Hayato Sakurai

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2 Shooto and UFC
3 PRIDE
4 DREAM
5 Mixed martial arts record
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Profile

Hayato "Mach" Sakurai (born August 24, 1975) is a Japanese professional mixed martial artist and former Shooto middleweight champion.

He stands 5 ft. 7 in. (173 cm) tall and fights in the welterweight division (168 lbs.).

Sakurai is a former UFC welterweight title challenger and PRIDE lightweight title challenger and currently competes as one of 8 fighters in the DREAM's 2009 Welterweight Grand Prix.

His nickname, "Mach" (pronounced ma-ha) is a tribute to his favourite pro wrestler as a child, Higo Shigehisashi, better known as Mach Hayato.

Shooto and UFC

Hayato Sakurai made his professional mixed martial arts debut at Shooto: Let's Get Lost on October 4, 1996. He faced fellow MMA debutant, Caol Uno and submitted Uno with an armbar at 2:52 of round 1.

Sakurai went 3-0-2 in his next five fights, with four of the five bouts taking place in the Shooto organization. With his undefeated Shooto and MMA record, Sakurai earned a shot at the vacant Shooto middleweight title. He faced future UFC competitor, Jutaro Nakao who he defeated via unanimous decision to earn the title.

Sakurai went on to win his next 13 fights which lasted up until August 26, 2001. Included amongst those 13 victories was a victory in a one night 8-man tournament held by the Golden Trophy organization, one defense of his Shooto title with a split decision over Tetsuji Kato, a unanimous decision win over future PRIDE competitor, Luiz Azeredo and a second round TKO stoppage over Frank Trigg.

On August 26, 2001, Sakurai suffered his first professional defeat and the loss of his Shooto middleweight title when he was on the losing end of a unanimous decision to future UFC middleweight champion, Anderson Silva.

After submitting Dan Gilbert with a heel hook in December of 2001, Sakurai filled in for Anderson Silva in a fight for the UFC welterweight title. Sakurai faced UFC welterweight champion, Matt Hughes at UFC 36 and after a three and a half rounds of action, Sakurai was overwhelmed by Hughes and stopped via TKO.

Nine months later, Sakurai dropped his third bout and his second in a row when he was on the losing end of a unanimous decision when he faced Jake Shields on Shooto's year end show for 2002.

PRIDE

Following the loss to Shields, Sakurai moved into the DEEP organization where he went 2-1 in his three fights there. He defeated Ryuki Ueyama and former UFC middleweight champion, Dave Menne before suffering a cut stoppage loss to Ryo Chonan.

On New Year's Eve, 2003, Sakurai made his first appearance for the PRIDE Fighting Championships. At PRIDE: Shockwave 2003, Sakurai defeated UFC veteran, Daiju Takase via unanimous decision after three rounds.

At PRIDE: Bushido 2, Sakurai suffered his first PRIDE defeat when he was on the losing end of a decision to Rodrigo Gracie.

After submitting "Funky" Brady Fink at PRIDE: Bushido 4 with a guillotine choke, Sakurai was defeated again, this time via armbar submission by another Gracie, Crosley Gracie at PRIDE: Bushido 5.

Sakurai got back on track with a unanimous decision win over Milton Vieira at PRIDE: Bushido 7 and then a narrow unanimous decision win over Shinya Aoki at a Shooto event in August of 2005.

At PRIDE: Bushido 9, Sakurai entered PRIDE's 8-man lightweight tournament with the first two rounds taking place in the one night and the final taking place at PRIDE: Shockwave 2005, which would crown the first ever PRIDE lightweight champion.

In the opening round, Sakurai faced former UFC lightweight champion, Jens Pulver. In a hard fought fight, Sakurai came out on top when he dropped and stopped Pulver with punches at the 8:56 mark of round 1.

Later that night in the semi-finals, Sakurai scored a unanimous decision over Joachim Hansen to move into the final, where he would face Takanori Gomi.

In a vicious fight at PRIDE: Shockwave 2005, Gomi came out on top quicker than expected as he mauled Sakurai just before the fourth minute mark, resulting in a knockout victory and the PRIDE lightweight championship.

In his final three PRIDE appearances, Sakurai picked up three successive (T)KO victories. The list of victims included Olaf Alonso (PRIDE: Bushido 11), Luciano Azevedo (PRIDE: Bushido 12) and future TUF 6 welterweight winner, Mac Danzig (PRIDE 33).

After the buyout of PRIDE by ZUFFA, a New Year Eve's event was held by former Dream Stage Entertainment staff as a farewell to PRIDE fans. The event entitled, Yarennoka!, featured a host of former PRIDE stars, including Sakurai. Sakurai faced off against Hidehiko Hasegawa on the card and defeated Hasegawa via unanimous decision after two rounds.

DREAM

With the downfall of PRIDE, Sakurai signed with the upstart DREAM promotion and made his debut at DREAM 1 on March 15, 2008. He defeated Hidetaka Monma via TKO at the 4:12 mark of round 1.

A little under two months later, Sakurai returned to the Shooto organization for the first time in three years and was surprisingly defeated by French journeyman, David Baron via guillotine choke in the first round.

Sakurai rebounded from the disappointing loss at DREAM 6 when he outworked UFC veteran, Kuniyoshi Hironaka on the feet for two rounds to earn a unanimous decision victory.

On New Year's Eve, 2008, Sakurai defeated Katsuyori Shibata via first round TKO at K-1: Dynamite!! Power of Courage 2008.

In early 2009, Sakurai was announced as one of the 8 competitors in DREAM's 2009 Welterweight Grand Prix. In the opening round he faced off against Shinya Aoki in a rematch, which was held at DREAM 8. At the opening bell, Sakurai came charging out with knees and punches that Aoki ducked under and scored a takedown from. As Aoki worked position, Sakurai rolled him over and landed some hard knees that seperated Aoki from consciousness. Sakurai landed some unnecessary follow up punches, earning the stoppage win at 27 seconds of round 1.