ONE FC sent out the following press release announcing the debut of Yoshihiro Akiyama. Akiyama will face Agilan Thani on June 20.
Akiyama last fought in November 2015, losing to Alberto Mina by split decision. His last win was September 2014 against Amir Sadollah. Akiyama went 2-5 in his UFC career after entering the promotion 12-1 (2 NC).
Set to make his highly-anticipated ONE Championship debut, Asian mixed martial arts veteran Yoshihiro “Sexyama” Akiyama of Japan will face Agilan “Alligator” Thani of Malaysia in the co-main event of the evening.
Akiyama is one of the most iconic Asian mixed martial artists in history. A fourth generation Japanese of Korean descent, he began his martial arts career garnering accolades on the amateur level. Some of those prizes include a gold medal at the 2001 Asian Judo Championships for South Korea and a gold medal at the 2002 Asian Games for Japan.
Known as “Sexyama,” he made his mixed martial arts debut in December 2004 and used his world-class judo stylings as his base. That has led to remarkable success, defeating some of the industry’s most respected names including Melvin Manhoef, Alan Belcher, and former IBF Heavyweight Boxing Champion Francois Botha.
