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Renzo Gracie & Kazushi Sakuraba Set To Rematch at ONE Championship

MMA veterans Renzo Gracie and Kazushi Sakuraba are set for an epic rematch, 18 years after their classic Pride FC fight.

In the fight at PRIDE FC 10 in August 2000, Sakuraba won by TKO when he caught Renzo in a Kimura lock which dislocated the Gracie’s shoulder and forced the referee to stop the fight eventhough Gracie didn’t tap.

At 51, Renzo has signed with Asia’s top MMA organisation One FC. At a One FC event in Boracay, Philippines, Renzo confirmed that he signed with the Asian organization. Chatri Sityodtong, president and CEO of One Championship, said that Gracie will even compete against Kazushi Sakuraba, 48, in his debut with the organization.

The Japanese MMA legend Sakuraba has already beaten three Gracie: Royce, Royler, and Renzo Gracie. This feat earned him the notorious nickname “The Gracie Hunter.”

Renzo Gracie told GRACIEMAG.com:

“The fight will be in MMA rules, or do you think I’m relaxing?”

“I do not know if Sakuraba is ready and so the date of our fight has not yet been defined.  I might have another fight before facing the Japanese.”

Renzo was also very critical of Dana White and the UFC:

“When an organization does not understand what martial art is, it loses its soul. And that’s what happened with the UFC. They have lost their essence in thinking that it is just business and that money rules. There is no wh*re here, my brother. We are fighters, moral men and women who spend their lives trying to do what is right and not selling. This they do not understand. “

In 2014, Renzo and Sakuraba had a grappling match for 20 minutes in a no-gi Jiu-Jitsu contest at the Metamoris event which ended in a draw eventhough Renzo was positionally dominating most of the match.