Yoshihiro Akiyama
A gold medalist in Judo at both the Asian Championships and Asian Games, Akiyama also made a notable impact early in his MMA career. He won Hero’s 2006 light-heavyweight grand-prix after defeating Melvin Manhoef in the final. With an overall 12-1 (2 NC) record, Fans were eager to see how one of Asia’s best-known MMA stars would cope with life in the UFC. A split decision win over Alan Belcher in his debut in 2009 got him off to a promising start.
This would be one of only two wins that Akiyama would muster during his six-year run in the Octagon. The other was a 2014 decision win over Amir Sadollah. That aside, Akiyama would suffer five losses. It started with a submission loss to Chris Leben. That was followed by further losses against Michael Bisping, Vitor Belfort, Dan Henderson and Albert Mina. He was finally released in 2015.
