UFC Quick Quote: Yoshihiro Akiyama a little lost in translation during Alan Belcher fight
By: MMAmania
“Alan was a very tough fighter. The damage of the low blow in the beginning of the fight was quite strong. I thought that if he hit me there again I wouldn’t be able to continue the fight. I wanted to take a large break but there was confusion during the fight. I misunderstood the referee saying five minutes in English as five seconds, I continued the fight urgently but this took a big toll on the exhaustion of my physical strength. My eye got injured when I got downed on the first round by a left. I felt an abnormality in my eye after the end of the 1st round. One eye was closed so I didn’t know about my sense of distance. Because I couldn’t see any attacks from my opponent’s right side I received a lot of leg kicks from that side. I didn’t continue with the game plan, the only reason I won was my feeling that I really didn’t want to lose this fight. After the fight when I was in the hospital, Dana White came personally and told me first hand that me and Belcher’s fight was elected as the fight of the night. I was very happy…. Alan is the toughest fighter I have faced and I’m proud to have been able to fight him. I will devote myself from now on so please support me.”
– Japanese superstar, Yoshihiro Akiyama — who happens to have Korean roots — reflects on his Octagon debut against Alan Belcher at UFC 100 this past weekend with SportsNavi (via NightmareOfBattle.com). “Sexyama” sustained some damage to his manhood in the early going courtesy of a low blow, from which he apparently wanted more time to recover but a miscommunication forced him back into action much sooner. Belcher then tattooed him with a punch near the end of the opening frame that cracked the orbital bone in his face. Akiyama persevered despite the injuries and was able to steal a super close split decision at the end of three round of action. The back-and-forth middleweight scrap earned “Fight of the Night” honors with Akiyama and Belcher each pocketing $100,000 in bonus money in addition to their base salaries.
92 Comments »
You have my support brotha! I’m glad he came to fight. Yeah it may not have been as exciting as I thought it would be but I know his next fights will be much better.
what more do you want man? It was the best fight on the freaking card?
I have always thought that the UFC needed to allow translators on the mat to tell, non-english speaking fighters what the ref is saying about being given up to 5 minutes to recover from illegal blows. bout time, someone bringst his to light!
good point but 5 seconds!!!??? Common sense has to step in at some point…as far as I know, showing 4 fingers and a thumb universally means 5. I remember Rogan even saying “I don’t think he knows what 5 minutes means”. WTF Uno was in his corner also.
I respect his his attitude and toughness but I’ll have to defer to my fellow maniacs– how much can a ball shot effect your stamina during a fight?
A ball shot can re-align the planets and turn a monk to mas murder. So not much really.
a lot if its square…once five minutes wasn’t even enough for me…I basically bawled my eyes out…probably similar to child birth
LMAO!! @ paniczoo
It takes away a lot of stamina and the fighter will definatley feel every shot to the body a lot more if he takes a groin shot first.
its not that he cant count its that he thought it ment 5 seconds not 5 mins
read my post again…would common sense tell you that you had 5 seconds??? Logically I would rule out 5 seconds and 5 hours leaving the only answer to be 5 minutes…its not like it was his first fight
No sir! Not similar to childbirth. And I think it’s safer to assume 5 seconds than 5 minutes. He was airing on the side of caution, can’t blame him for that.
queen smith: Believe me when I tell you, that its the most DEVESTATING thing that a male body can suffer. BELIEVE THAT!
i was always in awe of how fighters could even continue to fight after groin shots…A lot of times, 5 minutes isn’t close to enough. Its an undescribable pain, that makes you feel nautious and throw up as well.
its like having the worst tooth ache imaginable on your balls. lol
Oh no I totally believe it! My husband was having seizures after he saw Sexy take that hit.
Funny that you bring up Child Birth; if Carano ever delivers a child inbetween rd’s 2-3 and then continues to fight then it will be the most disgusting thing ever witnessed on ppv..
Man, the places your mind goes to sometimes O damn.
