"Sexyama" is making his welterweight debut.
UFC officials today announced Yoshihiro Akiyama (13-4 MMA, 1-3 UFC) will drop to 170 pounds for a February meeting with former Strikeforce champ Jake Shields (26-6-1 MMA, 1-2 UFC).
The two meet on the main card of UFC 144, which takes place Feb. 26 at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.
A lightweight title fight between current champ Frankie Edgar and top contender Ben Henderson takes the headlining role.
Akiyama made his professional debut in 2004 and quickly rose to prominence while fighting under the K-1 and DREAM banners. While controversy followed Akiyama from his judo career into a few hotly-debated bouts with Kazushi Sakuraba and Kazuo Misaki, Akiyama continued to rise in popularity throughout the Asian market.
In July 2009, Akiyama made his UFC debut with a controversial split-decision win over Alan Belcher. However, he's struggled in recent contests, dropping consecutive fights to Vitor Belfort, Michael Bisping and Chris Leben. While the bouts with Bisping and Leben were competitive and each earned Akiyama additional "Fight of the Night" bonuses, he looked fatigued in the latter rounds of both contests.
Meanwhile, Shields looks to snap a two-fight losing streak. The former Strikeforce middleweight title holder vacated his belt in 2010 in favor of a welterweight UFC run. After defeating Martin Kampmann in a hotly-contested split decision, Shields met UFC champ Georges St-Pierre at UFC 129. Shields was defeated via unanimous decision.
Shields fought most recently in September, where he suffered a first-round knockout loss to fast-rising contender Jake Ellenberger. The defeat came just weeks after the loss of his father and manager, Jack Shields
Source: Yoshihiro Akiyama drops to 170 pounds, faces Jake Shields at UFC 144 in Japan
