MMA News: Sakuraba vs. Funaki at K-1 New Years Show

Kazushi Sakuraba will fight Masakatsu Funaki at K-1 Premium 2007 Dynamite on Dec 31. (MMAweekly.com Photo)

Two legendary Japanese fighters will collide on New Years eve in Osaka, Japan for K-1 Premium 2007 Dynamite.

According to The Fight Network, mixed martial arts visionary Kazushi Sakuraba (22-10-1) will face fellow MMA veteran Masakatsu Funaki (38-11-1) on Monday, Dec. 31 in a dream match for Japanese fans.

A legend in the sport, Sakuraba has beaten a who's who of MMA legends, including Royce Gracie (14-3-3), Ken Shamrock (26-12-2)and Quinton "Rampage" Jackson (29-6-0) and is well known for his fights with Wanderlei Silva (31-7-1) as well as with members of the Gracie family. After a controversial decision loss to Gracie in June of '07, Sakuraba beat Katsuyori Shibata (2-2-0) in the K-1 Hero's Tournament Final in September.

Although Funaki might be less well-known to North American fans, he is easily as famous as Sakuraba in Japan. Like "The Gracie Hunter", he left a career as a pro-wrestler to pursue fighting in MMA. As a two-time King of Pancrase, Funaki faced the toughest fighters of his era, defeating Ken Shamrock, Frank Shamrock (22-8-1), Bas Rutten (28-4-1) and Yuki Kondo (47-20-6) to name a few. In his last match, at Colloseum 2000, Funaki was choked unconscious by Rickson Gracie (11-0-0) and has not fought since.

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Watch mixed martial arts this Tuesday with Bodog Fight on ION TV and on The Fight Network at 11 p.m. / 10 p.m Central and on The Score at 9 p.m. / 8 p.m. Central.

All lines subject to change.