event," Danzig continued. "To me, PRIDE is still the premiere MMA organization — they have the most class, the best fighters and they pay the best. PRIDE has always been the best show in my opinion and now that I'm fighting for them, it's a dream come true. I've never been treated better in all my life."
Don't expect Danzig to take it easy on his idol or get caught up in the moment. The American lightweight has a job to do and he is fully aware what a win over a warrior like Sakurai would do for his career.
"I expect this fight to be the best one of the entire night just because our styles mesh perfectly," Danzig claimed. "We both like to go all out at all times and it's just a matter of who makes the first mistake as to who will win the fight. He loves to throw bombs and every punch has ‘knockout’ written all over it. Anybody who has seen me fight knows I love to do the same thing as far as going all out. I can't wait for this fight, man. It's going to be tremendous."
Danzig is beyond excited for the tussle because he knows Sakurai, a former Shooto middleweight champion, inside and out.
"I know everything that Sakurai does down to a science, especially his mistakes," Danzig exclaimed. "If you watch his fight with (Takanori) Gomi — what a fight that was — he made one mistake and that was it. Gomi capitalized. Sakurai likes to wind up and throw somewhat loopy punches. When he fought Gomi he made the mistake of throwing the punch too wide and when he missed, he was left off-balance. Gomi, like the true champion he is, quickly made Sakurai pay for it and that was it. It was a fight Sakurai could have won and he probably would have, but his mistake cost him. He does that quite a bit, actually, the way he punches and gets off-balance. I'm hoping he does that when he fights me because I'll know what to do. We'll see. Either way it will be one exciting fight."
Most would agree that Danzig is the underdog heading into the fight scheduled for PRIDE’s second card in the U.S. It wouldn't be out of question to suggest Danzig might be in way over his head and that PRIDE signed him up to make Sakurai look sensational. After all, Sakurai has fought some of the best fighters in the world and, for the most part, lost to only the elite of the elite.
"I am definitely supposed to lose to Sakurai,” Danzig chuckled. “I think PRIDE has brought me in just to make Sakurai look good. That's kind of obvious: just look at the lineup. They have their four best Japanese fighters in Gomi, Sakurai, (Kazuhiro) Nakamura and (Kazuo) Misaki and they are all fighting good Americans such as me, Trigg, Travis Wiuff (Pictures) and even Nick Diaz (Pictures). I don't blame PRIDE for doing that at all because those four Japanese fighters are some of the best guys in the world. Almost nobody who follows the sport would seriously pick any of us Americans to win, but that's what makes it so great. I'm here to win and beat my idol and hopefully become world champion eventually. Beating Sakurai would just inch me that [much] closer from fulfilling all of my dreams.”
"I expect to be a big underdog against Sakurai," he added. "Why wouldn't I be? I mean, I've beaten some good fighters but he's one of the best ever. Realistically there are only two or three, maybe four guys in the entire world who would not be an underdog against Sakurai. I actually like it that way because it makes me that much hungrier and makes me work that much harder. It's going to be such a great feeling when I beat him. I couldn't even begin to try and describe it. Why don't you call me that night, an hour or so after I beat the man I have looked up to for so long, and I’ll tell you how it feels.”
Danzig tore up the minor circuit for quite some time and that was reason enough for PRIDE to sign him up to a multi-fight deal. He hadn't lost since October of 2003, going 12-0-1, until a fight a few weeks ago when he was set to defend his KOTC 155-pound title against Clay French (Pictures). Danzig dropped a close decision to the challenger, but he insists it wasn't entirely his fault.
"I was on a roll there for a while," he reflected. "I hadn't lost any fights in three years and my last fight I wound up losing my title. It's funny, but PRIDE is really to blame for that. I mean, I trained for it but I already had signed the deal with PRIDE before I even fought my last fight, which was against Clay. When the bell rang, I was in total fight mode and did everything I could to possibly win the fight, but it was during training that I didn't focus as much. And that's because the PRIDE deal was a lock. With a deal like that in my mind and knowing that I'd still be fighting in PRIDE in Vegas against Sakurai win, lose or draw, it was hard to get motivated to fight Clay.
“And this is nothing against Clay, whatsoever. He's a class act and a great fighter, but I just couldn't get pumped up to defend my title. It was kind of like winning the lottery and then losing your job: When you have millions from the lottery, do you actually care about your job? My goal after I beat Sakurai is to fight Clay again and get my title back, or at least fight him again and even up the score. But first, I have to take care of some business and that is fighting Sakurai."
Who knows, a win over Sakurai and Danzig could find fighters idolizing him one day.
Just imagine what it would be like, if you were a professional fighter, to prepare for and eventually fight a man you've looked up to ever since you first caught a whiff of mixed martial arts.
For most professional fighters, the idea of facing your idol in competition just isn’t realistic. But for former King of the Cage lightweight champion Mac Danzig (Pictures), it’s actually happening.
Come Feb. 24 Danzig will realize the dream he's had for years when he squares off against Japanese star Hayato Sakurai (Pictures).
