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Yoshihiro “Sexyama” Akiyama (12-1, 0-0 UFC) vs. Alan “The Talent” Belcher (14-5, 5-3 UFC)

“Sexyama” has a great story behind him and a strong recap can be found here. To summarize Akiyama brings an interesting story with him to the UFC because of his heritage, Eastern appeal, and talent. Akiyama is immensely popular in Japan and South Korea, but there is a strong dichotomy between the two. He is beloved in South Korea while seen as the villain in Japan. Not necessarily national pride, but the manner in which Asian countries follow their national celebrities is unmatched, even by the United States. This is the main reason for the signing of Akiyama. He provides a potential key to the Eastern world and if he can make a run in the UFC then Akiyama may be a beachhead for further UFC global expansion.

Two controversies surround his career so far. The first happened in ’06 when he went through his own personal “grease gate”. His win was eventually ruled a No Contest because of a substance that made him slippery. Apparently this is one of the potential problems when you are “The Sexyama.” According to Akiyama he had not purposely applied an illegal substance, but rather an over the counter moisturizer for his dry skin before the fight. He formally apologized and took the blame for his mistake. The match was ruled a NC, but how can you blame a man who wants to look like this.

The second controversy has led to what some people believe has changed Akiyama as a fighter. During a 2007 match Akiyama was kicked in the head while he was still on the ground (an illegal move) and was knocked out. He appealed the fight and the outcome was changed to a NC, but rumors swirled that he is not the same fighter as he was before. It will be interesting to see which Akiyama comes out in his fight against Belcher. The UFC is certainly rooting for Akiyama to put together some victories and move him up the Middleweight ladder. That is why I find it surprising they placed him against a sound opponent in Alan Belcher.

Alan Belcher is a tough man to figure out, but there is one thing for sure: he is country. Belcher is the fighting pride of Mississippi where he lives and trains. Any doubts of his county are thrown off by the giant tattoo of Johnny Cash on his arm. I remember watching the Dennis Kang fight thinking that must be a new tattoo because the skin is still bruised, but no, the tattoo is just enormous and horrible (sorry dude, the quality ain’t there).

Oh yeah, he also fights for a living. After splitting his first 4 professional fights he won his next 7 earning a spot in the UFC. Belcher has been a bit unpredictable during his UFC career. He has two disappointing losses to Jason Day and Kendall Grove (not too bad a loss), but has beaten top level talent in Jorge Santiago and Dennis Kang. Belcher has won his last two fights and four of his last five heading into Saturday.

Conventional Analysis: Despite Akiyama’s main purpose of increasing popularity overseas there is serious talent within him. He is a decorated judoka winning the Gold medal at the 2002 Asian Games. Besides his obvious takedown and ground skills he also displays some impressive striking and strength (which has been a problem for many Asian imports in the UFC). Five of his 12 wins are by way of KO and 7 wins are via submission.

Belcher is a little more one dimensional. His strength lies in his striking ability. Despite tapping Kang out Belcher was worked on the mat for the majority of the first round. Belcher struggled against Kang’s takedowns and spent a lot of the round on his back or defending submission attempts. His best shot is keeping the fight on his feet and trying to strike with Akiyama.

Conventional wisdom has Akiyama as the favorite and that is why his odds are at -340. He has a major advantage on the ground and an advantage on the feet. Belcher is choosing between the lesser of two evils.

WKR Analysis: I do believe that Akiyama should be the favorite and probably will win this fight, but I think this will be closer than many expect. Belcher did struggle, until his submission, against Kang on the ground, but he did enough. His grappling is not great, but he has decent defensive grappling. He was able to get hooks from bottom position, prevent submissions, and get back to his feet. If he is able to do this against Akiyama he can turn it into striking battle. Akiyama is probably better on his feet, but not by a large extent and we all know anything can happen in MMA. I think Belcher is a good bet with his odds and has a decent shot of pulling off the upset.

In the end though I do think Akiyama will win. Despite Belcher showing good defense grappling, his takedown defense has been very suspect and he is going up against a Judoka with obvious great takedowns. Even if Belcher can bring the fight back up Akiyama will send it back down. With Judoka takedowns Akiyama will not leave himself up for the Guillotine Choke and Belcher will either get finished by strikes or submission on the ground. I do expect him to weather the storm for at least a round or even two though.

Fun Fact: Alan Belcher’s real name is John Alan Belcher.

LAS VEGAS – All 22 competitors taking part in Saturday’s UFC 100 event have officially made weight for the show.

Weigh-ins took place today at a packed (albeit scaled-down) Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, and much of the crow remained ontheir feet throughout the ceremony.

