UFC Fight Night ‘Hunt vs. Nelson’ Preview

---

Welterweights

Yoshihiro Akiyama (13-5, 1-4 UFC) vs. Amir Sadollah (6-4, 6-4 UFC)

The Matchup: Mystery surrounds this matchup between a pair of fighters who have lost substantial chunks of time to injury. Akiyama, a once-ballyhooed signing on a four-fight losing streak, and Sadollah, a middle-of-the-road “Ultimate Fighter” winner also coming off of a loss, will attempt to get back on track after missing two and a half and just under two years to injury, respectively.

Akiyama entered the UFC with a ton of hype, and while his brutal strength of competition -- Alan Belcher, Chris Leben, Michael Bisping, Vitor Belfort and Jake Shields -- has contributed to his 1-4 record with the promotion, there is no getting around the fact that he has not developed as expected. He is, however, a prodigiously talented judo practitioner with absolutely impenetrable takedown defense and a slick array of trips and throws. If he can be bothered to work takedowns, he possesses a nasty submission arsenal, but he rarely tries. Instead, Akiyama prefers to strike, and he mostly throws single power punches and kicks with force, if not much volume.

Sadollah has evolved into a reasonably skilled kickboxer who throws tight, technical punching combinations punctuated with nice kicks at all levels. He lacks much in the way of power and is no more than a mediocre athlete for the division, but he pushes a blistering pace and can win fights at range on volume alone. A decent defensive wrestler, he has little to offer in terms of takedowns against better competition, though he is a serviceable grappler if the fight does hit the mat.

Betting Odds: N/A

The Pick: Given the extremely long layoffs for both fighters and Akiyama’s advancing age at 39, it is difficult to predict what will happen here with any certainty. Relatively unathletic volume strikers have taken decisions from Akiyama before -- see Shields and Bisping -- so Sadollah has a path to victory. Still, Akiyama is a dramatically more dynamic fighter with more ways to win the fight, or at least convince the judges that he is winning. The pick is Akiyama by decision.

Next Fight » Miesha Tate vs. Rin Nakai