If you missed Part 1, click here.

The Kazushi Sakuraba Era: April ‘99 – March ‘01

Despite the country’s rich martial arts history, Japan didn’t have an MMA star to call its own until the arrival of a brilliant submission artist who would eventually be known as The Gracie Hunter. Kazushi Sakuraba originally toiled as a professional wrestler in the early ‘90s, picking up catch wrestling from Billy Robinson. As a publicity stunt for their employers at Kingdom Pro Wrestling, Sakuraba and Yoji Anjoh entered the four-man heavyweight tournament at UFC Japan, and despite being severely outweighed, Sakuraba was the last man standing.

Sakuraba immediately found success in the PRIDE organization, scoring submission wins over Vernon White and Carlos Newton (in one of the greatest MMA grappling exhibitions of all time, by the way), but it was his upset decision win over Vitor Belfort at PRIDE 5 that established him as Japan’s official fighting hero. Saku represented all that was great about the Japanese fighting mentality — he was smaller than most of his opponents, but smarter and more inventive, not to mention absolutely fearless. Following the Belfort fight, Sakuraba would go on to win eight of his next nine PRIDE bouts, including victories over Royler Gracie, Royce Gracie (in a 90-minute battle of attrition at the 2000 Open Weight GP), Renzo Gracie, and Ryan Gracie. Though other Brazilian fighters like Wanderlei Silva and Ricardo Arona would later avenge their country’s reputation in brutal fashion, Sakuraba’s colorful personality and inspiring in-ring performances have made him one of the true legends of the sport.

(Marcus Jones vs. Eduardo Boza, 11/10/07)

Though the UFC is keeping the cast of TUF 10 under wraps for the most part, MMA Junkie is reporting that four of the 16 heavyweight hopefuls did time in the NFL before taking up fighting. Here’s a cheat sheet:

Marcus Jones: First-round draft pick for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1996; spent six seasons as a defensive tackle, then moved to the Buffalo Bills for two years but didn’t play in the regular season. Training out of Gracie Tampa with Rob Kahn, the 35-year-old made his professional MMA debut in October 2007, and now holds a 4-1 record, with all fights ending in the first round.

In this CageWriter video from an Ultimate Fighter media day held yesterday in Las Vegas, UFC prez Dana White gives a few more details about the signing of Kimbo Slice and his future with the organization. Notably, Dana repeats his assertion that Kimbo’s TUF contract will be the same as everybody else’s, but adds that it will be "a lot fucking different" if he actually wins the show. He refutes the theory that Kimbo will be protected in any way in the matchups or saved for the later episodes, and says that theoretically he could be picked first to fight. Also, Icey Mike is one of the smartest guys he’s met in this business, apparently.

After the jump: Quinton Jackson says he doesn’t trust his temper around Rashad Evans and hopes he can get through TUF 10 without going to jail. Plus, day 2 of Dana White’s WEC 41 blog, in which DW tries to get predictions on the Faber/Brown match from some of his fighters — like many casual MMA fans, Wanderlei Silva and Rampage aren’t even aware that it’s happening — then Dana tries one of those soul handshakes with Rashad and calls him "homey."

(Immediately after reading the news, I searched for this music video on YouTube and cranked my speakers to maximum volume. All props to TheGarv.)

Oh sweet Jesus, thank you Jesus, my prayers have been answered. Yahoo! has the exclusive:

(Kimbo poses with five of the college students he tutors. Photo courtesy of sobehot.com.)

As you’ve surely noticed, Kimbo Slice has been laying low since his embarassing loss to Seth Petruzelli at EliteXC: Heat. And though he would have been an excellent addition to DREAM’s Super Hulk Tournament, Kimbo’s days as an MMA fighter might be over for good. Last week, MMA Fanhouse reported that the YouTube-brawler-turned-MMA-sideshow is no longer contractually tied to Strikeforce, and now the Sun Sentinel is passing along this bit of news about Slice’s athletic future:

(Props: AllElbows via Fightlinker)

We haven’t thought much about bare-knuckle backyard brawlin’ since Kimbo Slice stepped up to the big leagues. Yet the Miami yard-fighting scene appears to be flourishing, with a new ringleader named DADA. Above is the trailer for Dawg Fights, a documentary from the creators of Cocaine Cowboys that takes a look at unregulated ghetto-vale-tudo. Aside from one rear-naked-choke attempt, you’re not going to find much technique in the fight clips, but it’s not really about that. Can wild haymakers in a 12-foot-square ring heal a hurting nation?

Below: In part two of "The Year of the Mo," Muhammed Lawal explains that his fighting urge comes primarily from a childhood that one could politely describe as "shitty." Lawal, now 4-0 in Sengoku, will unfortunately be out of action for about three months while he rehabs a torn ACL.

(Props: AllElbows via BloodyElbow)