While co-headliners Georges St-Pierre and Thiago Alves used every bit of the allowed 170-pounds in making their welterweight title fight official, so too did main-event fighter Brock Lesnar, who tipped the scales at the heavyweight limit of 265 pounds. Mir registered well-under the limit at an impressive-looking 245 pounds.

British middleweight Michael Bisping received a chorus of emphatic boos from the gathered mass, while Dan Henderson was cheered just as loudly. Bisping kept a firm gaze as Henderson smiled, and “The Count” refused to shake hands with his opponent as he walked off stage.

Other highlights of the evening included Stephan Bonnar’s faux-pleading to make weight as he stepped on the sale (and after asking event emcee Joe Rogan to wait patiently as he received a cellphone call from rapper 50 Cent), Jon Jones refusing to look Jake O’Brien in the eye, and Tom Lawlor referencing the UFC’s early days by painting “Just Bleed” across his chest.

The full UFC 100 weigh-in results included:

MAIN CARD

• Champ Brock Lesnar (265) vs. interim champ Frank Mir (245)
• Champ Georges St-Pierre (170) vs. Thiago Alves (170)
• Michael Bisping (186) vs. Dan Henderson (185)

LAS VEGAS – All 22 competitors taking part in Saturday’s UFC 100 event have officially made

• Yoshihiro Akiyama (185) vs. Alan Belcher (186)
• Jon Fitch (170) vs. Paulo Thiago (170)

PRELIMINARY CARD

• Stephan Bonnar (205) vs. Mark Coleman (205)
• Mac Danzig (154) vs. Jim Miller (155)
• Jon Jones (206) vs. Jake O’Brien (206)
• T.J. Grant (170) vs. Dong Hyun Kim (171)
• C.B. Dollaway (186) vs. Tom Lawlor (184)
• Matt Grice (155) vs. Shannon Gugerty (156)

For complete coverage of UFC 100, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com).

Wimbledon awards 2009

tvnz.co.nz looks back on the highs and lows of Wimbledon 2009 after another glorious fortnight at SW19.

Best men’s match:

The Andy Roddick versus Lleyton Hewitt quarter-final was a classic dogfight and Andy Murray’s tense battle with Stainlas Wairinka almost lifted the newly installed centre court roof. But for occasion, drama and skill we can’t go past the final. The underdog playing the match of his life, Federer on the brink of history, the longest grand slam final and set in terms of games (77, 16-14 in the fifth set) and a star studded audience.

Best women’s match:

The first semi-final, where Elena Dementieva and Serena Williams battled for almost three hours in an incredible duel. Serena prevailed by the narrowest of margins, and said later she felt her forehand had been on vacation in Hawaii. A downcast Dementieva may have needed a holiday to recover and admitted a miss on match point will haunt her.

Best female player:

Serena Williams is the obvious standout as she swept all challengers aside and the 27-year-old, like a fine wine, seems to get better with age. But the Russian Dementieva deserves a special mention as she played the tennis of her life in the semi-final to be just one passing shot away from sending Serena packing. Nobody else came close.

Best male player:

The standout has to be Andy Roddick. The reborn American had a tough run through the early rounds then had to overcome Lleyton Hewitt and hometown hero Andy Murray just to make the final. Nobody gave him a chance in the decider but he played the match of his life to do everything but beat the greatest player in history.

“Where the hell have you been”:

This award goes to Lleyton Hewitt. The Aussie battler came into the tournament as one of only two previous champions in the men’s draw, but his 2002 truimph seemed a lifetime ago given form in recent years. The world number 56 beat the fifth seed Juan Martin Del Potro, before engineering a classic comeback from two sets down against Radek Stephanek to reach the last eight where he lost a four hour dogfight with Roddick.

“Where did you go?”:

Novak Djokovic looked a shadow of the man who truimphed in the 2008 Australian Open, and admitted he was down on confidence after bowing out to German veteran Tommy Haas at the quarter-final stage. On the women’s side Jelena Jankovic and Maria Sharapova struggled to recapture the form of year’s past.

“The judicious use of a wildcard award”:

Hats off to the Wimbledon organisers, who had the foresight to grant 29-year-old Juan Carlos Ferrero a wildcard into the main draw. The 2003 French Open champion has discovered an affinity for grass late in his career, and made it all the way to the quarter-finals dispatching the tenth seed Fernando Gonzalez and eighth seed Gilles Simon on the way.

The John MacEnroe memorial award for umpire insanity:

Umpire Carlos Ramos managed to take centre stage during the fifth set of the Hewitt-Roddick epic. As Andy Roddick continued to dispute a line call after an apparent mix-up between the man in the chair and his sideline assistant, the under pressure Ramos ended up accussing his own line judge of lying, to the obvious disbelief of Roddick and the BBC commentators.

