A pro fighter faces the most difficult decision of his life when contemplating the prospect of retirement. Unfortunately, too many hang on well past the time when they can compete at the highest level only serving to diminish their legacy and damage their health. MMA is no different than boxing in this respect, and following his brutal knockout loss to Melvin Manhoef at DREAM 4 Japan\’s legendary Kazushi Sakuraba appears to fit the description of a fighter who needs to call it quits but is unwilling to do so.

Despite the recent explosion in the sports popularity, the United States MMA scene doesn\’t really have anyone of comparable status to Sakuraba in Japan. Hes credited for helping the nascent sport of mixed martial arts emerge from Japanese professional wrestling as well as for making MMA a major league sport in Japan. Sakuraba is also considered by many to be pound for pound the greatest Japanese MMA fighter ever, with some suggesting that he transcends the national qualifier and should be regarded as the pound for pound best fighter in the brief history of the sport. A legendary series of matches against various members of the Gracie family further elevated the status of MMA in Japan and in the process made Sakuraba a superstar. In particular the 90 minute long battle against Royce Gracie at PRIDE\’s 2000 Grand Prix tournament is frequently cited as the greatest match in MMA history. Hes also considered the best box office draw in Japanese fight sports of the past decade, which is part of the reason that hes been persuaded to stick around longer than he should have. Hes not only Japans greatest MMA fighter, but one that still sells tickets.

While Sakuraba\’s resume certainly justifies the reverence with which hes held by the Japanese fight community, hes not really done anything to build on that legacy for several years. His last truly significant victory was a submission win over former UFC light heavyweight champ Quinton Rampage Jackson and his last victory over what can be considered a quality opponent in his prime was against Kevin Randleman in late 2003.

Boxing pundits frequently speak of a fighter\’s age in terms of \’ring years\’. For that reason a younger fighter who has endured a series of grueling fights against high level opponents can be considered \’old in ring years\’, while an older fighter who has taken an easier path is considered \’young\’ by the same metric. Under this evaluation, there\’s no doubt that Sakuraba has to be considered old in \’ring years\’. His 90 minute battle with Royce Gracie alone took a significant toll on Sakuraba, and he continued to face high level opponents after that.

Sakuraba also made the most of his box office popularity, demonstrating his bravery by facing much larger opponents including heavyweights like Mirko Cro Cop and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. These physical mismatches would never be sanctioned in the more tightly regulated US fight scene, but were big box office in Japan. The result, however, wasn\’t as favorable for Sakuraba with most ending with him losing by knockout or submission.

Sakuraba, unfortunately, has shown little indication that he\’ll retire any time soon. Hopefully his prolonged career won\’t undermine his legacy of greatness, or more problematically damage his long term mental or physical well being.