Standing at six foot five inches tall, and weighing 140kg at 8% body fat he is larger than life in every sense of the term. Grappler, kick-boxer, MMA legend, and movie star, the American, now 52 years old, will captain Team Bangtao in the innovative QUINTET format that sees teams of five fighters compete in a team-elimination format.
Sapp made his name in PRIDE FC – a Japanese organisation that for a time was the world’s leading MMA outfit. Now he, and fellow PRIDE legends Renzo Gracie, Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira, and the founder of QUINTET Kazushi Sakuraba, will be reunited as they lead the four teams competing at Coca-Cola Arena on October 23.
“It’s like this nostalgia going on,” said Sapp. “So when I see the guys, I’m happy to see them, but then you have that pause and the competitive spirit and the competition comes out and I’m sizing them up and I’m saying, ‘Hmm, can my team beat them?’.”
Sapp is used to competing on the big stage but this week, will be firmly on the sidelines. Back when he was competing, size (he weighed upwards of 200kg when competing) and stature made his a superstar in Japan – with the TV numbers to match.
“I was fortunate enough to take one organisation from 300,000 to 300 million views in eight months. I graced the cover of Time Magazine, the Wall Street Journal, and I currently hold the most popular televised fight in history with 54 million views.”
Team Bangtao consists of Kemoy Anderson, Lucas Barbosa, Alex Schild, Dong Hyun Kim, and PJ Barch, and Sapp is confident they can see of the challenges of Team Sakuraba, Team Gracie, and Team Nogueira.
“Team Bangtao is a team that is forged in fire.
“There are a group of fighters that met together in the gym and have been through a lot together. These guys have been through the trenches with each other. They’ve seen what it feels like to be that struggling fighter. They understand what it feels like to still have to get up in the morning and have to work. They’ve all come in to deliver a huge victory.”
Alongside the team matchups, QUINTET will also feature a number of individual super-fight on a night the likes of which Dubai has never seen before. QUINTET 5 takes place at Coca-Cola Arena on Thursday October 23. Tickets are available from https://coca-cola-arena.com/
