Augusto dos Santos Sakai (born 19 May 1991) is a Brazilian

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting sport based on striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-stylistic contests took place t ...

who formerly competed in the

Heavyweight Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling. Boxing Professional Male boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 2 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation an ...

division of the

Ultimate Fighting Championship The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promoter (entertainment), promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority owned subsidiary of Endeavor ( ...

(UFC) and

Bellator MMA Bellator MMA (formerly Bellator Fighting Championships) was an American mixed martial arts promotion (entertainment), promotion founded in 2008 by Bjorn Rebney and operated until 2025. The promotion takes its name from ''wikt:bellator, bellātor ...

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

Sakai made his professional MMA debut in October 2011 in his native Brazil. In the first two years of his career, he amassed a record of six wins and no losses with all but one of his wins coming via knockout.

Bellator MMA

Sakai made his Bellator MMA debut at Bellator 94 in March 2013, defeating Rob Horton by knockout due to a knee. Sakai returned to the promotion in 2015 with bouts against

Daniel Gallemore Daniel Gallemore (born June 14, 1985) is an American professional mixed martial artist and boxing, boxer. A professional competitor since 2011, Gallemore has formerly competed for the Professional Fighters League, Titan Fighting Championship, Ti ...

and

Alex Huddleston Alex Huddleston (born August 11, 1986) is a retired American mixed martial artist. A professional competitor from 2011 until 2015, Huddleston formerly competed for Bellator MMA, Bellator, Titan Fighting Championship, Titan FC and Inoki Genome Fed ...

. He won both fights via TKO. Sakai faced Dan Charles at Bellator 155 on May 20, 2016. The bout ended in a majority draw. Sakai faced

Cheick Kongo Cheick Kongo (born May 17, 1975) is a French mixed martial artist and former kickboxer who fights in the Heavyweight division. A professional MMA competitor since 2001, he has also competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship and Bellator. ...

at Bellator 179 on May 19, 2017. He lost the fight via split decision.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Sakai made his promotional debut against Chase Sherman on September 22, 2018, at UFC Fight Night 137. He won the fight via TKO in the third round. Sakai faced

Andrei Arlovski Andrei Arlovski (, born 4 February 1979) is a Belarusian-American professional mixed martial artist and actor. A former UFC Heavyweight Champion, he competed in the heavyweight division for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and holds th ...

on April 27, 2019, at UFC Fight Night: Jacaré vs. Hermansson. He won the fight via split decision. In his third fight for the promotion, Sakai faced

Marcin Tybura Marcin Tybura (born November 9, 1985) is a Polish professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A professional competitor since 2011, Tybura previously fought for ...

on September 14, 2019, at UFC Fight Night 158. He won the fight via knockout in the first round. Subsequently, Sakai signed a new, six-fight contract with the UFC. Sakai was scheduled to face

Blagoy Ivanov Blagoy Ivanov (; born October 9, 1986) is a Bulgarian mixed martial artist and Sambo practitioner who is currently signed to the PFL, but on suspension due to testing positive to anabolic steroids. He previously competed for the Ultimate Fighti ...

on May 9, 2020, at then UFC 250. Due to the event being relocated to the United States, Sakai being unable to compete due to visa issues. However, on April 9,

Dana White Dana Frederick White Jr. (born July 28, 1969) is an American businessman who is the CEO and president of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), a global mixed martial arts organization. In August 2019, White's net worth was estimated at . Out ...

, the president of UFC announced that this event was postponed and the eventually the bout took place on May 30, 2020, at UFC on ESPN: Woodley vs. Burns. He won the fight via a split decision. Sakai faced

Alistair Overeem Alistair Cees Overeem (born 17 May 1980) is a Dutch former professional mixed martial artist and kickboxer. He is a former Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion, Dream Heavyweight Champion, K-1 World Grand Prix Champion, and was the first fight ...

on September 5, 2020, at UFC Fight Night 176. Despite his early success, he was eventually dominated by the veteran and lost the fight via technical knockout in the fifth round. Sakai was expected to face Shamil Abdurakhimov on May 1, 2021, at UFC on ESPN 23. However Abdurakhimov pulled out of the bout with visa issues, and Sakai instead faced Jairzinho Rozenstruik on June 5, 2021, at UFC Fight Night: Rozenstruik vs. Sakai. He lost the fight via knockout with one second left in the first round. Sakai was expected to face

