Fan favorite Japanese fighter [autotag]Yoshihiro Akiyama[/autotag] will turn 45 in July, but he’s not done yet.
Akiyama (14-7) will return next month in a middleweight bout against [autotag]Sherif Mohamed[/autotag] (9-5) at “ONE Championship 109: King of the Jungle,” the promotion announced today. Akiyama, known as “Sexyama” to his legion of fans, arguably is the highest profile MMA fighter on a card that is topped with a trio of fights in ONE’s Super Series.
ONE Championship 109 takes place Feb. 28 at Singapore Indoor Stadium in Singapore. The card streams on the B/R Live app.
After a seven-fight run in the UFC in which he went just 2-5, but won three straight “Fight of the Night” bonuses, Akiyama stepped away from the sport after a split decision loss to Alberto Mina in late 2015. But this past June, he returned under the ONE banner to fight for the first time in nearly four years. His comeback ended in a decision loss to Agilan Thani in China, giving him six losses in his past seven fights.
[lawrence-related id=479576]
Egypt’s Mohamed will be looking for his first win under the ONE banner. He has dropped three of his past four fights over a three-year stretch, and all three of those setbacks have been in ONE fights. After a win outside the promotion in August 2017, he came back to ONE on a week’s notice and lost to a decision to Thani. Then this past June, he was stopped by Rong Fan with a second-round TKO for his second straight loss.
Other key MMA fights on the card include a fight between former welterweight title challenger [autotag]Amir Khan[/autotag] (12-6) and [autotag]Kimihiro Eto[/autotag] (16-5-2), and a women’s strawweight bout between two-time title challenger [autotag]Mei Yamaguchi[/autotag] (21-11-1) and [autotag]Meng Bo[/autotag] (14-5).
The ONE Championship 109 lineup includes:
MAIN CARD (B/R Live app)
- Kimihiro Eto vs. Amir Khan
- Yoshihiro Akiyama vs. Sherif Mohamed
- Meng Bo vs. Mei Yamaguchi
PRELIMINARY CARD (B/R Live app)
- [autotag]Mark Abelardo[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Troy Worthen[/autotag]
- [autotag]Honorio Banario[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Shannon Wiratchai[/autotag]
- [autotag]Ayaka Miura[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Tiffany Teo[/autotag]
- [autotag]Wu Chiao Chen[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Ritu Phogat[/autotag]
- [autotag]Hexi Getu[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Adrian Mattheis[/autotag]
- [autotag]Jeff Chan[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Radeem Rahman[/autotag]
[vertical-gallery id=415132]