8. Royce Gracie vs. Kazushi Sakuraba | Grand Prix 2000 Finals (May 1, 2000)
Sakuraba-Gracie 1 is an utterly unique encounter in MMA history, more akin to a movie than a sporting contest. Gracie, who had pioneered modern MMA in the early UFCs and had never been defeated, faced perhaps the best pound-for-pound fighter of that time, Sakuraba, who had already submitted his brother Royler Gracie. What's more, the fight had no time limit, with each round being a daunting 15 minutes. This calls to mind the crazy Brazilian arena matches of the 1930s and 1950s where Helio Gracie participated in against masters of other styles, especially the judo legend Masahiko Kimura, who broke his arm with the lock that now bears his name. Naturally, Helio was in Royce's corner that night.
Obviously, unlimited 15-minute rounds are utterly inhumane, and after the first 20 minutes or so, Sakuraba and Gracie were both spent, spending large portions of every round simply standing and grabbing one another against the ropes, throwing neither strikes nor attempting takedowns. However, they kept going for an unprecedented 90 minutes, a full-length feature film. Finally the 86-year-old, iron-faced patriarch Helio, who had himself fought through being choked unconscious and having his arm broken, could stand it no longer, throwing the towel to save his son. We will likely never see a fight like this again, especially between two such legendary, high-caliber martial artists.
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