Media How Good was Sexyama?

[Killer Kadoogan]

pretty legitimate IMO, huge judo background and his run up to and destroying of dennis kang to me is peak akiyama. also had some NCs over misaki and sakuraba which shouldnt be overlooked in that time period. i thought he also beat bisping and shields but was not given the decision. if he could have came to the states a little earlier, he'd have a better record. it's too bad he's much much older now. still legit, beat aoki recently. will always support him.

 

[Killer Kadoogan]

Sexyama did ok in the UFC

he beat bisping and shields IMO

 

[Killer Kadoogan]

Akiyama was supposed to fight Royce back in the day, that fell through but I remember wanting to see that fight.

Akiyama is a bit wierd case to say how good he was.

I was a fan of him since his Hero's days, long before his whole sexyama thing started.

His Judo was as good as anyone who ever competed in MMA and he was, he was, a good fighter with heavy hands, good striking on top of his very strong Judo base.

It filled me with joy when he destroyed Aoki, I won't lie. Him winning the GP was a great moment as well.

Given how his UFC career played out, which was funny because UFC kept giving him tougher fights as he lost, it's difficult to say he was an elite fighter.

He was an above average fighter, who became a huge celebrity from fighting.

I'm never sure if people actually like Akiyama or if it's just a meme. But personally, sexyama thing got old 10 years ago.

Him getting triangled by Leben to this date is probably one of the most craziest sub loss of all time. Who knew Leben would beat the posterboy of PRIDE and (maybe)Hero's in Wanderlei and Akiyama? I sure didn't.

As much as I like Akiyama, his win over Saku, now nc, was pretty shady, I gotta admit. Probably single most blatant example of a fighter greasing(apparently a body lotion) when fighting a wrestler.

I wish he had more success in UFC, but can't say he didn't go out swinging. If he retires after Aoki fight, that would be a great win to retire off of.

he was legitimate. he beat dennis kang at a time when kang was runner up to the pride fc MW tournament. also whooped misakis ass. those two were the best "WW" of pride fc. akiyama was very legitimate.

 

[Killer Kadoogan]

He was OK. He wasn't top 10 material. He made his bones outside ufc. I couldn't tell you if he had a signature ufc win ( maybe Belcher and thar was super close)

he was absolutely top ten material in his k1 heroes day and rise up to dennis kang win. thats a bad take, revisionist.

 

[Stagger Lee]

You mean how God was sexyama!

 

[Killer Kadoogan]

He's good looking, has charisma, fought aggressively and was in Pride. What's not to like?

I still will never forgive Vitor for all those back of the head shots while on trt he delivered. Obviously was jealous of all the naturally occurring testosterone of the sexy one

he never fought for pride fc.

 

[JarlSkuld]

He was a mediocre fighter. But since half of Sherdog watched MMA with no pants on and complain about having to look at women, he still gets mentioned a lot here.

Jarl

 

[dipstickjimmy]

he packed enough Sexyama to fall inlove with and always showed up to sling bones.

FTFY

 

[cheesus]

Better than his record would suggest, he was relatively inexperienced when he made his debut in the UFC but he was already 33 years old. Still good enough to give experiened high level fighters like Shields, Bisping and Leben competitive fights. Without a doubt one of the best judokas to represent their base in MMA.

 

[Clark Rogers]

I haven't read any replies yet, so it may have already been said.

But, per Sherdog rules, in hindsight, he was never that good anyway.

 

[dog y]

He looks average to me tbh.

LMFAO. Unless you're from heaven, where every men looks perfect. Then that's your average.
You'd probably say I look average too. Baka.

 

[dog y]

Lol. Agree mixed Japanese and Portuguese tends to be good looking. Don't want to go down that rabbit hole but I think mixed people in general tend to be better looking than either parent. If they're ugly it's because one or both parents are ugly. IIRC Japan had their first bi-racial Miss Universe a few years back (African American dad) and I think she was pretty damn good looking:

Indeed, she looks good. Delicate facial features, tiny waist, and ass. That's the combo. Looks pretty much like the mixed Japanese/europeans in Brazil.

 

[dog y]

You are correct sir. I remembered him being in the mix but got my Olympic judoka mixed up. Yeah, Sexyama vs. Lombard would have been fire. IMO Teh Sex had the best Judo throws applied to MMA that we've seen, even better than Karo. Unless I'm misremembering, Karo mostly hit them from a clinch vs. counter to strikes like Akiyama was able to. Seriously explosive MFer.

Iirc he only went to MMA (2003 or 04?) When his Olympic dreams died. He had won many prestigious judo championships then. Dude's a true winner in life.

 

[no fat chicks]

Takedown defense and trips from the clinch were his main strenght thanks to his excellent judo base along with serious punching power and courage.

Striking technique / footwork and endurance were his main weaknesses imo, as well as size dissadvantage as a MW. He also had mediocre top game for how good he was at taking people down.

