Sources close to the promotion that despite some initial resistance to facing a new opponent, Japanese judoka Yoshihiro Akiyama has indeed agreed to face Chris Leben at next week’s UFC 116 event in Las Vegas.
After Day Of Uncertainty, Yoshihiro Akiyama Agrees To UFC 116 Bout With Chris Leben
The UFC 116 card isn’t particularly great top to bottom and the loss of Akiyama would not have helped matters. While a bout with Chris Leben (coming in on only a few days rest) isn’t exactly as exciting as the bout with Wanderlei Silva that was initially planned we now have a good story to the fight. A win by Leben would be quite the “phoenix from the ashes moment” while a win by Akiyama does continue moving him toward a potential title shot.
SB Nation will have more information on UFC 116 over the next two weeks as data becomes available.
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