Respect to the man for being tough and for his words, but come on – we all know the rules, you would think that if you were about to put your body on the line you or your trainers would research this stuff before the fight. Rogan was right when he said someone needs to improve the design of mma cups, not me though – i dont want to get my hands dirty. He gives big props to belcher but you can never be sure with japs, from my experience they rarely say what they are actually thinking. polite to the point of being awkward
Also, drop the Freddy Murcury nickname, prob not so sexy after having his junk mashed up.. and how big is that dudes head?! – he looks like hes about to phone home
“Japs” and “they rarely say what they are actually thinking” and “polite to the point of being awkward” are all racist/stereotypical comments. Just thought you’d like to be aware of when you are offending others.
they are, but I laughed
Jake- I would advise that you never rent Gran Torino. haha
I don’t think Fedor needs to go to the UFC…enough guys want to fight him and will probably go find him if they really want a fight with Fedor
no they will stay with the money or the company that has more then 2 cards a year that isnt going to be out of buissness soon
when is soon? BTW, Affiction has non-exclusive contracts ie AA, Babalu…you can fight in Affliction, Dream, Strikeforce etc without fear of losing your job
That’s class! I would rather his attitude any day over juice monkey brock! Guys like him is why there’s honer ingrained in martial arts and it’s guys like brock that brought in the trash!
*honor*
alright guys, UFC 101 is now upon us and as most of you know, 15or 16 maniacs have a luxury box for this event. We are also planning to have a nice dinner friday night followed by some gentlemanly fun! If you want to join us for dinner (either Ruth’s Chris or capitol grill) please email me! I think one guy misunderstood me for saying I was buying, I’m NOT! I don’t exactly have 2k laying around for dinner. Whether you’re in the suite with us or just in Philly, you’re welcome to join us for dinner. I also have 1 more ticket available for the suite.
kevjack115@yahoo.com
RSVP by friday so that I can make reservations!
You’ve got my support man. Now can someone please translate all these comments for him?
I dont know wtf Dana is talking about with his false promises about Fedor? Tom atencio stated that they are close to finalizing a contract extension with Fedor that would keep him signed to affliction til 2012! Looks like Affliction is still in it for the long haul, sorry DANA!!!!
I dont know how people dont get tired of fedor if he comes to the ufc good if not then thats all him affliction will not last till 2012
I would be shocked if Affliction made it out of 2009. They have not made a single dime yet, and are bleeding money. How do they expect to do that for the next 3 1/2 years.
Ive been saying this forever, FEDOR WILL NEVER BE IN THE UFC.
Affliction won’t be around long enough to honor that contract.
haha…I wish I had a dime for every time I’ve heard that…they’ll be around for as long as they want to be as long as they are only doing 2-3 shows a year
Who are they going to get to fight Fedor after this one? If he is happy fighting cans after Barnett, than let him die in obsurity. He will lose a lot of respect and fans if he fights nobodies when he could come shut Brock’s mouth for everyone. I don’t think Fedor will turn the money down that DW will offer him. And it is more like 5 or 6 months.
Overeem…which will take us into 2010…guys will leave UFC to fight him…just watch
I think someone needs to bum rush Brock WAND style; I noticed in rd 2 when Mir was trying to get some offensive striking going that Brock didn’t look comfortable and took the first opportunity available to get the fight to the ground. I think he’s susceptable to a TKO off a barrage of punch’s/kicks/knees from a better striker.
noticed that too…I still say bring in Overeem
As long as Fedor stays in America, he will always have top opponents lined up to fight him. Getting a fight against Fedor is like the MECCA of every single heavyweight fighters career. Look at a guy like Arlovski, big name that had a lot of success and would be welcome back to the UFC with open arms…he recently said, he will spend the rest of his career chasing Fedor from one organization to the next until he earns another shot at him….aNY real hEAVYWEIGHTS Longs FOR A SHOT AT DETHROWNING THE KING!
If Fedor stays with affliction he can face: Werdum, Overeem, Grim (if he gets a few more big wins). Thats just the immediate future. With every UFC ppv, fighters contracts expire and fighters become free agents. Every time a uFC heavyweight becomes a free agent, you better believe that no matter what the UFC is offering, they strongly consider trying to get a shot at FEDOR, as long as Fedor is still fighting in America!
