Sexyama-Leben at UFC 116
Date: 2010-06-27 00:00:00
Source: http://mmajunkie.com/news/19690/yoshihiro-akiyama-...
Submitted By: MMAFightsDump
UFC 116's co-main event is now set. Ultimate Fighting Championship officials today confirmed that middleweight Yoshihiro Akiyama (13-1-2 MMA, 1-0 UFC) will meet Chris Leben (20-6 MMA, 10-5 UFC) at the July 3 event, which takes place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) first reported the change earlier this week when news broke that Akiyama's original opponent, Wanderlei Silva, was forced off the summer card due to injury. Although the Japanese fighter's reported discontent with the late-notice change stirred rumors of the bout's cancellation, the bout will go on as planned. A heavyweight title-unification bout between champion Brock Lesnar and interim title-holder Shane Carwin headlines the show. The main card airs live on pay-per-view. Akiyama signed with the UFC in February 2009 and has fought just once for the promotion, a narrow decision victory over Alan Belcher at UFC 100. He originally was scheduled to face Silva (33-10-1 MMA, 3-5 UFC) at UFC 110, but the promotion instead slotted Michael Bisping against Silva in the co-main event of the February card. When the UFC presented Akiyama with the opponent change for next Saturday's fight, he made it clear he didn't find the match-up to be sexy. However, an email sent today to MMAjunkie.com from Akiyama representative Ayako Sotooka confirmed the fighter has changed his tune and accepted the fight. Leben is less than a week removed from his second consecutive octagon win, a TKO of rising prospect Aaron Simpson at The Ultimate Fighter 11 Finale on June 19. While the original "TUF" alum initially said he would take it slow getting back into the cage, he jumped about the opportunity to co-headliner a major event. "I think he's basically a little slower version of [Simpson]," Leben stated. "He's an awesome judo player, he's got fast kicks, but I don't think he's got near the wrestling that Simpson has, and I don't think he's got knockout power. "But it's a great fight and an opportunity I couldn't pass up." The official UFC 116 card now includes: MAIN CARD Champ Brock Lesnar vs. interim champ Shane Carwin (heavyweight title-unification bout) Yoshihiro Akiyama vs. Chris Leben Matt Brown vs. Chris Lytle Stephan Bonnar vs. Krzysztof Soszynski Kurt Pellegrino vs. George Sotiropoulos PRELIMINARY CARD (Spike TV) Brendan Schaub vs. Chris Tuchscherer Seth Petruzelli vs. Ricardo Romero PRELIMINARY CARD (Un-aired) Kendall Grove vs. Goran Reljic Dave Branch vs. Gerald Harris Forrest Petz vs. Daniel Roberts Jon Madsen vs. Karlos Vemola
