Yoshihiro “Sexyama” Akiyama is a Japanese MMA artist who specialized in Judo where he has a 3rd dan black belt. He is currently training under the Jackson-Wink MMA camp and fights under the Welterweight division. He was a former member of the Team cloud and rose to fame after winning the K-1 Hero’s Light Heavy Weight Tournament championship. He currently competes at the UFC since he signed up in 2009.
The Korean Japanese was born in July 29, 1975 in Osaka, Japan. He used to compete in international Judo competitions earning a gold medal at the Ulaanbaatar Asian Championships for South Korea in 2001 and another gold medal at the 2002 Busan Asian Games.
His debut match was in the K-1 Premium 2004 Dynamite where he reigned against Francois Botha via submission. His first career loss was at the K-1 Hero’s 1 via KO from Jerome Le Banner. He won all his K-1 fights after that one defeat up until 2007 with 1 no contest against Kazushi Sakuraba in December 2006. His most significant fight included winning the K-1 Hero’s Light Heavyweight Tournament in 2006 against Melvin Manhoef at the K-1 – Hero’s 7.
Akiyama debuted at the UFC in July 2009 and won against Alan Belcher via unanimous decision at the UFC 100. However, all his succeeding matches were all defeats including a match for the championship against Michael Bisping at the UFC 120 in October 2010. His last fight with Amir Sadollah at the UFC Fight Night 52 last September 2014 was a success via unanimous decision. He is scheduled to face against Alberto Mina at the UFC Fight Night 79 this coming November 2015.
“Sexyama’s” career record consist of 19 fights with 14 wins, 1 loss and 2 no contest.
