Popular fighter Yoshihiro ‘Sexyama’ Akiyama (13-4, 2NC) is set to drop to welterweight for his next fight, he’ll do it against former Strikeforce middleweight champ Jake Shields (26-6-1) in Japan this coming February.
Ultimate Fighting Championship officials announced the matchup at UFC.com on Monday.
Japanese superstar Yoshihiro Akiyama will have plenty of support from his home country fans on February 26th, when he makes his welterweight debut in UFC 144 action against 170-pound contender Jake Shields at Saitama Super Arena in Japan.
“Verbal agreements are in for a welterweight matchup in Tokyo, Japan between former Strikeforce champion Jake Shields and Asian superstar ‘Sexyama’ Yoshihiro Akiyama February 26th,” said UFC President Dana White.
The Japanese event is expected to be numbered UFC 144 and will take place, as noted, on Feb. 26. The venue for the event is expected to be the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.
Confirmed this past weekend by White was a lightweight title bout between champ Frankie Edgar and newly crowned number one contender, Benson Henderson.
Akiyama has dropped three straight in the Octagon, going 1-3 as a middleweight with the top promotion. One more loss will certainly spell his dismissal, so the move to 170 lbs is certainly his way of re-inventing himself. ‘Sexyama’ had his alst fight in August at UFC 133, losing by first round knockout to Vitor Belfort at the Philadelphia event.
Akiyama recently attempted a weight-cut to 170 lbs, and showed his success by posting the photo above.
Shields is on a bit of a slide in his career having lost his past two matches with a 1-2 record in the UFC. The former Strikeforce champ was KO’d by Jake Ellenberger, the first such loss of his career, at UFN 25 this past September. The other defeat, came at the hands of champion Georges St-Pierre in their UFC 129 title bout last April in Toronto.