Sherdog’s Top 10: Pride Knockouts

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9. Takanori Gomi vs. Hayato Sakurai
Pride “Shockwave 2005”
Dec. 31, 2005 | Saitama, Japan

Gomi had always looked up to his older training partner. He and “Mach” were quite close, but when it came down to their meeting in one of the featured bouts at Pride “Shockwave 2005,” they tossed aside their friendships and dazzled the crowd. “The Fireball Kid” was the better man, as he dominated the aging Sakurai. After they scrambled back to their feet, Sakurai, who had just gotten pummeled on the ground, stumbled back into the ropes. Gomi then turned out his lights with a perfect left-right to the jaw.

Sakurai collapsed on his forehead upon impact, ending the battle. Never before had Sakurai been knocked out so violently in his career; and though he would eventually get stopped a few more times before his last fight in 2013, nobody treated him like Gomi did.

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