Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Marcus Silveira
Kazushi’s debut at UFC Japan in December of 1997 was a truly bizarre affair that featured one of legendary referee John McCarthy’s biggest blunders.
Competing in the opening round of a four-man, one-night heavyweight tournament, Sakuraba was paired up with the much bigger Silveira, and less than two minutes into the action he was caught by a punch and immediately dropped down looking for a takedown.
McCarthy ended the fight instantly before realizing that the Japanese fighter was actually ok to continue, which led to protests from Sakuraba (who refused to leave the octagon), his team and the crowd.
‘Big’ John admitted he’d made a mistake and the decision would later be amended to a no-contest ruling.
Then Tank Abbot broke his hand in the other semi-final and so the decision was made to have Sakuraba step back in to rematch Silveira in the final, and this time he’d go on to win by a first round armbar submission.
