![Quintet 3 team captains at the UFC Performance Institute](/https/www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/mma/2018/10/04/Quintet_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqEDjTm7JpzhSGR1_8ApEWQA1vLvhkMtVb21dMmpQBfEs.jpeg?imwidth=680)
New grappling format Quintet sees legends Kazushi Sakuraba and Urijah Faber throw down in Sin City
![Quintet 3 team captains at the UFC Performance Institute](/https/www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/mma/2018/10/04/Quintet_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqEDjTm7JpzhSGR1_8ApEWQA1vLvhkMtVb21dMmpQBfEs.jpeg?imwidth=680)
As a sideshow attraction to UFC 229 this Saturday, the mixed martial arts legends and UFC Hall of Famers Kazushi Sakuraba of Japan and popular US West Coast standout Urijah Faber will square off on the grappling mats.
It's called 'Quintet', and involves four teams of five grapplers in what is effectively the equivalent of physical speed chess.
Faber faces a man he calls "a hero". The duo are two of the four team captains in Quintet, the grappling concept originated by Sakuraba which makes its way to Sin City for an event at The Orleans Arena, the night before Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor square off at the T-Mobile Arena.
Friday night will see UFC grappling fans alight on one of the old school hotels, for some old school names.
Sakuraba, one of MMA’s original legends, has a resume which reads like a Who's Who from the history books of MMA.
He won the UFC Japan heavyweight tournament in 1997 and then in PRIDE, handed Royce Gracie his first professional loss in a legendary 90-minute fight in the 2000 Openweight Grand Prix.
Sakuraba, whose last MMA bout was a 2015 loss to Shinya Aoki, has also been a professional wrestler and competed in various submission grappling events. Once the main man of the WEC as its featherweight king, Faber brought Team Alpha Male in Sacramento to the world and was a profoundly popular UFC headliner.
Like Sakuraba, Faber became a modern pioneer as a fighter and camp creator, retiring from the UFC in 2016 as one of the sport's most refined gentleman fighters.
“For me, Sakuraba was my favorite fighter when I first got into the sport,” Faber said at a Quintet media workout at the Torrey Pines UFC Performance Institute.
“I had a two-hour VHS tape of Sakuraba and all his crazy stuff."
"He was doing crazy double flying chops with both hands and undressing the Gracie family one shoulder at a time and probably my favorite fight of all-time was when he fought in Heroes and was rocked and kind of out of it, and they stopped him and kind of shook him in bounds."
"The guy’s incredible. I think he and I both have 19 submissions, which is close to the record in UFC, WEC, Strikeforce and PRIDE combined."
"It's kind of surreal getting inducted to the Hall of Fame as the same time as Sakuraba. I started at 23/24 years of age in MMA, having watched Belfort, Couture Pulver and Sakuraba, all these guys who were the greats for me back then. To be able to compete against him is a dream come true," explained Faber.
"They call him 'the Gracie killer' and they were the feared submission artists So for me, this is awesome man, it’s a dream come true.”
Sakuraba, bringing Quintet to the USA for the first time, on UFC Fight Pass, believes the format will grow and grow. It is certainly a ready-made television format. "We have been creating it into a format so that anyone can watch and enjoy…"
The Japanese star, in fine fettle aged 49, told The Telegraph that he intends to bring Quintet to the UK "as soon as December" this year. The event has resonated this week and is expected to bring a big crowd, and a growing number of media members the third event of its kind.
“I’m very excited Quintet will make its way in Las Vegas,” Sakuraba stated. “Japanese fans and UFC Fight Pass viewers already know how thrilling our five-on-five, winner-stays-on team grappling event is, and now the fight capital of the world is cordially invited to witness an event unlike anything seen before in the U.S.”
Bouts last eight minutes, with the five-man line-up being announced in advance. The event will see the two winning semi-final teams meeting in a finale match to decide the Quintet 3 champions.
The four teams involved at Quintet 3 include Team Sakuraba – with eponymous captain and Josh Barnett, Marcos Souza and Roberto Souza – Faber’s Team Alpha Male, Quintet 1 champions Team Polaris and Eddie Bravo’s Team 10th Planet, who claimed victory at Quintet 2.