UFC 120 Preview: Breaking Down Michael Bisping Vs Yoshihiro Akiyama

The feature bout at UFC 120 in London, England sees Michael Bisping going up against Yoshihiro Akiyama in a middleweight matchup.

The UFC 120 odds list the Englishman Bisping as the heavy favorite paying just -225 on the money line.

The Japanese-Korean fighter Yoshihiro Akiyama (13-2-0 MMA, 1-1-0 UFC) has been underwhelming at the UFC after a dominant career in Japan. He came to the UFC wanting to prove that Asian fighters can succeed, but so far he has proven just the opposite.

Akiyama is primarily a submission threat with 7 career submission victories and a third-degree black belt in Judo. This is MMA, though, and there is more to Akiyama than just Judo. He may not be a great technical striker, but he’s got very heavy hands and can drop most opponents when things get dirty.

Conditioning could be a factor for the Japanese fighter as he grew accustomed to ending fights early in Japan. He has not been able to finish anyone at the UFC looking very tired towards the end of his decision win over Alan Belcher while his submission loss to Chris Leben, coming with just seconds remaining, would not have happened early in the fight.

The home-town, or rather home-country favorite, Michael “The Count” Bisping (19-3-0 MMA, 9-3-0 UFC) should soon be counting himself among the elite in the UFC middleweight division. He is one of those relentless fighters that keep going after an opponent which always gives him Fight of the Night hopes and he is continually improving. He is best on his feet with strong kickboxing and solid boxing skills.

Bisping definitely has the advantage standing up and his Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is at the point now where he can normally stay out of trouble on the ground. His biggest advantage, though, is his conditioning. Like the other fighters successfully employ a continuously aggressive attack, Bisping can go from beginning to end without slowing down.

He also has a tremendous reach which will help in this fight. Both Bisping and Akiyama have shown the ability to take a punch and keep attacking, but there’s no doubt that both fighters would rather be the ones doing the punching and Akiyama is the one who is going to need to get past Bisping’s fists to get the fight where he needs it to go.

Akiyama’s best chance is to get Bisping on the ground and submit him early. Even if he is not able to get the early submission, simply by controlling the pace of the fight early, he should have enough left in the tank to be in the fight at the end giving MMA betting fans an underdog to cheer for.

Bisping will be in control of this fight by default. He will go after Akiyama and Akiyama will likely be on the defensive for most of the fight and in no position to control the pace or dictate where this fight takes place.