Wanderlei Silva vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama Announced for Early-2010
During a Tuesday UFC press conference in Japan, middleweight Yoshihiro Akiyama announced that he’d be fighting Wanderlei Silva early next year, likely in February at UFC 109 n Las Vegas or UFC 110 in Sydney, Australia.
The matchup, originally rumored for UFC 108 in January, would be featured on the UFC 109 card or could potentially headline the UFC’s Australian debut.
Akiyama (13-1), who is unbeaten since a 2005 loss to Jerome LeBanner, made his UFC debut in July with a unanimous decision victory over Alan Belcher at UFC 100. “Sexyama,” whose notable wins include Denis Kang and Melvin Manhoef, won the K-1 HERO’s Light Heavyweight Tournament in 2006 and recently picked up back-to-back wins in DREAM.
Silva (32-10-1), a former PRIDE champion, will be returning to the Octagon for the first time since undergoing surgery on his face to remove scar tissue and will also be making his debut at 185-pounds against Akiyama.”The Axe Murderer” has lost five of his past six fights, defeating Keith Jardine via first-round knockout last May while suffering losses to the likes of Chuck Liddell, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, and most-recently Rich Franklin in June.
For the latest UFC news and UFC rumors stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com.
Pictured: Wanderlei Silva
HT: Tony Loiseleur
Tags: Wanderlei Silva, Yoshihiro Akiyama
Loading ...
Wandi should take this fairly easy IMO. I’m thinking his power will be sick at 185. Not so sure the 85ers are going to be ready for TAM.
are you kidding me fairly easy ?….id be surprised if akiyama doesnt win this fight….but anyways this is a fight i have dreamed of this is gonna be a great fight….both fighters are hungry with wandi really needing a win and akiyama being new to the ufc still needs to prove himself…this will be a fantastic fight – they both have good ground games-Id give ther edge to sexyama though and they both have ko power and both have really good chins…….Im picking sexyama to win by pure sexyness ko!….AND YES I WILL BE RIDING SEXYAMA’S SEXY SEXWARWAGON ALL THE WAY TO A UFC TITLE!
I think that Akiyama is in tough with this one. I’m a fan of Akiyama, but he’s way too small to be fighting at middleweight. He barely cuts weight. He should drop down. All these other guys in middleweight walk around way over 200 lbs….Anderson Silva is known to be about 225, Marquardt 210….Akiyama gives up a lot of weight – I think he walks around at 185…I’m a fan of his but he’s going to get outmuscled. I hope I’m proven wrong…
Well he literally looks like a new person, so hopefully he’ll re-establish himself at 185. Another loss would be devastating to his career.
Akiyama, Didn’t even KO Belcher! WHY would you think he could or would Wanderlei? I Guarantee he will be a different fighter than you seen in his last fight where he was obviously slowed from the weight cut. You seen how much better a fighter is when they are 100% = Big Nog
animosity, well seeing as how alan belcher has never been ko’d your argument stops there….also dont give me all that wand will be a different fighter stuff he’s been ko’d to many times he destined to be the next chuck liddell….every ufc everyone says oh wand will look better this fight…i love wand but it has yet to happen…that weight cut didnt effect wand at all so be quit about that..franklin beat him fair and square….wand has beat jardine since he came back so…the only way ill say wandi still matters in the mdw talks is if he can pull the win over sexyama which i dont see happening
Sexyama can win this fight unless Wand works on his freakin striking defense. I agree he won’t knock Wand out but he’ll take a decision.
Akiyama via KO by way of sexiness…..wandy is done, same boat as chuck…..im sick of seeing him lose to be honest. Its getting depressing. But i could watch him lose one more time i suppose. Loop de Loop de Loop SMASH – backfire
Same boat as Chuck???
Thats a bold statement.
Idk about that one my friend. In Wandy’s last fight he went three rounds with Franklin.
In Chuck’s last fight he got tko’d, and the fight before that he got KTFO. I say that with all due respect. Because I will always be a fan of the Iceman
They should book this for the Australia event, with both fighters’ popularity in Japan, they might get some people willing to make the flight from Japan to Australia to see them go at it.
Good call man, hopefully dana checks out the FrenZy in his spare time.
I was thinking that this woud be a great fight for the UFC’s inaugural Hawaii event, but Australia works just as well when you factor in the Japan thing…
great fight for wanderlei’s debut @ 185. When you look at these two fighters recent history i’d say wanderlei lucked out by getting sexyama. He’s on a 2 fight losing streak and akyama hasn’t lost in a while.
I think akiyama will pick him apart the way franklin did. Wanderlei’s too sloppy and akiyama’s more patient and technical. Plus the sexyama can take a punch dude! should be a good one.
If it wasn’t for these two fighters popularity over there, than this imho wouldn’t be near to a “main event”. Unless it was an UFN>
Wandy has a good history of KO’ing Japanese fighters…. I think mentally he will be prepared. I just hope to god his trainers and team do a better job getting him ready for this fight. His unorthodox and not always practical or sport specific, ways of conditioning, I don’t think bode well for him. He was a much better and more successful fighter under Chute Box then he has been under Wand Fight Team.
