There is more to cheer about in Japan and Korea these days than the WBC. His name is, Yoshihiro Akiyama. He’s a 5’10” 195 lbs. Korean native who resides in Osaka, Japan with an impressive MMA record of 12-1 with 2 no contests. Akiyama announced that he was signing on in the Middleweight class with the UFC. There are no bouts set for the 33 year-old yet, but he has headed to Hawaii to start training. Yoshihiro is particularly good standing with his quick punches and spinning kicks. Most of his fights have ended in a KO, five all together. He is a very good with submissions also, with seven of his wins coming from them. Five of the submissions came from an armbar. He has been fighting in K-1 since 2004, and has only lost to Jerome LaBanner by way of knees.
Yoshihiro is very excited to join the UFC. He has gotten a two-year, six-fight deal, and is wanting to fight in UFC 100. Things seem to be going well for this man. I expect some pretty good fighting from him. So keep an eye out for Yoshihiro Akiyama.
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As most of you saw on UFC 96, at the end of the Jackson vs. Jardine fight Rashad Evans was put up against Rampage Jackson for a “face off.” This though was nothing that Evans expected, he was quoted saying on Inside MMA that he “didn’t expect that… They (UFC officials) said I was going to have to do a face-off. I didn’t know it was going to be a trash-talking face-off. I was just caught totally off guard. I was there, and I just wanted to console my guy, who had just lost.”
This antic that the UFC officials put together looked like a scene off of the popular wrestling show “TNA: Impact”. I personally respect the President of UFC, Dana White, but after letting a display like that happen in one of his rings was just wrong. There is a line that shouldn’t be crossed, and it was.
I enjoy seeing a good fight. Guys like me who know what is going on, don’t need a show like that. The drama though is what makes the sport popular for most people. Much like fighting in the NHL, but how far should things go? Should this turn into a “WWE Type” sport where the fighters are not really fighters at all, but big guys with big mouths? This sport is one of the greatest to a lot of people because it brings together all great styles of fighting, and creates a great show of skill. Watching guys like Chuck Liddell or Tito Ortiz are entertaining and amazing at the same time. Now I’m not putting Jackson or Evans down. These two are great fighters and should be completely respected.
I think that the UFC should start to look at where they stand when it comes to taking thing like this too far, like on public “trash-talk”. Men are going to talk, no one is going to stop them from that, but don’t force them into the ring to do it for a UFC publicity stunt, when they’re there for a completely different reason. No one on this planet has more respect for each other than the men that get into the ring together. No one may be friends during the fight, but after the fight is over they congratulate each other and normally help each other. To turn these men on each other like that is like making dogs fight. There is just something wrong about it. True MMA fighters have more class then that. They know that they have well respected skill, and show each other respect. That’s what the UFC needs to start to go back to. We all want a show, but we want a good, clean fight too.
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