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Yoshihiro Akiyama Says “I’ll do my Best” at UFC 116

If you think you’re depressed about Wanderlei Silva dropping out of UFC 116, due to having three broken ribs and a trashed knee, talk to Yoshihiro Akiyama. Going off various reports this week, it sounds like “Sexyama” (wonder who came up with that nickname?) is rife with grief, about not being able to fight Silva […]

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If you think you’re depressed about Wanderlei Silva dropping out of UFC 116, due to having three broken ribs and a trashed knee, talk to Yoshihiro Akiyama. Going off various reports this week, it sounds like “Sexyama” (wonder who came up with that nickname?) is rife with grief, about not being able to fight Silva any longer. First there were reports that he was less than enthralled about fighting replacement Chris Leben next Saturday, and in a more recent report from MMA Fighting, the fighter’s management reportedly informed the outlet that Akiyama has been suffering from depression and had stopped training…wow. Talk about wanting to fight someone…

The report went on to say that Akiyama still wasn’t sure he was going to even show up for UFC 116, before passing a long an update from the middleweight’s blog, which apparently stated:

“I had various choices but … I’ll do my best in my fight!”

This jives with MMA Junkie’s report yesterday that Akiyama had finally agreed to take the fight. Just spit balling here, but if Akiyama had outright refused to fight Leben and pulled a no show at UFC 116- the chances of the Japanese fighter remaining on good terms with Dana White and the UFC brass, would be what? 1%? Or is that being too generous?

At any rate, as we noted earlier in the week, we’re thinking Leben vs. Akiyama could be pretty sweet. To bet on UFC 116 head here.

Wanderlei Silva Reveals he has Knee Injury as well as Broken Ribs

Earlier today we passed along the unfortunate news (we’ll get through this together) that Wanderlei Silva will no longer fight Yoshihiro Akiyama at UFC 116, due to reports that the legendary fighter had sustained a rib injury while training. Well, in a follow up report from Fighters Only Magazine, Silva informed the publication that in […]

Earlier today we passed along the unfortunate news (we’ll get through this together) that Wanderlei Silva will no longer fight Yoshihiro Akiyama at UFC 116, due to reports that the legendary fighter had sustained a rib injury while training. Well, in a follow up report from Fighters Only Magazine, Silva informed the publication that in fact, prior to breaking three of his ribs, he suffered a serious knee injury.

“I am here to talk about my last few days. I went through a very tense and difficult weekend and had a very hard decision. Two weeks ago I felt pain in my knee while I was training wrestling. I had an MRI of my knee and three doctors told me my knee was torn. I took medicine to help with the pain, and although my knee felt loose, I said “no,” this date is very important to me and I continued training,” Silva says.

“The Axe Murderer” goes on to say in the interview that he tried to push through the knee injury, but that “Last Friday, during sparring, I injured my rib. It was very painful and the next day I had an x-ray and an MRI. I discovered I had three broken ribs.” Considering that Akiyama has spent years tossing human bodies around on a judo mat like they were bean bags, in addition to possessing a pretty solid punch (see bout with Denis Kang), we’re siding with Wanderlei on this one.

Silva will likely be on the shelf for a little while as the former Pride champ revealed his knee will require surgery. To wager a lil something, something on how his replacement Chris Leben will fair against Akiyama, head here.

Report: Chris Leben in for Injured Wanderlei Silva at UFC 116

It is times like this that ‘bloggers’ really dread (no, we’re not completely opposed to being described as ‘hacks’); so just what in the hell are we referring to? Well, if you haven’t heard by now, and didn’t read the above headline, better put the coffee down as alas our friends, Wanderlei Silva has reportedly fractured his ribs while preparing for his scheduled UFC 116 bout with Yoshihiro Akiyama. The former Pride champ is out. Take a moment, grab another donut; it will help dull the pain.

MMA Fighting was apparently the first to confirm with Dana White that indeed “The Axe Murderer” is out of the co-main event for the promotion’s July 3^rd event. Then, in a follow up report from MMA Junkie, the outlet confirmed with sources that Chris Leben has agreed to step in for Silva. MMA Fighting also confirmed afterwards that Leben will now face the accomplished judo competitor at UFC 116.

So, now we’ve got the “Cat Smasher” instead of the “Axe Murderer”; although it’s painfully clear that we here at Fix were really looking forward to seeing Wanderlei fight again (as keeping thoughts to ourselves isn’t something we do), Leben is a pretty good substitute no? We all know he’s going to go after the Japanese middleweight (just like Wandy would have), he also loves to slug it out (as does Mr. Silva) and Akiyama is no shrinking violet when it comes to stand-up battles. It’s also a huge opportunity for Leben; he just took out the rising Aaron Simpson last weekend, and another win over a notable dude like Akiyama would say a lot.

To bet on UFC 116 head here.

