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What's next for Yoshihiro Akiyama??

2K views 25 replies 17 participants last post by  BobbyCooper 
#1 ·
Hey guys after the UFC canceled the fight between Wandy and Akiyama, who do you think will be his next opponent??
I tought about the fighters he could possible face, but couldn't really find anybody who would be interesting for him and for us to see. I actually would had loved to see him fight Bisping, but he already got his opponent in Wandy.

So who do you think will be next for him?
 
#3 ·
Hopefully WW, Akiyama is a relatively small MW who could probably make WW and when Dan Hardy is our #1 contender its pretty clear the division needs to get a whole lot sexier.
 
#8 ·
mmhh:confused02: i don't think CB Dollaway can beat him. And Nate Marquardt would be a very very tough fight for him. I wanna see him against somebody like Maia or Sonnen where he can pull of a nice victory! I kinda like this guy, i think he is good for the UFC at the moment. And it's always nice to see some Asians at the top!
 
#13 ·
I've said many time (like Aki cares, lol) that he should drop to 170. Even there, he'll encounter some water deprived, dehydrated monsters such as Thiago Alves and Anthony Johnson. Even GSP, an average sized WW, is planning on getting bigger. And if you look at GSP, he's clearly much bigger now than he was a year, or a year and a half ago.

The UFC is ultra competitive and getting more so with every event. With Anderson walking around at 220-225 and his super human muay thai, I don't think Aki stands a chance.

He's got a better shot against the likes of Mike Swick, who himself made the cut from 185, Matt Serra, Thiago Alves, who is similar in build to Aki but with a shorter reach, and so on. Marquardt, Anderson, Okami, are just too big, strong and skilled for Aki.
 
#15 ·
If he stays at middleweight then maybe Patrick Cote when he recovers.

I would like to see him drop to welterweight - that would be a nice addition. Maybe fight Renzo Gracie or Matt Hughes at 109 in Feb.
WW needs some more contenders - akiyama would be a good addition to the divison
 
#16 ·
Dana really needs to sign Kazuo Misaki then set Akiyama vs Misaki 2. The sheer thought of that fight is amazing especially in an octagon. In reality Wilson Gouveia would be a very good fight especially if he beats Belcher and he definetly has the skills to beat Belcher.
 
#20 ·
I think he would beat Nate just because it seems so unlikely. I think Nate would buy his own hype try to stand with him instead of being smart and taking him down and eat some of those power shots. Akiyama isn't Maia he can throw more than relevant leather for MW despite his size and judo background.
 
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