He needs to stop swimming underwater with weights, stop training so much anaerobic with the snorkel and get back to more common and previously used tools. Kettlebells, sledge hammers, tire flips, and various plyometric exercises for strength and conditioning while basic cardio on the air-dyne and treadmill. He can train with his snorkel all he wants, but he is still gassing out before the end of the first round, so clearly it isn’t working. Your body can’t work anaerobically for the full 15 minutes, maybe in the final minute of each round but the rest of the time your aerobic capacity has to be top notch! Train that too, Wandy!
I also think that walking around at 203 and then making a HUGE weight cut 2-3 days prior to get to 185, is beyond stupid, as he was clearly fatigued last time he had to cut weight. His training and diet need to get him down to 190-195 the months leading up to the fight so he can make a successful and non draining cut closer to the fight. Some guys are just better at dropping water weight than others.
Wanderlei’s strength is in his striking…. so plenty of sparring and take down defense. That has to be the focal point of his training!
Come on Wandy, let’s see the old you!
Great post. I was fascinated by Wand’s training techniques a few years ago (when he debuted the snorkel approach), but even more fascinated by the fact that he looked terrible after the first round. I was surprised to see him take the same approach for the Franklin fight. His style of fighting requires a huge gas tank, so hopefully he takes a new direction in the next few months.
All i got for this one is Wanderlei in the 1st or 2nd via “Axe Murder” ;D
Yeah, I just don’t see where Akiyama has been in before with someone like Wand, and I don’t really like his chances to avoid getting “axe murdered”…
jochl, you said this ” I just don’t see where Akiyama has been in before with someone like Wand” and i regret to inform you that akiyama has been in the ring and beaten someone who has more ko power than wandi and is more aggresive than wandu his name is melvin manhoef, also akiyama ko’d big slugger deiis kang in the first round…..i believe wandi will fight just like melvin fought because they are very similar sluggers and i see akiyama picking wandi apart standing and on the ground …..i see sexyama scoring many a takedowns usuing his judoka skills…….akiyama’s only lose was his second mmain 2005 a lose to a man 80 lbs heavier than him,6 inches taller than him, more experience than him and having a huge reach on him this man was striking superstar jerome lebanner ….Akiyama will beat wandi ill bet cha!
Gunslinger, I was talking about opponents in terms of MMA stature, experience and accomplishment. Keep in mind that Wand has nearly as many WINS as Manhoef and Akiyama have COMBINED.
Also, I’m not so sure that Melvin Manhoef has done enough in MMA in comparison to Wanderlei Silva to be mentioned in the same sentence as him, but if you want to go with that I’ll deal with it.
Also, as much as I respect judo, unfortunately not too many judoka have found MMA success, at least at the UFC level of competition. Maybe Akiyama will change that, and maybe he won’t.
That being said, I agree with most here that it will be a good fight, and a great determinent of where both men currently fit into the 185 picture…
He also has more losses than Akiyama and Manhoef combined. Just saying.
Sexyama via UD.. will be a good slugging battle but I see big sexy edging this one out on the judges card 30-27. wandy is no longer the beserker he once was…. yama will take his time and pick him apart in route to mw title contention
i agree t3chn3tnium, good on you the exact same thing i see happening
yes i very much agree with your post above. wandy doesn’t have the KO power he once had, but still dangerous non the less. as for sexyama i don’t think he has that stunning KO power either, but he is a superior striker imo. also reminds me of a samurai for some reason… samurais use to be some bad mofos
He beats Belcher BARELY and now he’s going to out strike Wandi and pick him apart and all this non-sense WOW.
Gunslinger
You mentioning that, “the weight cut had no effect on him” your sadly mistaken. You have NEVER seen him so sluggish and at times off balance so check the records before you tell me to be quiet about something. THANKS
Belcher is a far more technical striker that Wanderlei Silva. Silva is just a brawler that swings like a mad man.
also belcher is no push over… give belcher credit where its due. belcher improves every fight and i could see belcher beating wandy UD as well… or sub
Yeah, I don’t like Belcher, but he is pretty good fighter.
Belcher has never been KO’d first of all…..and then yea, what Justin said…
Wow such hostility on this thread. Animosity, calm down killer. No one knows how well Wandy will do in his return to 185. One thing for sure is that technical strikers have shown to be a chink in Wandy’s armor. If Akiyama can avoid Wandy’s big punches, I think he could get a decision win. Akiyama could also handle Wandy on the ground too IMO. If he can avoid the KO, keep his distance, or get the fight to the ground, he will win this fight, not a doubt in my mind.
I know Wandy is a black belt in bjj by Carlos Gracie Jr., but Sexyama has amazing Judo skills, and he has also shown some great submissions in the past.
However, we all need to keep in mind, that The Axe Murderer is 15-0 against Japanese fighters. So, if history repeats itself, he should come into this fight very confident…
Too difficult to predict a winner this early…
if wand beats akiyama i think he shuld move down to welterweight i fight gsp i dont why but i really want to see that fight lol…and when are they coming to australia last thing i heard about it was they saing it would be feb but i havent heard anything since..does any one know or where i can find out
I allowed this comment and deleted the other one fyi (tho they essentially said the same thing), please use an actual email address and pick a single username… I thank you ahead of time cheers
FR702
Move….to 170?
Ok, I want Kris to work on an ignore feature, because that’s just…No.
Im from AUS and all I have heard is that the UFC is coming in February
Maybe at Acer Arena (formerly known as the Sydney SuperDome) in Sydney. Acer Arena,can accommodate more than 21,000 fans, which could help create one of the UFC’s largest crowds outside of Montreal.