Fedor will have no shortage of suiters, believe me, and I seriously doubt we will ever see him in the UFC…and thats fine by me. As long as he stays in America, our culture will demand that he face top fighters. If he goes back to Japan, those fans will ask him to fight freakshows.
So its really not important that Fedor sign with the UFC…whats most important is that he stays in AMERICA, where he will continue to face top dogs.
DONT FORGET: Couture contract has to be expiring soon and there is no contractual clause to keep him in the UFC’s shackles this time around, stopping him from fighting Fedor in affliction. I know its a little too late, but Fedor vs. couture, is better late then never!!
Can you get my Fedor post out of MOd, Mania?
I’m starting to think that after what Brock did to Mir and Herring, Dana’s getting confident that he can take Fedor out. The 1 fight deal might happen; if White wants to take a gamble on it, similiar to when he let Chuck compete in PFC Grand Prix ‘03.
agreed..a 1 fight deal is actually great for Dana IF (big if) Brock wins…if Brock loses and Dana lets Fedor get away then its not so good for the UFC
John the problem is he’s beating these guys on the downside of their carreers. They’re coming out of the UFC looking less than impressive or else they’d still be in the UFC. Barnett and Overeem are definatley worthy opponents. Werdum could be if he gets back on track. Grimm is still a ??? in my opinion. Right now I think a win over Brock; proving once and for all that technique/experience beats size and strength would be the most impressive win out there for him. Especially considering that the size diff in that fight would be about the same as when Randy fought Lesnar.
And like I said up top, Brock does not look comfortable on his feet yet; he still seems gun shy, I could see Fedor beating him down Gary Goodridge/Tim Sylvia style, opening up with a quick explosive punch combination.
Holy $hit..yeah Gary Goodridge… gawd I used to love watching that guy. The good ole days.
Ah yes, memories, over the years I’ve enjoyed watching Gary get destroyed by so many different fighters in so many different ways. And his ownage of Japanese professional wrestlers turned MMA fighters were something else too.. Then there’s his win over Bobbish via eye poke.. Good ol Gary..
i remember when Yvel kicked his head off!
Why would he want to stay with affliction for another 3 years? who would he fight? close is othing when it comes to contracts… how will affliction ever turn a profit? do you believe attencio? where is this statement? – i would be interested in reading it.
if you sign him, they will come
the only people he will fight are ufc rejects that are not in the ufc for a reason
if you sign him, John will cum
you think Im lying? I dont make this stuff up. Head over to BE yourself if you dont believe me.
Yeah I was wondering whether he understood what the ref was saying because to me it looked like he was worried the fight was going to be stopped if he didn’t resume straight away.
BLAH BLAH BLAH….YA STILL SHOULD HAVE LOST THE FIGHT…ALAN GOT RIPPED BIG TIME
big time??!!?? how do you figure?
Disagree, I had Akiyama winning that fight; 3 TD’s to 0 and the striking was pretty much even.
me too…30-27 Sexy was a bit much nut I had him winning the 1st and 2nd rounds and the 3rd was close
He dropped belcher in the 3rd and that takedown was huge at the end of the round, I would have went 30-27 for sexy.
I had sexy all the way! definitely winning the last 2 rounds, first round was close.
Fight Metric had sexy winning it as well.
Learn to judge mma. No one got robbed, they both had equal opportunities to win rounds and akiyama was the only one who no doubt won a round, that being round 2.
Don’t beleive everything joe rogan says……
True. Although Rogan is usually right, but not in this case.
Rogan is close friends and weed buddies with Ed Bravo with whom Belcher was training with…maybe thats got something to do with it
I like Rogan, but I am completly fed up with his commentary. i cant take him anymore. He has ruined too many fights for me with his biased, and one sided commentary!
i like when he does interviews and talks about UFC match ups, but and always want to see him involved with the UFC…but I cant take him commentating any more.
I think the “Belcher got robbed” comment was totally out of line; to the layman or the casual fan they get it stuck in their heads that Akiyama should’ve in no way won that fight.
I am really missing the Couture commentary, Joe and Goldberg both defer to Randy and IMO he has the best, objective, non biased opinion of the three when it comes to calling a fight.
