Yoshihiro Akiyama
With the passage of time, judo and martial arts have become one of the most admired and played sports by a large number of people. Judo is a martial art sport that owes its origins in Japan. This sport has gained popularity since the nineteenth century. The most striking quality of this sport is that it involves a good competition between the opponents. One has to either throw the other competitor on the ground or hold back the opponent by employing a trick. Judo includes various actions and stunts like thrusts, punches and kicks that contribute in weakening the opponent. However, one thing that has to be kept in mind is that these actions have to be presented in pre-arranged structures.
Similarly, mixed martial art is a practice or a sport which employs various ways of fighting like grappling and striking. Earlier very less rules were included in this type of fighting but with the advent of time, additional rules were included so that the athletes or participants can play the sport with safety.
Yoshihiro Akiyama is a popular mixed martial artist and a judoka. Born in Japan, he won various matches during the Osaka World Judo Championships. After gaining much success, he shifted to mixed martial arts and became the Light Heavyweight champion of the K-1 HERO 2006. He has a brilliant record of around nine wins and just one loss. With 178 cms of height and 87 kgs of weight, he is a highly professional artist.
Yoshihiro Akiyama is not just a great mixed martial arts artist in the whole world, he is a great force as well. He is widely famous for his submission and striking skills. Moreover, in the World Judo Championship in 2003, he defeated various competitors from turkey, Mongolia and France. It was claimed that Yoshihiro Akiyama used slippery judogi and that it was the main reason for his success. But after sufficient research, these allegations proved wrong. His first mixed martial arts match was in 2004 where he won over Francois Botha in the first round itself. Other wins by Akiyama includes those over Taiei Kin, Melvin Manhoef, Tokimitsu Ishizawa and Kestutis Smirnovas.
Jerome LeBanner was the only opponent who defeated Yoshihiro Akiyama in the year 2005. In a press conference Akiyama also said that he used lotion before a fight. This resulted in his disqualification from the fight and he was suspended from the HERO’S contest. Akiyama also admitted that even if he used the lotion, he did not have any bad intentions of using unfair means but just to cure the dry skin on his body.
Also, Nike sponsors Yoshihiro Akiyama and the footwear that he uses is by Nike Martial Arts.
By Sherdog.com Staff
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