Father figure:

The TV cameras seemed eternally fascinated with Federer heavily pregnant wife and one commentator thought it all might be too much for her during the marathon final, speculating that the tension may be enough to bring on an early labour. Success and fatherhood will be a challenge now for the world’s most famous Roger, and greats such as Stefan Edberg, John McEnroe and Boris Becker never won another slam after having children. Only ten fathers have won Majors.

The class of a champion:

Pete Sampras showed the class of a champion, arriving unannounced midway through the first set of the final. It was his first visit since 2002, when he was surprisingly dumped out by Swiss journeyman George Bastils. He said all the right things after the match, posed for photographs with the man who broke his record and left in his private jet the same day.

Best commentator:

John McEnroe – by a country mile. The American was insightful, entertaining and passionate. Boris Becker’s german accent was hard to listen to and he seemed obssessed with the prospect of Mirka Federer lurching into labour at any given moment. Tim Henman came across as the posh public schoolboy he once was while Pat Cash was fun, especially with commentating on fellow countrymen Lleyton Hewitt.

The NZRU award for not believing the hype award:

The newly installed centrecourt roof made its debut in Andy Murray’s fourth round match vs Wawrinka, where 15,000 fans, a glatidorial atmosphere and the late night finish made for a fantastic occasion. But Wimbledon were quick to quash ideas that such occasions would become frequent. A spokesman said “”It was an historic occasion but as with all historic occasions, it is best if they don’t happen too often.” Showing a sense of restraint often lost on bodies such as SANZAR and FIFA, who foist upon us more and more ‘must-see historic’ clashes until the last thing you want to do is watch them.

The worst use of clothing award:

Roger Federer took his opening day sartorial bow to new lows in 2009. He sauntered on to court with a military-style jacket and slacks which had the British media comparing him to anything from an extra on Miami Vice to a backing singer for a mediocre eighties tribute band.

The say what you really think award

This stays with Jelena Jankovic. Last year second seed Jelena Jankovic took a swipe at the organisers for making her play her fourth round match “almost in the parking lot”.”I almost need a helicopter to go to my court,” said the Serb after she was not given a Centre or Court One billing. This year Jankovic bowed out early and wasn’t given a chance to have another serve at organisers.

I’m merely a modest male award goes to Andy Murray:

Andy Murray. Britain’s favourite Scotsmen Andy Murray told his fans on Twitter about receiving a letter from her majesty Queen Elizabeth. “Got a nice letter from the Queen saying well done for winning Queen’s. Put it in its own pile away from the bills.” Hard to imagine a 22-year-old multi millionaire actually having to worry about bills, but there you go.

When is number one not actually number one?

WTA chief executive officer Larry Scott seems the only person on the planet who believes Dinara Safina is a genuine world number one.

“The ranking system is designed sort of around king or queen of the hill – who is the strongest, most consistent performer over the years. There are a lot of factors that go into the ranking system.

“While I know it does stir debate, the one place it doesn’t stir a debate is in the locker room. The players believe in that ranking system. They believe the ranking is right.”

Really, Larry, Really? No matter what the surface or circumstances a world number one should never lose 6-1 6-0 in a grand slam semi-final, as Safina did in a 58-minute capitulation to Venus Williams.

The maritial bliss award .

Newlyweds Brooklyn Decker and Andy Roddick. After Roddick made some jokes about his wife at a press conference, the swimsuit model was quick to bite back. She gleefully told the world’s media that her big-serving macho husband was a Rick Astley fan. In a subsequent press conference it was clear she had touched a nerve.

“What do you want me to say? I said I wasn’t proud, but I’m not going to lie to anybody. She brought up Rick Astley. I can’t deny it. It’s in my iPod. I bet it’s in your iPod, too, so shut up.”

“The British for the sake of being British award”.

The Wimbledon organisers were proud to announce that a record 511, 043 spectators had attended during the championships. And in the country that has made orderly and proper queueing an art form, they were also happy to divulge that over 160,000 people had lined up for the chance of a golden ticket over the 13 days.

Stand and deliver

Roddick managed 187 aces in his seven matches while Serena sent down a championship record 78 bombs from the baseline. Not to be outdone, Federer came up with serving success when it mattered most, with 50 aces in the final (just one short of Ivo Karlovic’s Wimbledon record.

Anyone for tennis?

The summer sunshine sent the English scrambling for liquid refreshments, as they quaffed their way through 200,000 glasses of Pimms (up 50,000 on 2008) and 20,000 bottles of champagne (up 3,000) as well as 28,000 kilos of the ubiquitous strawberries.