I'd say a fringe top10 fighter of his time. His run in K1-Heros was great, specially the finishes over Manhoef and Kang.

Beautiful uppercut

 

[Royce's Gi]

lol wtf is that

Sexyama and Shaq

 

[pankrat]

pretty legitimate IMO, huge judo background and his run up to and destroying of dennis kang to me is peak akiyama. also had some NCs over misaki and sakuraba which shouldnt be overlooked in that time period. i thought he also beat bisping and shields but was not given the decision. if he could have came to the states a little earlier, he'd have a better record. it's too bad he's much much older now. still legit, beat aoki recently. will always support him.

His decisions with Shields and current BKFC HW champ Belcher were very close fights, which is pretty legit for a natural WW as him. I dont think he has any case for the W vs Bisping

He was OK. He wasn't top 10 material. He made his bones outside ufc. I couldn't tell you if he had a signature ufc win ( maybe Belcher and thar was super close)

he was absolutely top ten material in his k1 heroes day and rise up to dennis kang win. thats a bad take, revisionist.

I'd say he was rather fringe top10. Never established himself in there.

those two were the best "WW" of pride fc. akiyama was very legitimate.

yes he was.
Kang was a rare case, he really went off after a brilliant run in Pride
I Amar Suloev is very underrated. He would have been a tough out for any WW imo.
Okami was a step above both too

 

[Royce's Gi]

He's good looking, has charisma, fought aggressively and was in Pride. What's not to like?

I still will never forgive Vitor for all those back of the head shots while on trt he delivered. Obviously was jealous of all the naturally occurring testosterone of the sexy one

HERO'S
Akiyama's mixed martial arts debut was in the K-1 Premium 2004 Dynamite event on December 31, 2004, where he defeated boxer Francois Botha by armbar submission in the first round.

He has notable wins against Tokimitsu Ishizawa, Taiei Kin, Kestutis Smirnovas and Melvin Manhoef.

In K-1 Premium 2006 Dynamite, Akiyama fought the legendary Kazushi Sakuraba in the main event.

Yarennoka! fight
On December 31, 2007, Akiyama faced Kazuo Misaki at Yarennoka!.

Ultimate Fighting Championship
Akiyama joined Xtreme Couture for the month of October 2009 to work on his striking skills. Akiyama was expected to face MMA legend and former PRIDE Middleweight Champion Wanderlei Silva on February 21, 2010 at UFC 110, but Silva instead faced British striker Michael Bisping on the card, winning via unanimous decision.

ONE Championship
Akiyama faced Sherif Mohamed at ONE Championship 109: King of the Jungle on February 28, 2020.
Akiyama won the fight via knockout in the first round, his first stoppage via strikes in nearly 13 years.

He was as Huge as Okami at one point

 

[ChickenBrother]

he was legitimate. he beat dennis kang at a time when kang was runner up to the pride fc MW tournament. also whooped misakis ass. those two were the best "WW" of pride fc. akiyama was very legitimate.

Do you remember what the beef was about with Misaki? Right after the fight when Misaki thought he had won (before his soccer kick was ruled a NC), he got on the mic and was lambasting Teh Sex about being a cheater or traitor or something and Sexyama was just standing there respectfully without saying anything. I figured it was something about greasing vs. Saku but I don't recall it ever being fully translated.

Iirc he only went to MMA (2003 or 04?) When his Olympic dreams died. He had won many prestigious judo championships then. Dude's a true winner in life.

MMA debut on NYE 2004. Yeah I mistakenly thought he had won Olympic gold but the man did win many international Judo tourneys in 2001/2002 and going to the World Championships representing Japan pretty much puts you on the short list among the world's top Judoka.

 

[Gotosleepho]

He'd be on the UFC p4p sexy rankings no doubt. Still.

 

[dog y]

Do you remember what the beef was about with Misaki? Right after the fight when Misaki thought he had won (before his soccer kick was ruled a NC), he got on the mic and was lambasting Teh Sex about being a cheater or traitor or something and Sexyama was just standing there respectfully without saying anything. I figured it was something about greasing vs. Saku but I don't recall it ever being fully translated.



MMA debut on NYE 2004. Yeah I mistakenly thought he had won Olympic gold but the man did win many international Judo tourneys in 2001/2002 and going to the World Championships representing Japan pretty much puts you on the short list among the world's top Judoka.

I don't remember now. I'm blasted. If I can't remember by tomorrow afternoon, I'll gladly research about it.
What I remember is that Sexy did use a lot of body lotion against Saku.
And he's a Korean born and raised in Japan, who eventually moved to Korea and nowadays, I believe, presents himself as Korean. So he's Yoshihiro Akiyama in Japan and Choo Soon Hoo in Korea (if Korea follows the Chinese and Japanese standard for this, Choo is the last name. So we'd call him Soon Hoo Choo in the west).