Video: James Toney Pretends to Call 911 to Report “Murder”

Remember when Frank Mir stated in a radio interview that he wanted to break Brock Lesnar’s neck, so that the heavyweight champ would “be the first person that dies due to Octagon-related injuries”? Well, if you’re an avid MMA fan / regular ‘internet browser’ and don’t remember that, immediately find an emergency room, as you should […]

Remember when Frank Mir stated in a radio interview that he wanted to break Brock Lesnar’s neck, so that the heavyweight champ would “be the first person that dies due to Octagon-related injuries”? Well, if you’re an avid MMA fan / regular ‘internet browser’ and don’t remember that, immediately find an emergency room, as you should recall that those comments prompted a firestorm of coverage.

Of course, at the time, there were some who pointed out that Mir’s comments weren’t really anything new to the sport, and approve of them or not, future similar statements were inevitable. Cue James Toney– now granted, in the video the boxing champ turned MMA fighter is clearly clowning around on some dude’s phone (and here’s hoping it still works after being drenched in sweat…), but here too, the charismatic fighter states that he plans on “murdering” UFC 118 opponent Randy Couture (he also threatens David Haye– who he’s boxing in October). Toney adds that “he’ll murder two people in three months and get away with it, and get paid for it; a lot of money.”

So, is this cause to lose one’s mind with righteous anger, at the audacity of Toney stating he’s going to “murder” people in the ring / cage? Or is it just the crazy, over-the-top, pre-fight antics of a fighter trying to hype a PPV bout? So whatever- let’s move on? We’re expecting both reactions.

To see the entire vid head here.

Video Shows Anderson Silva Training with Steven Seagal

Now, if your first reaction was to think the above header was a trick to reveal a punch line something like ‘Anderson Silva is shown training with Steven Seagal in his latest straight to DVD flick- ‘Today you Die; Tomorrow You Live’, good on you for being relatively grounded in reality. Here’s the kicker, however, […]

Now, if your first reaction was to think the above header was a trick to reveal a punch line something like ‘Anderson Silva is shown training with Steven Seagal in his latest straight to DVD flick- ‘Today you Die; Tomorrow You Live’, good on you for being relatively grounded in reality. Here’s the kicker, however, (yes, hold on to your socks), in a recent episode of a Brazilian television program, the UFC Middleweight Champion is shown taking pointers from Seagal… no, not on how to avoid disastrously bad scripts, for fighting, and you know what? It looked like Silva was pretty damn impressed with the Aikido master (thanks to Cage Potato for the tip).

Now, before you get all fired up and kick into ‘I know all about MMA’ mode, take a look at the clip yourself. We’re not going to start saying that Aikido is the wave of the future in the sport (you’re probably well aware that the art has taken its fair share of pot-shots in MMA forums for years), but as noted, it does seem like Silva is blown away with a couple of Seagal’s techniques (come on- admit it- like the first time you watched “Above the Law”). For example, Seagal demonstrates one move where you jam your palms into the dude’s nose as he drops down for a takedown…yes, that might make things uncomfortable if you can pull it off.

So, will we see Silva busting out some Aikido come August 8^th versus Chael Sonnen? Nah. Would be kind of cool though no? The clip also shows Seagal sharing his thoughts on Sonnen, who he doesn’t think will be much of a test for the champ…huh.

Matt Hamill Reveals he had Broken Hand, Staph Infection, in Bout with Keith Jardine

So unless you were dipping real hard into bath tub gin last night (just to reach out to our ‘fiscally challenged’ readership that can’t afford ‘corporate’ alcohol), you likely noticed the ‘WTF is that?’ mark on Matt Hamill’s lower back, during the broadcast of the TUF 11 Finale. It certainly captivated our interest here for several moments, but as the fight turned into one damn, entertaining and somewhat gory slugfest, naturally our attention to that specific detail wandered.

Now, if you didn’t see last night’s card, yes, you missed out, and you may also be unaware that Hamill outscored Keith Jardine for the MajorityDecision victory (and FYI-Court McGee tapped out Kris McCray to become the latest “Ultimate Fighter”). While Jardine’s face was a bloody mess by the fight’s end, Hamill also took his share of lumps during the tilt, including an inadvertent thumb in his right eye that cost Jardine a point. After the bout, Hamill appeared to be completely spent while talking to color man Kenny Florian, and according to a report from MMA Junkie, there’s some pretty good reasons for that. Not only did the light-heavweight break his hand in the first round, get poked in the eye, and fight a gruelling three round fight, remember that odd looking mark?

“I have a staph infection,” Hamill said. “I’ll get put on antibiotics tomorrow.”

Yeah, that’s nasty, real nasty, and apparently doctors decided before the fight that the infection would not punt the bout. Oh yeah, the Junkie report also added that Hamill limped into the post-fight presser; now that’s one hard fought win no?