I’m with ya there…bring back Randy!
O Damn-
Truth.
I’m glad Belcher lost. Sexy is the more exciting fighter, but he should go to WW.
Personally i think he won, More aggressive and going forward…Belcher seemed wary of his punch power when he got rocked a few times…
It was like the griffin n rampage fight where rampage when forward and wanted to fight and Griffin just legged kicked!!
except this time the guy who was suppose to win won
I think Akiyama won this fight, also persevered with the bad groin strike and not taking enough time 2recover…he generally looked pretty good…well not competing with Spider Silva or even Nate.M, but still good.
I fully support Sexy, exciting fighter, one of the best entrances/presentation I have ever seen. New fan here….
I liked that intro too. Gave me chills watching them.
belcher is the toughest fighter he has fought??? and he is a big time superstar??? wtf!!! he is in for a big surprise if he actually fights a top guy was not impressed with him at all and i thought belcher won he landed more , did more damage , and was constantly pressing the action , yeah sexyama got some takedowns but did nothing with them
Well go check the computer stats on http://www.fightmetric.com/fights/Akiyama-Belcher.html and you will see how many punchs and kicks each fighter gave..Akiyama gave the most…By the way fighting in a cage and a ring is a lot different. Give him some time to get use…
Couldn’t find a bigger picture?
i think its interesting how everyone’s been saying belcher got robbed. i went back and watched the fight several times now and i still have akiyama winning the first, barely winning the second, and losing the third. “sexyama”, i think, landed the harder, crisper shots in the first and finished off the round with a good takedown and a lil GnP. then he came out in the second, took belcher down and controlled him on the mat for more than half the round, and even after belcher got back up, the striking was still pretty even. by the third round, belcher might have been getting the better of the exchanges, landing the more effective and damging strikes, but it was too little too late IMO. dont get me wrong, it was a hell of a fight, but if the ufc is looking for akiyama to become their next big MW contender, he needs to step it up, cause a split decision over a hot/cold fighter like belcher (who IMO is his own biggest fan) isnt the most impressive way to start a title run.
it was his first fight in the UFC. most imports seem to the lose that one, so id say he is doing pretty well for himself. the next two performances will show what he can achieve now that the first-time jitters are gone
classy guy, he has my support
An American athlete would be bad mouthing him already and dissing Belcher as a cheap shot artist. This guy is a class act
learn the rules of mma before you step in the cage or learn english. end of story.
Having perfect knowledge of the rules is fine, but don’t be ignorant and tell everyone to learn English, that’s ridiculous.
Holy. Who let the redneck in?
Roofless Tom Lawlor?
he won the first and second rounds. plus, he is a warrior for fighting through the groin shot. that immediatly affected him. he was actually winning the standup for most of the first round. im looking forward to him climbing the ranks of mw. i was thinking he should move down to ww but it looks as though his head weighs at least 170 lbs.
Lot of heart. I like this guy. I look forward to seeing him again now. I expect now hes past his debut he’ll be even better the second time.
when i first watched it i thought akiyama took it no robbery about it, too many people are just re-spewing Rogan’s opinion!! i do think akiyama is too small for MW though, but a lot of Japanese fighters dont cut too much weight. but im hopeful he will do well in the UFC
Yep, Rogan could say that a pig flew over the octagon and everyone would believe him. I’ve sat pretty close to ringside at MMA events before, and there is no comparison to what you can see watching a 50″ plasma tv in my livingroom. The atmosphere is great ringside, but there is no way you could watch a close fight like that from ringside and automatically say someone was “robbed” afterwards. Stupid move by Rogan IMO.
Hmmm i think i like this guy. Now lets see what he can do with the top 10 MWs tho i would like to see him at WW. IMO just to samll for WM in the UFC.
didnt he get poked in the eye?
he fought after taking it in the nuts, getting poked in the eye, with his first fight in the octagon.
pretty good really.
Akiyama’s got heart. All japanese fighters have heart but lack KO power abd trust me “Sexyama” gots KO power. Google his KO over Dennie Kang.
I thought the other guy won.
thought wrong