Yoshihiro Akiyama Books Retirement Fight Against Chris Leben in Seoul
Sexyama will close his career against The Crippler in a rematch of their classic UFC 116 war at BLACK COMBAT 17 in November.
Yoshihiro Akiyama, the 51-year-old fighter better known as Sexyama, will compete in his final MMA bout against Chris Leben at BLACK COMBAT 17: VANTABLACK on November 21 inside Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul, South Korea.
The fight is a rematch of their memorable clash at UFC 116 in July 2010, when Leben submitted Akiyama by triangle choke with about 20 seconds left in the third round. That fight earned Fight of the Night honors and remains one of the more entertaining scraps of that era.
Akiyama (16-7) has stayed active in Asian promotions since leaving the UFC in 2015. He signed with ONE Championship in 2018, picking up stoppage wins over Sherif Mohamed and Shinya Aoki. His most recent outing was a custom-rules bout against kickboxer Nieky Holzken in January 2024, where he was knocked out in the boxing portion in under two minutes.
Leben (22-12) has been away from MMA for nearly 13 years. The Crippler last fought in the UFC in December 2013, losing to Uriah Hall to close a four-fight skid. He resurfaced in bare-knuckle boxing, going 3-1 with three knockouts before retiring again after knocking out Quentin Henry at BKFC KnuckleMania in 2021. Since then, Leben has worked as an MMA referee and judge.
The bout will be contested under standard MMA rules. At 51 and 46 respectively, Akiyama and Leben are well past their competitive primes, but the nostalgia factor is real. Their first fight was a war, and BLACK COMBAT is banking on fans in Seoul wanting to see the rematch 16 years later.
I am a sucker for this kind of fight. Is it going to be a technical masterpiece? Obviously not. Akiyama is 51, Leben has not fought MMA in 13 years, and neither of them should be anywhere near a cage by modern standards. But there is something about two guys who had an all-time war deciding to run it back one more time on the other side of the world.
The original fight at UFC 116 was the kind of scrap that turned casual viewers into fans. Leben catching that triangle with 20 seconds left was one of the great finishes of that year. If BLACK COMBAT can put together a proper send-off in Seoul, this could be a cool moment for the old heads. Just do not expect it to look anything like 2010.
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