"Hayato Sakurai (Pictures), to me, is one of the most well-rounded fighters in all of mixed martial arts, if not the most well-rounded fighter," Danzig told Sherdog.com. "It's actually a dream come true for me to fight Sakurai because I have looked up to him for years. When I first got into this sport, Sakurai was the guy I always followed the most because he is such a great fighter. He does everything well and, like I said, it's literally a dream come true for me to actually fight him, let alone meet him.
"I almost still can't believe that I am fighting Sakurai in a PRIDE event," Danzig continued. "To me, PRIDE is still the premiere MMA organization — they have the most class, the best fighters and they pay the best. PRIDE has always been the best show in my opinion and now that I'm fighting for them, it's a dream come true. I've never been treated better in all my life."
Don't expect Danzig to take it easy on his idol or get caught up in the moment. The American lightweight has a job to do and he is fully aware what a win over a warrior like Sakurai would do for his career.
"I expect this fight to be the best one of the entire night just because our styles mesh perfectly," Danzig claimed. "We both like to go all out at all times and it's just a matter of who makes the first mistake as to who will win the fight. He loves to throw bombs and every punch has ‘knockout’ written all over it. Anybody who has seen me fight knows I love to do the same thing as far as going all out. I can't wait for this fight, man. It's going to be tremendous."
Danzig is beyond excited for the tussle because he knows Sakurai, a former Shooto middleweight champion, inside and out.
"I know everything that Sakurai does down to a science, especially his mistakes," Danzig exclaimed. "If you watch his fight with (Takanori) Gomi — what a fight that was — he made one mistake and that was it. Gomi capitalized. Sakurai likes to wind up and throw somewhat loopy punches. When he fought Gomi he made the mistake of throwing the punch too wide and when he missed, he was left off-balance. Gomi, like the true champion he is, quickly made Sakurai pay for it and that was it. It was a fight Sakurai could have won and he probably would have, but his mistake cost him. He does that quite a bit, actually, the way he punches and gets off-balance. I'm hoping he does that when he fights me because I'll know what to do. We'll see. Either way it will be one exciting fight."
Most would agree that Danzig is the underdog heading into the fight scheduled for PRIDE’s second card in the U.S. It wouldn't be out of question to suggest Danzig might be in way over his head and that PRIDE signed him up to make Sakurai look sensational. After all, Sakurai has fought some of the best fighters in the world and, for the most part, lost to only the elite of the elite.
"I am definitely supposed to lose to Sakurai,” Danzig chuckled. “I think PRIDE has brought me in just to make Sakurai look good. That's kind of obvious: just look at the lineup. They have their four best Japanese fighters in Gomi, Sakurai, (Kazuhiro) Nakamura and (Kazuo) Misaki and they are all fighting good Americans such as me, Trigg, Travis Wiuff (Pictures) and even Nick Diaz (Pictures). I don't blame PRIDE for doing that at all because those four Japanese fighters are some of the best guys in the world. Almost nobody who follows the sport would seriously pick any of us Americans to win, but that's what makes it so great. I'm here to win and beat my idol and hopefully become world champion eventually. Beating Sakurai would just inch me that [much] closer from fulfilling all of my dreams.”
"I expect to be a big underdog against Sakurai," he added. "Why wouldn't I be? I mean, I've beaten some good fighters but he's one of the best ever. Realistically there are only two or three, maybe four guys in the entire world who would not be an underdog against Sakurai. I actually like it that way because it makes me that much hungrier and makes me work that much harder. It's going to be such a great feeling when I beat him. I couldn't even begin to try and describe it. Why don't you call me that night, an hour or so after I beat the man I have looked up to for so long, and I’ll tell you how it feels.”
Danzig tore up the minor circuit for quite some time and that was reason enough for PRIDE to sign him up to a multi-fight deal. He hadn't lost since October of 2003, going 12-0-1, until a fight a few weeks ago when he was set to defend his KOTC 155-pound title against Clay French (Pictures). Danzig dropped a close decision to the challenger, but he insists it wasn't entirely his fault.
"I was on a roll there for a while," he reflected. "I hadn't lost any fights in three years and my last fight I wound up losing my title. It's funny, but PRIDE is really to blame for that. I mean, I trained for it but I already had signed the deal with PRIDE before I even fought my last fight, which was against Clay. When the bell rang, I was in total fight mode and did everything I could to possibly win the fight, but it was during training that I didn't focus as much. And that's because the PRIDE deal was a lock. With a deal like that in my mind and knowing that I'd still be fighting in PRIDE in Vegas against Sakurai win, lose or draw, it was hard to get motivated to fight Clay.
“And this is nothing against Clay, whatsoever. He's a class act and a great fighter, but I just couldn't get pumped up to defend my title. It was kind of like winning the lottery and then losing your job: When you have millions from the lottery, do you actually care about your job? My goal after I beat Sakurai is to fight Clay again and get my title back, or at least fight him again and even up the score. But first, I have to take care of some business and that is fighting Sakurai."
Who knows, a win over Sakurai and Danzig could find fighters idolizing him one day.
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