Mar-8-2010

Sakara Looking for Three in a Row on March 21st

By Martins Denis

Every fighter that steps into the Octagon has a particular quest inside his mind, and even if climbing the mountain to earn a fight for the title is a mutual goal, each combatant still has his own formula to grab it.

Sometimes, fighters even change teams and weight classes in order to establish a foothold in this race for a title, and even though it's not a rule, more and more athletes have opted for what, in past years, would be an extreme sacrifice - the struggle with the scale.

Alessio 'Legionarius' Sakara, the Italian-born battler who will face James Irvin at UFC on Versus on March 21st, has followed this changing team/weight class road. Fighting for the third time as a middleweight - after seven fights as a light heavyweight and a few as a 'lighter' heavyweight back in his career - and joining American Top Team after being a member of Brazil Dojo and Team Nogueira, Sakara has now given up the inconsistent performances that characterized his stint at 205 pounds.

"Being an ATT member, I feel I'm much more of an MMA fighter than just a skilled boxer inside the Octagon. I train to be the most competitive fighter possible and it produced results as people watched my high kicks' effects," said Sakara, referring to his spectacular knockout of Joe Vedepo in his second fight at 185 pounds in September of 2008. "I have all types of great coaches to explore the potential that before was asleep."

During his first middleweight bout against Chris Leben in March of 2008 (a first round TKO loss), his hands weren't as heavy as usual, and in the following fight with Vedepo they weren't necessary, as he delivered high kicks that finished the fight. But for a spirited boxer like Sakara, the importance of using his fists with accuracy and power are essential for a successful trip to the top, especially in a weight class where each top contender has his tools always sharpened.

"The strength I had as a 205 pounder is what I search for as a middleweight,” he said. “I have to hit harder in my new category and I'm working on it. But now I also try to fight with intelligence, strategy and a gameplan, not like a crazy slugger."

The evidence of this mental switch is apparent when you look at the change in the Sakara of his first fight in the Octagon against Ron Faircloth at UFC 55 in 2005, to the Sakara seen at UFC 101 last August. And while he may have looked a bit more hesitant than we're accustomed to when he fought against former UFC middleweight contender Thales Leites in his last bout, Sakara reiterates that he wants to be more focused on being an MMA athlete who is different from the one that lost consecutive matches to Dean Lister and Drew McFedries back in 2006.

"Leites was the only man that stayed inside the Octagon with Anderson Silva for 25 minutes," said Sakara. "And that was also the most difficult stage of my UFC career, since my son was born in July in Italy. I was very happy, but imagine that you’re in another country (when your son is born), as I was in the USA. My head wasn't 100% in the fight. But I fought a strategic fight, and this is part of having a plan and fighting with intelligence."

But fans shouldn’t worry that Sakara’s newfound attention to strategy and gameplan has led him to forget about electrifying the crowd. He’s still the same guy who has a 30 second knockout victory over K-1 Brazil champion Eduardo Maiorino and forced former UFC heavyweight contender Assuerio Silva to take the fight to the ground due to the damage he was causing with body shots. In other words, Sakara didn't lose his ability or desire to knock people out.

"I trained very hard for this fight (against Irvin), and the knock out is always a question of doing certain things correctly. I don't want to be considered a boring fighter; I train to put on great matches and all that is going to happen naturally."

Even with all these changes in the business and personal life of Sakara, he has more barriers to break as he looks to put together the kind of winning streak that catapults a fighter to the top. But with two in a row already against Leites and Vedepo, all the 28-year old Italian wants is to keep the victories coming.

"I'm 3-1 since I joined ATT," he said. "The problem before was that I didn’t have them behind me, but now I'm very relaxed. I have an academy in Rome and I started working on Italian TV doing shows about MMA, as the sport is doing great, so you can imagine how busy I am. But once I had ATT to lead me, I knew how to make time for everything and I feel it makes the difference."

Facing Irvin (14-5-1), who will be fighting as a 185-pounder for the first time, Sakara doesn't expect the weight cutting factor of his foe to be the principal weapon for him. Instead, he prefers to first eliminate the reach advantage and the toughness of the knockout artist, and then to impose his game and obtain his third straight win.

"I know that cutting weight for the first time in a new division is tough, but each fighter reacts different - he can either suffer or not," said Sakara. "But I'm going to be ready for everything. I'm here to show a magnificent trio in one fighter, an experienced Sakara who has KO power, aggressiveness, and technique, all at the same time. I’ve tried to do that since my beginning in the UFC, but in my defeats I learned where I had to improve. Now with a great squad it's easier, and even in my victories I had the same will to add the things that would help me become a better fighter. Irvin will be a test of all of this."