Tai Tuivasa Tai Anthony Tuivasa (born 16 March 1993) is an Australian professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). As of June 10, 2025, he is #11 in the UFC heavyweight r ...

on November 20, 2021, at UFC Fight Night 198. However due to visa issues for Tuivasa, the bout was scrapped. The pair was rescheduled and met on December 11, 2021, at

UFC 269 ''UFC 269: Oliveira vs. Poirier'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on December 11, 2021, at the T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada, part of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Area, United State ...

. Sakai lost the fight via knockout in the second round. Sakai faced Serghei Spivac on August 6, 2022, at

UFC on ESPN 40 ''UFC on ESPN: Santos vs. Hill'' (also known as ''UFC on ESPN 40'' and ''UFC Vegas 59'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on August 6, 2022, at the UFC Apex facility in Enterprise, Neva ...

. He lost the fight via technical knockout in round two. Sakai faced Don'Tale Mayes on February 25, 2023, at UFC Fight Night 220. He won the fight via unanimous decision. In late March 2023, Sakai was released from the UFC.

Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki

On June 3, 2024 it was announced that Sakai had signed with the Polish promotion KSW. He challenged Phil De Fries for the KSW Heavyweight Championship at KSW 95 on June 7, 2024, losing by unanimous decision.

Personal life

Sakai is the grandson of Japanese immigrants to Brazil and he works at an

aquarium An aquarium (: aquariums or aquaria) is a vivarium of any size having at least one transparent side in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. fishkeeping, Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aquati ...

store between fights.

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Win , align=center, 17–6–1 , Szymon Bajor , Decision (split) , KSW 105 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Gliwice Gliwice (; , ) is a city in Upper Silesia, in southern Poland. The city is located in the Silesian Highlands, on the Kłodnica river (a tributary of the Oder River, Oder). It lies approximately 25 km west from Katowice, the regional capital ...

, Poland , , - , Loss , style="text-align:center" , 16–6–1 , Phil De Fries , Decision (unanimous) , KSW 95 , , align=center, 5 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Olsztyn Olsztyn ( , ) is a city on the Łyna River in northern Poland. It is the capital of the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, and is a city with powiat rights, city with county rights. The population of the city was estimated at 169,793 residents Olsz ...

, Poland , , - , Win , style="text-align:center" , 16–5–1 , Don'Tale Mayes , Decision (unanimous) , UFC Fight Night: Muniz vs. Allen , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

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, United States , , - , Loss , style="text-align:center" , 15–4–1 ,

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, United States , , - , Loss , style="text-align:center" , 15–3–1 , Jairzinho Rozenstruik , TKO (punches) , UFC Fight Night: Rozenstruik vs. Sakai , , style="text-align:center" , 1 , style="text-align:center" , 4:59 ,

, United States , , - , Loss , style="text-align:center" , 15–2–1 ,

, TKO (elbows and punches) , UFC Fight Night: Overeem vs. Sakai , , style="text-align:center" , 5 , style="text-align:center" , 0:26 ,

, United States , , - , Win , style="text-align:center" , 15–1–1 ,

, Decision (split) , UFC on ESPN: Woodley vs. Burns , , style="text-align:center" , 3 , style="text-align:center" , 5:00 ,

, United States , , - , Win , style="text-align:center" , 14–1–1 ,

, KO (punches) , UFC Fight Night: Cowboy vs. Gaethje , , style="text-align:center" , 1 , style="text-align:center" , 0:59 ,

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, Canada , , - , Win , style="text-align:center" , 13–1–1 ,

, Decision (split) , UFC Fight Night: Jacaré vs. Hermansson , , style="text-align:center" , 3 , style="text-align:center" , 5:00 ,

Sunrise, Florida Sunrise is a city in central-western Broward County, Florida, Broward County, Florida, United States, and is a principal city of the Miami metropolitan area. The population was 97,335 at the time of the 2020 census. History Early history In ...

