Akiyama Signs With The UFC
by Robert Sargent
Adding to its already growing stable of fighters out of Asia, the Ultimate Fighting Championship has announced the signing of former K-1 and DREAM star Yoshihiro Akiyama, who will make an immediate impact in the promotion's middleweight division.
The talented and controversial judoka will make his UFC debut at UFC 100 on July 11th in Las Vegas, Nevada, against the ever-cocky Alan "The Talent" Belcher.
Akiyama (12-1-0, 2 NC) is one of the most talented fighters to come out of Asia, and one of the few true stars remaining from the continent. He has not lost a fight since his second career bout, against famed kickboxer Jerome LeBanner in March of 2005, though controversy has followed Akiyama for quite some time.
Following the loss to LeBanner, Akiyama racked up eight straight stoppage wins in K-1, with all but two ending in the first round. Perhaps most impressive was his armbar victory over devastating striker Melvin Manhoef, after Manhoef rocked him with strikes early on.
However, it was Akiyama's next fight, against Japanese legend Kazushi Sakuraba, that instantly made Akiyama one of the most infamous (and hated) fighters in Japan.
Akiyama had coated his body in Oil of Olay skin cream prior to the bout, which made him slippery as the fighters began to sweat. Sakuraba repeatedly protested, to no avail, until the referee eventually waved off the fight midway through round one. Akiyama plead ignorance to the charges of "greasing," and pictures also circulated that suggested that Akiyama had used an unapproved, "loaded" glove on his right hand.
Regardless, the skin cream fiasco alienated Akiyama from the Japanese population, and he was never able to recover his reputation.
Akiyama returned to competition nearly a year later, in his native Korea, where he knocked out top-five middleweight at the time, Denis Kang, in the first round. Controversy resurfaced in his next fight, where he was knocked out by an illegal soccer kick from Kazuo Misaki, and that fight was eventually ruled a No Contest.
Akiyama competed in two uneventful bouts against overmatched competition in DREAM, but this is perhaps his biggest chance yet to gain worldwide superstar status.
Akiyama's signing with the UFC comes at a time when the promotion is attempting to establish itself in the Asian market once again. Recent additions of Yoshiyuki Yoshida, Dong Hyun Kim, the aforementioned Denis Kang, former UFC title challenger Caol Uno and Japanese gold medallist in Judo Satoshi Ishii (still in negotiations) have provided the UFC with an opportunity to expand across the Pacific.
While born in Japan, Akiyama - whose birth name is Sung Hoon Choo - is an ethnic Korean, and his fanbase in Korea has only grown as the controversies in Japan have made him an outcast. The Japanese MMA market has never been the same after the demise of Pride Fighting Championships, but mixed martial arts is thriving in South Korea, and Akiyama will be the biggest Korean star on the UFC roster.
Ever the showman, Akiyama has become a television superstar in Korea, with appearances on talk shows, Sprite commercials and on stage at concerts in front of over 35,000 people. Dubbing himself the "Michael Jackson of MMA," Akiyama sang alongside some of Korea's biggest pop stars at the 2008 Dream Concert.
While his antics outside of the ring are of little relevance to casual UFC fans, Akiyama is one of the most talented fighters in mixed martial arts today, and could easily be a contender - or possibly champion - in the UFC's middleweight division within a year. His striking, while not on the level of an Anderson Silva, is very good, but anyone foolish enough to take a fight with Akiyama to the ground is in for a quick and potentially painful end to their night.
Though Akiyama's opponent, Alan Belcher, is coming off of a submission win over Denis Kang, Akiyama will be the overwhelming favourite coming into the fight, and it is incredibly unlikely that the bout will go the distance. Unless Belcher can score an early knockout, Akiyama's first UFC fight should be an easy one.
Fans who have not yet had the chance to see Akiyama in action will get their chance at UFC 100, where he will no doubt look to immediately establish that he is a major threat to anyone in the 185-pound division.
