Iori of course. sagat beat Ryu...which isn't saying much.
Iori beat the crap out of Orochi with geonitz, a weakened version of him was capable of taking out the entire KoF97 cast and is considered stronger the Goenitz by Mature. He wasn't even impressed by Rugal, who himself was taking out the entire KoF95 roaster.
iori=beast.
Sagat=8foot fagg0t whose obsessed with ryu and rubs his chest when he sees him. Not cool.
Iori claws Sagat and burns him giving him an 'X' on his scar to remember. heck he'd cut the "prison break" tatoo on him if Sagat persists.
Iori pwns Sagat, pounding him so bad he spends the rest of his life thinking he was a 6 year old girl.
~The, Remember Me When You See The Moon, Sado-sama
Sagat, if Ryu can do it so can Sagat. Sagat may be even stronger than Ryu. If Ryu can nearly crush buildings than Sagat can too. If Ryu can dodge bullets then so can Sagat. If Ryu can lift boulders than so can Sagat. Sagat beat Gou Hibiki when he was only a youngster. Iori is badass but he can't touch Sagat.
F**K REX GROSSMAN!!!
sure...its obvious that being able to surpass people like Goenitz, beating down Orochi, being able to take on KoF97 roaster in a weakened state means he can't beat Sagat who beat Gou Hibiki which stands for a lot since that guy is Dan's father馃槢
Saying ryu can beat iori means he can take on Terry, Ryo, Kyo, Kim, etc at once and actually win. or at least push them to a new limit.
~The Invincible Sado-sama
Much as I hate to agree with Sado, Ryu did cheapshot Sagat. Which isn't to say he couldn't beat him now. But it's close to dead even in my book. Goenitz was WAY overrated. Of course Sagat would **** him up.
As for the fight in question, hard to call. Gameplaywise, (going by CVS2, the only GOOD game with both these two), it's dependant on who's playing. Sagat is usually considered in the top 3 characters in the game. Easily top tier. As Buktooth proved though, Iori is definitely viable in tournaments and a possible top tier himself. Iori is the king of rushdown, and is signifigantly faster, whereas Sagat has priority advantages, and range. Alot of Sagat's moves leave him vulnerable because he's relatively slow, which means a smart Yagami player can nail him with a Ya Otome, or just grab him for a koto tsuki in when he throws a high tiger shot.
Storywise, I'd say it depends on who can last the longest and who can nail the other with a super move. Very very close fight. Sado, no sane person counts the 97 win as anything but a plot device.
And yes, Ryu can beat Kim, Kyo, and Ryo. Terry is dicey, but it's possible. The two are very evenly matched.