“Mach” Hayato Sakurai (32-7-2) will fight former European Shooto Champion David Baron (13-2) of France 5 May at Shooto’s Tokyo event.
Sakurai himself is a former Shooto World Champion and comes off a mauling of Hidetaka Monma (14-8-3) at DREAM.1 last month.
Baron fought last December, submitting Niek Tromp (4-2-2) by guillotine choke in the first round.
The fighters share a common opponent from their past.
Former PRIDE Lightweight Champion “The Fireball Kid” Takanori Gomi (28-3) iced Sakurai in the first round of 2005 PRIDE fight.
Gomi tapped Baron by rear naked choke eight-months later, also in PRIDE.
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Comments
Sakurai is still one of the most exciting fighters to watch.
Hmm, I haven’t seen one of his fights yet, I’ll have to look out for his next one.
You definitely need to watch some Sakurai vids:
http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=hayato+sakurai
Cool thanks, will do so now…
I hope Sakurai wins he is a fighter that doesn’t give up in a fight. You are right Goze he is a exciting fighter to watch.