, United States , , - , Win , style="text-align:center" , 12–1–1 , Chase Sherman , TKO (punches) , UFC Fight Night: Santos vs. Anders , , style="text-align:center" , 3 , style="text-align:center" , 4:03 ,

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

, Brazil , , - , Win , style="text-align:center" , 11–1–1 , Marcos Conrado , TKO (punches) , Dana White's Contender Series Brazil 1 , , style="text-align:center" , 2 , style="text-align:center" , 3:09 ,

, United States , , - , Win , style="text-align:center" , , Tiago Cardoso , TKO (punches) , Imortal FC 7 , , style="text-align:center" , 1 , style="text-align:center" , 2:17 ,

São José dos Pinhais São José dos Pinhais () is a municipality in the state of Paraná in Brazil. It is a part of the Metropolitan Region of Curitiba. Etymology With geographical and religious origins the city's name is a homage to São José (Saint Joseph) and ...

, Brazil , , - , Loss , style="text-align:center" , 9–1–1 ,

, Decision (split) , Bellator 179 , , style="text-align:center" , 3 , style="text-align:center" , 5:00 ,

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, England , , - , Draw , style="text-align:center" , 9–0–1 , Dan Charles , Draw (majority) , Bellator 155 , , style="text-align:center" , 3 , style="text-align:center" , 5:00 ,

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, Decision (unanimous) , Bellator 145 , , style="text-align:center" , 3 , style="text-align:center" , 5:00 ,

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

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, TKO (retirement) , Bellator 139 , , style="text-align:center" , 2 , style="text-align:center" , 5:00 ,

Mulvane, Kansas Mulvane is a city in Sedgwick and Sumner counties in the U.S. state of Kansas. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 6,286. History Mulvane was laid out in 1879 at the junction of five Santa Fe rail lines. It is named for ...

, United States , , - , Win , style="text-align:center" , 7–0 , Matt Frembling , TKO (knees and punches) , Bellator 122 , , style="text-align:center" , 3 , style="text-align:center" , 3:32 ,

Temecula, California Temecula (; , ; Luiseño language, Luiseño: ''Temeekunga'') is a city in southwestern Riverside County, California, United States. The city had a population of 110,003 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and was Municipal corpora ...

, United States , , - , Win , style="text-align:center" , 6–0 , Edison Lopes , Decision (unanimous) , Golden Fighters 8 , , style="text-align:center" , 3 , style="text-align:center" , 5:00 ,

Novo Hamburgo Novo Hamburgo ('New Hamburg', ; ) is a Municipalities of Brazil, municipality in the southernmost Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, located in the metropolitan area of Porto Alegre, the state capital. As of 2020, its population was 247,032. Th ...

, Brazil , , - , Win , style="text-align:center" , 5–0 , Rob Horton , KO (knee) , Bellator 94 , , style="text-align:center" , 2 , style="text-align:center" , 4:01 ,

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, United States , , - , Win , style="text-align:center" , 4–0 , Arley Simetti , KO (knee) , Samurai FC 9: Water vs. Fire , , style="text-align:center" , 1 , style="text-align:center" , 2:04 ,

Curitiba Curitiba () is the capital and largest city in the state of Paraná (state), Paraná in Southern Brazil. The city's population was 1,773,718 , making it the List of cities in Brazil by population, eighth most populous city in Brazil and the larg ...

, Brazil , , - , Win , style="text-align:center" , 3–0 , Dayvisson Daniel , TKO (punches) , Evolution Fight Combat 3 , , style="text-align:center" , 1 , style="text-align:center" , 0:00 ,

, Brazil , , - , Win , style="text-align:center" , 2–0 , Marcio Fernando , TKO (punches) , Power Fight Extreme 6 , , style="text-align:center" , 1 , style="text-align:center" , 0:35 ,

, Brazil , , - , Win , style="text-align:center" , 1–0 , Cesar Alberto , KO (punches) , Adventure Fighters Tournament , , style="text-align:center" , 1 , style="text-align:center" , 1:54 ,

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References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sakai, Augusto 1991 births Brazilian male mixed martial artists Heavyweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu Brazilian sportspeople of Japanese descent Brazilian practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu Living people Martial artists from Curitiba Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters 21st-century Brazilian sportsmen