Royce Gracie vs Kazushi Sakuraba 2 Announced

Mixed martial arts pioneer Royce Gracie (13-3-3) will face his family’s arch-nemesis for a second time.

The man whose name is synonymous with the sport of MMA, will step into the ring with Japanese fighting sensation Kazushi Sakuraba, (21-9-1) once again on Saturday, June 2, 2007 in Los Angeles at K-1: Dynamite USA.

Gracie and Sakuraba first fought on May 1, 2000. Gracie had returned from a 5-year absence and defeated Sakuraba’s team mate Nobuhiko Takada (2-6-2). Six months earlier, Sakuraba had beaten Royce’s brother Royler Gracie (5-4-1).

Gracie had requested special rules, including unlimited 15-minute rounds. Sakuraba was happy to oblige, and the fight went on for 90 minutes. Throughout the match, Sakuraba chopped away at Gracie’s leg with hard kicks. At one point in the fight, Gracie seemed to have a guillotine choke, but the crafty Japanese fighter escaped and continued to press the pace. Finally, at the end of the sixth round, Gracie could take no more and his corner was forced to throw in the towel.

Amazingly, Sakuraba fought again that same night and lost by TKO to Igor Vovchanchyn (45-9-1). Since then, Sakuraba has defeated both Renzo Gracie (13-6-1) and Ryan Gracie (5-2-0) earning himself the nickname “The Gracie Hunter”.

The Gracie vs. Sakuraba rematch is the co-main event on the card, sharing the top billing with a match between 7-foot-2 South Korean Choi Hong Man (1-0-0) and former WWE champ Brock Lesner (0-0-0).

Full card for K-1: Dynamite USA:

Brock Lesnar vs. Choi Hong Man
Royce Gracie vs. Kazushi Sakuraba
Mighty Mo TBC vs. Choi Mu Bae
Melvin Manhoef vs. Yoon Dong Sik
Jake Shields vs. Ido Pariente
Gina Carano vs. Jan Finney
Javier Vazquez vs. Katsuhiko Nagata
Brad Pickett vs. Hideo Tokoro

For more mixed martial arts fights, visit Bodog Fight.

SOURCE: www.bodogbeat.com