Does anyone think Akiyama can win?

This is a dangerous fight for Wanderlei Silva.

That is not to say this risk comes without high reward. If Wanderlei puts away Akiyama in the first or second round without taking any damage, he probably gets a title shot and will fly up everyone's rankings into the number 10, 7 and even 5 spot on rankings all over the place. Give me two good wins and I'd be fine with Wanderlei getting a title shot and so would many MMA fans, most of whom have the same Wanderlei fanboy obsession that even Dana White and Joe Rogan have.


Akiyama is a dangerous fighter though. The UFC and fans wanted him signed for a reason. I know he comes into this fight both small and Japanese, against a huge MW in Wanderlei who will have a significant size and strength advantage, but he has shown to be a smart, improving striker with pops in his shots and the ability to land them, along with a dangerous submission game. That said, if Wanderlei loses this fight, which is very possible, he will likely be written off forever and his career will be officially dead.

Ultimately though, I just don't see how Akiyama can win this, ultimately he just isn't good enough to overcome what half of Wanderlei's entire career tells me is a bad match up.

Akiyama is just waaaaaay too small. He should be fighting at WW for sure. He'd be small at WW.

Akiyama is a smart fighter, a skill that many pundits tend to ignore. If he can stick and move, forcing Wandy out of doing what Wandy does, then he can set him up for many things the Brazilian may not be ready for. That being said I think it is a toss-up for the winner with a slight advantage to Wandy.

Im very confident in picking Wandy. Think we might see a vintage Silva performance here. Akiyama will just be too undersized in this matchup. And submissions never come into play with Wandy.

Yeah, Wandy is a blackbelt and he's never been submitted for a reason. It's a tough fight for Akiyama.

Akiyama probably wants this fight because of the significance Wand has in Japan. Beating Wanderlei would probably do more for his rep over there than being MW champ of the UFC.

Slow down boom lol. Japanese fans love Wanderlei but I think beating the other Silva at this point and being the first Japanese national to win a UFC title of any kind since Sakuraba would trump that.

Akiyama thinks he can KO Wanderlei. Which means he will stand in the pocket and at least plant his shots, something Bisping wouldn't do anymore after he felt Wanderlei's power in the first.

The path to a title for Silva is laid bare. And figure this, Wanderlei if anyone could be the guy to pull a hail mary Manhoef vs Lawler type KO against Anderson. Still a long shot, but Silva has a chance to salvage a legacy inside the Octagon with his next two fights.

Akiyama in my eyes is one of the most overrated fighters around. He's undersized and got a gift decision at UFC 100 over Belcher. If the rematch, I'd take Belcher hands down. Same with Wand, Bisping, Sonnen, Maia, Marquardt, Belfort, Okami, and Cote.

I thought he won that fight pretty clearly and had no idea what Rogan was on about. Especially considering the size difference.

Yeah, I took Akiyama in that fight too, but I would take Belcher in a rematch. I think all the guys you listed would beat Akiyama, except maybe Bisping. I think Maia might struggle with him though.

Being the first Asian champ would be great, but beating Wand is the stuff of legend. No Asian ever beat Wand. Pride threw everyone at him and he still stomped his way through the Asian MMA community. I'll bet there would be more cultural significance there than you think.

I currently have little faith in Japanese MW fighters. I don't think any of them really belong in the top ten right now. I think Wand get the stoppage.

Beating Anderson when he is the p4p fighter in the world arguably and holds all kinds of UFC records at this stage is the stuff of legend too.

I get the whole Wandy vs Japan angle, but Japanese fightfans are also smart enough to see how significant a win over A. Silva would be.

This is kind of a fruitless argument. He won't beat either probably.

I think he'd do better in a second fight with the Talent, and I think he is pretty close to or in the top ten. The Yarennoka! fight is the only thing that hurts him in my rankings really, NC or not. Losing to Jarome Le Banner in his second career fight when Lebanner was at the HW limit and Akiyama just above the MW limit isn't even a real loss.

I agree with most. I would out my $ on Wandy. The reff will be pulling him off of Akiyama by mid second round.

Akyama def has a chance, it's not like Wandy has been killing people lately. I'd picked Wandy to win, but wouldn't right off Akyama completely.

when I get his career uploaded and people see how one sided a lot of his fights are and how much power he has for a middleweight on the small side, people might give him more of a shot at least.

I definitely think he has a chance. Didn't realize so many people considered it to be so one-sided.

I agree with the notion that Belcher beat akiyama and would again.

His career is uploaded. He is better than I originally thought.




Belcher probably over performed while Akiyama was making his debut in the UFC. Not that Alan the Talent isn't a great and ever improving fighter, I just think Akiyama is as good as advertised.

I am picking Akiyama because I think he will win

Ko or submission?

hasudinxx wrote:

I am picking Akiyama because I think he will win

Im picking Akiyama cause I think hes gonna lose

So are people expecting things to go like the first half of the Manhoef fight for both halves?

Boring night on the board