Ryuta Sakurai Japanese: 桜井隆多(born September 8, 1971) is a Japanese mixed martial artist[1] who currently competes in the middleweight division.
[2][3] A veteran who fought for many companies such as Shooto, Pancrase and PRIDE.
Sakurai defeated Ryuki Ueyama at Deep: 17 Impact on December 18, 2004, by technical knockout in the first round to win the championship.
Sakurai would lose the title in February 2006 to Ryo Chonan at Deep: 23rd Impact in the first round due to a cut.
He would challenge for the championship in a rematch against rival Riki Fukuda at Deep: 40 Impact, where he lost via unanimous decision.