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[Bloodbeard]

Originally Posted by GL Jeff

Ok,first off. Most of you didnt even read the article, that much is clear. You read the thread title and went from their. Akiyama never said he didnt want to fight Leben. He said he isnt being given enough time to prepare. He also goes on to say he wants to be a company man. OMFG, he wants to properly prepare for a fight, well fuck him. Wandy is a much bigger name then Leben. He is known all around the world, and where Akiyama lives it would be a huge feather in his cap,unlike beating Leben which would leave him with little bragging rights.

I would say Wandy and Leben have similar fighting styles. Their both going to stand their and take a shot to give a shot. But their fighting styles are very different, and Akiyama knows this.

I bet he still takes the fight. And I think he can beat Leben with crisp counter punching,and some TD's.

Also, Sexyama beat Belcher, stop listening to Rogan, and following his descisions.

I definitely read the article. I'm no troll!

"If there is to be a replacement I was hoping for a big name. I spent one year preparing hard for this fight and this news has come as a big disappointment, my motivation has waned. I do not know yet what will happen...In the worst case, I will not take part in the [UFC 116] event. We are working hard to resolve this issue."

I could have misinterpreted this but what else could the bold portion mean? What is the worst case? Either he fights Leben or not... there aren't that many other factors to consider. So he must want a different opponant and if he doesn't get one he probably wants to be paid more.

[beau420]

Originally Posted by TheKidInside

That was a different f-ing opponent stylistically dammit!!! Forrest is more of a stand up guy, he MAY take Rogerio down for points and that's a big MAY BE. Brilz who is a wrestler not only outwrestled but also out grappled Lil Nog AND out struck him!

Neither Wandy nor Leben are going to take down Akiyama, they are NOT going to grapple him if they get taken down and will only attempt to get back to the feet / keep the fight standing...

He is in no position no dictate who he fights and where after narrowly defeating Belcher (I scored the fight 29-28 for Alan Belcher when I couldn't care less about either one of them!) go search the forum for my posts about that if you don't believe me.

Furthermore, Japan fighters rarely run training camps based on their opponents. The Japanese approach is to always train hard and hone a variety of skills, they don't "game plan" which is why they often do so poorly here States side (amongst other reasons, of course).

Even Shogun said that in PRIDE FC not him nor anyone else trained for specific opponents as changes in opponents and fight dates changed often.

Why are you so sure Leben won't try and outwrestle a striker? Don't you remember Leben's most boring fight to date? It just happened in January, Jay Silva.

For the Jay Silva fight, Jay is a striker who likes to swing and isn't that great a grappler, and what did Leben do, take him down, never once stood with him, I don't recall him landing more than 1 or 2 punches standing per round....all of the round was fought on the ground.

It was a good grappling fight, but very un-Leben. Not what anyone expected.

I think Masscore put it best:

This isn't about Akiyama being scared, its about risk/reward:

With Wandy:
Win - Jump into title contention and only need one more win or so to get a title shot.
Lose - Not that big of a deal because its Wandy. Wandy is a god damn legend and there is no shame in losing to him.

With Leben:
Win - It does nothing because even casual UFC fans know Leben isn't that good. You don't improve in the rankings and you are not any closer to your goal.
Lose - Be prepared to be cut or on the prelim of the next Ultimate Fight Night Card. Also be prepared to lose a lot of money.

You see the difference.

Akiyama was slated to fight Wandy at UFC 110, then Bisping was brought in to face him instead, Akiyama waited and refused to fight anyone else. Akiyama has been plotting on all the ways to defeat Wandy for a year.

From 2001 - 2005 Wandy has defeated 13 Japanese fighters, I think that this was a way Akiyama was trying to show that he is better than other Japanese fighters who have faced Wanderlei and that he is better than the former Pride fighter....not some guy who no one in Japan has ever heard of.

[vegas bushido]

Originally Posted by deadstealth

Akayama wouldnt have a problem with it being leben if that was the pre announced fight. Leben is a hell of an alternate to spring on someone...Id go as far as to say leben might be a bit underrated...this versus the previous situation where akayama fights a possibly overrated (at this point in his career) wanderlei.I do understand where hes coming from, its terrible business for him but getting a new opponent is only good for one person, akayama, not the fans or dana. Because of that, he might have to take this fight on no notice or not fight in the ufc, as screwed up of a situation as that is. Dana isnt going to let him basically no-show a card to fight on another.

Id also like to add that no matter if he gets his new opponent or no shows then fights in the ufc again, hell probably have to fight leben at some point now.

MMA is serious business where you are putting a lot on the line. It requires proper preparation that takes much longer than what they are giving akayama. Not being properly prepared for your opponent can result in permanent (though non career ending) injury. He should not be punished or looked down on for not wanting to take this fight vs leben on such short notice.

I would understand if somehow Chael got hurt and they asked Akiyama to come in and fight Anderson on 11 days notice. Anderson is an extremely talented and complex fighter to compete against. Plus, it would be Akiyama with the short preparation. However, in reality Akiyama and Leben both have the same amount of time to prepare. Furthermore, Akiyama is even fresher then Leben and should come into the fight in better shape. There is no reason that I can see that a "elite" fighter cant fight Chris Leben on "11 days notice".

With that being said, my best and oldest friend once had to fight Shinya Aoki in Dream on a few weeks notice. At some point you just overcome and fight.

[Bloodbeard]

Sources: Despite protests, Yoshihiro Akiyama will fight Chris Leben at UFC 116 | MMAjunkie.com

While it's not immediately known what, if anything, was needed to persuade Akiyama, the sources indicated to MMAjunkie.com that the UFC is moving forward as planned with the Akiyama-Leben contest.

I guess that puts this to bed. Looking forward to it either way.

[Sakara=Excitement]

Pusiyama

don't have a gameplan ay? Is the Crippler that hard to figure out? His fighting style is an enigma wrapped in mystery all of a sudden?

[b1uef1ow]

Originally Posted by Sakara=Excitement

Pusiyama

don't have a gameplan ay? Is the Crippler that hard to figure out? His fighting style is an enigma wrapped in mystery all of a sudden?

I can't even begin to understand how you could post something so stupid. You really think it's that easy to gameplan a strategy on professional fighter in a short period of time and expect maximum results based on a your fans perspective?