Ben
Duffy/Sherdog.com illustration
Headquartered in scenic Woodloch, Texas, the Combined Martial Arts
Corridor of [email protected]#$%&g Superior (HOFA for brief) commemorates the
achievements of these fighters who, whereas they won’t be
first-ballot choices for a standard corridor of fame, nonetheless
did exceptional issues within the cage or ring, and should be
remembered. The HOFA enshrines pioneers, one-trick ponies and
charming oddballs, and celebrates them in all their imperfect
glory. Whereas the HOFA choice committee’s standards are mysterious
and ever-evolving, the ultimate take a look at is whether or not the members can say,
unanimously and with enthusiasm, “____________ was [email protected]#$%&g
superior!”
the flicks. I don’t assume there’s a single fighter who needs to
win in a boring vogue.” —Rumina
Sato
THE PITCH: Although Sato delivered the previous
quote on the finish of his legendary profession, it might have been his
mission assertion from Day 1. Over the course of an almost
two-decade run in Shooto, “Moon Wolf” made his mark as a furiously
aggressive, fearlessly inventive, endlessly thrilling submission
specialist of the type we could by no means see once more.
Whereas Sato exhibited an curiosity in martial arts from his teenagers,
curiosity didn’t translate into motion till after highschool,
when a spot 12 months earlier than college led him to start coaching beneath
former Shooto champion Noboru Asahi.
After arising via Shooto’s novice system, Sato made his
skilled debut at Shooto: Vale Tudo Entry 2 on Nov. 7, 1994.
He received with what might be the primary calf slicer in blended martial
arts historical past and identical to that, the basic constants of
Sato’s combat profession had been in place, particularly: He could be a Shooto man
for all times, and we had been going to see some eye-popping finishes.
Sato made good on that promise, establishing himself as one of many
promotion’s high fighters and largest stars with out ever abandoning
his trademark aggression or tempo. As he did so, he grew to become the
poster little one for the form of freewheeling, submission-over-position
grappling that exemplified 90s Shooto, and was one of many first
fighters to current a viable different to the Gracie jiu-jitsu
that had dominated MMA’s floor sport since UFC 1. He additionally defied
the stereotype that aggressive grapplers, when confronted with their
extra conservative technical equals, would both be proven up on the
floor, or compelled into mediocre standup battles. At Vale Tudo Japan
1996, in opposition to John
Lewis—one other very important determine within the early historical past of MMA
grappling—Sato fought to a draw that appeared extra like a loss, as he
spent lengthy stretches of the combat caught beneath the larger,
stronger, extra positionally sound BJJ black belt. Of their rematch
at VTJ 1997, Sato was each bit as aggressive, attacking with
submissions from the underside all through the primary spherical earlier than
catching Lewis with an armbar early within the second for the
submission win.
As Sato minimize a swath of heel hooks and flying armbars via
Shooto, it will definitely grew to become unattainable to not see him as one thing
of an uncrowned king, and actually he by no means did win an everyday Shooto
title in 4 tries. Whereas which may be partly on account of dimension—Sato was
a small light-weight even by JMMA requirements, and he was a lot the
worse for put on by the point of his overdue drop to featherweight—it
was principally a problem of operating into the improper opponents on the
improper time, as Caol Uno and
Takanori
Gomi had been most likely the No. 1 and No. 2 fighters within the division
from 1999-2001, when Sato confronted them. It additionally primarily married
Sato to Shooto for all times. Whereas he might simply have adopted Uno to
the Ultimate Fighting Championship, or Gomi to
Pride Fighting Championships, Sato famously
vowed he would by no means depart Shooto until he received a belt, and when he
received the Pacific Rim championship in 2005, it solely appeared to
bolster his resolve to maintain in search of the world title.
By the point Sato lastly dropped to 143 kilos, he was largely a
spent drive, however he acquired one final shot at a Shooto world title
in 2009, when he drew two-time champ Takeshi
Inoue regardless of a three-fight shedding streak. The sentimental
effort to get a belt for the person that they had begun to name “The
Charisma of Shooto” didn’t finish properly, because the youthful, tougher
hitting “Lion Takeshi” put Sato away within the first spherical. That was
it for title aspirations, although Sato fought on for a couple of extra
years. After his closing skilled combat in December 2012,
representing his beloved artwork for the sixth time within the VTJ ring, he
retired from MMA competitors, transitioning immediately into a task
with the promotion and remaining sporadically lively as a
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