Yoshihiro Akiyama is a major mixed martial arts superstar in his native Japan; a fighter whose talents and approach resonates with the fans, while his sartorial selections and overall appearance makes him popular with the ladies. Sponsored by Nike and known as “Sexyama,” there may not have been a bigger home-grown star in all of Japanese MMA.
Despite not having a great deal of cache with North American fans, Akiyama’s international stardom and impressive record was enough to earn him a place in the first bout of the UFC’s biggest pay-per-view event to date. At UFC 100 last July, Akiyama and Alan Belcher kicked off the company’s centennial show with a back-and-forth battle that earned the duo Fight of the Night honors, and a questionable split decision victory for the debuting judoka.
One of the biggest stars to arrive in the UFC from the Land of the Rising Sun, Akiyama’s win over Belcher extended his unbeaten streak to fourteen and should have been a launching point for a quick climb up the middleweight ladder. Instead, a fractured left orbital bone left him on the sidelines recovering, and waiting for another opportunity.
It was expected that Akiyama would face former PRIDE star Wanderlei Silva at UFC 110, the company’s first foray to Australia and the closest they would come to Japan where the two 185-pound competitors are both major draws. But Silva instead faced – and defeated Brit Michael Bisping – while Akiyama continued to wait. At the post-fight press conference, Dana White announced he would make Akiyama’s wish come true and pair him with “The Axe Murderer.”
Fast forward to last week and the announcement that Silva would be forced to withdraw from their fight due to numerous injuries sustained in training, the greatest of which are a pair of broken ribs. Chris Leben was immediately tabbed as Silva’s replacement, but a crestfallen Akiyama initially balked at the late replacement. After all this time, Akiyama wanted Silva, and Leben didn’t seem like a big enough challenge.
The Judo black belt decided to go ahead and face Leben, and the two will meet in the co-main event Saturday at UFC 116. After a high profile arrival, a questionable debut win, and nearly a year on the shelf, Akiyama needs an impressive performance against “The Crippler” to show that he belongs amongst the best middleweights in the world.
As of right now, it’s hard to place Akiyama.
On one hand, his lone UFC appearance is a win over an up-and-comer who has since put together back-to-back impressive outings and is “in the mix” according to Dana White. On the other hand, the win was questioned by many and Akiyama hasn’t looked like the same fighter since an illegal kick from Kazuo Misaki left him unconscious on New Year’s Eve 2007.
His unbeaten run and high-profile puts him in the Top 10, but a loss to Leben would send him sliding, and make the UFC’s foreign investment look like a questionable move. What complicates matters more is his insistence on facing Silva and subsequent hesitancy to meet Leben.
To be frank, Akiyama isn’t really in a position to be lobbying for specific opponents and turning down replacement fighters. He needs to be in the Octagon, showing the talents that made him the K-1 Hero’s light heavyweight champion and a major star in his homeland, not waiting to face a fading star and thinking of pulling a Ken Shamrock when the man he has been preparing for can’t continue.
While Silva scored a solid win over Bisping when the UFC went to Sydney in February, the win wasn’t enough to convince anyone that the former Pride champion was fit to make a run at the middleweight title. It was a nice win for a much-beloved fighter needing just that, but nothing more, and that is what makes Akiyama’s insistence on fighting Silva all the more confusing.
Dana White has said in the preamble to this pairing that the judoka turned down other opponents, wanting to face Silva and only Silva. As great a name as Silva still has, the 33-year-old “Axe Murderer” isn’t the same fighter who flourished in Japan. Beating Belcher – as questioned as it may have been – was a better win than triumphing over Silva would be, but instead of moving forward to bigger and better competition, Akiyama was eager to go backwards.
With Silva on the shelf and a resurgent-looking Chris Leben eager to keep the ball rolling two weeks after ending Aaron Simpson’s unbeaten run, Akiyama initially contemplated removing himself from the fight, citing Leben’s lack of a name and insufficient prep time as just cause.
Maybe Akiyama isn’t aware of Leben’s legendary time on the first season of The Ultimate Fighter. Leben was nothing more than a name not that long ago, sustaining life based solely off his infamous turn as the original bad boy of the Spike TV reality program. With the UFC-centric fans that have only come to the sport since the 2005 debut of TUF, “The Crippler” is probably a bigger star than Silva.
The other shaky explanation for Akiyama’s hesitancy – insufficient prep time – is simply par for the course and applicable in both directions. Leben too has just two weeks to prepare, and late replacements happen from time-to-time. It’s also fairly hollow considering that Leben’s style isn’t that far removed from the approach used by Silva. In fact, Leben is less of a threat, as the BJJ black belt Silva possesses is nowhere near Leben’s wardrobe.
While he finally agreed to face Leben, Akiyama’s initial hesitation reads like a fighter who is only interested in facing hand-picked opponents, not rolling the dice and facing the best of the best. Those are things you can do when you’re a proven entity with a championship history, but when you’re in Akiyama’s position, you should be saying “yes” to just about any fighter Joe Silva offers you.
Now, there is even more attention on Akiyama.
There is more pressure for him to succeed than ever before, and he has brought it all on himself. Saturday night in a marquee matchup that only came together two weeks ago, the biggest Japanese acquisition in UFC history has to prove he was worth the investment.
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