Michael “The Count” Bisping is extremely confident that his MMA skills are considerably better than those of his upcoming opponent Yoshihiro Akiyama. Bisping stated, “I bring more to the table than Akiyama—I am bigger, faster, and stronger.” Both fighters bring a tremendous amount of skill and technique into the octagon, each having distinct strengths and weaknesses and each having an accomplished career. Bisping holds wins over notables such as Chris Leben and Dan Miller. Akiyama was awarded fight of the night on two occasions for his bouts with Chris Leben and Alan Belcher.
The fighters come from extremely different backgrounds and utilize very different fighting styles. Bisping has a strong kickboxing pedigree and prefers to stand whenever possible. He favors KO and TKO victories and doesn’t perform well on the ground. In contrast, Akiyama was an accomplished Judoka before entering the MMA scene and has won numerous Japanese Judo titles. However, Akiyama does have capable boxing skills and good power, so he is not afraid to exchange on his feet by any means.
In this fight, it is no secret that Bisping will be looking for the knockout as quickly as possible. He generally comes out strong and likes to stick and move, throwing punches and controlling the pace of the fight. Akiyama will most likely test the waters on his feet and then attempt to use Judo skills to take the fight to the canvas where he can land strikes or work for a submission. Although Bisping is generally hard to take down, his ground game pales in comparison to that of Akiyama, so the canvas is something Bisping needs to avoid if he’s looking to win.
Bisping and Akiyama are set to collide at UFC 121 on Saturday, October 10, 2010, at the O2 arena in London, England.
Tags: Middleweight, UFC
