01.08.2009, 08:39
At around 2000-2001, Sakuraba was undisputedly considered the #1 fighter in the world. Despite this, PRIDE did not have any formal weight class champions, nor did they have any formal weight class belts. As a result, Saku made his own belt and walked out with it as the "unofficial" champion of PRIDE. At PRIDE 13 when Wanderlei shocked the world by beating Saku, there still were no formal champions, so out of respect to Wandy, Sakuraba gave him the Saku belt.
вот собственно