Yoshihiro Akiyama vs. Wanderlei Silva at UFC116 Off; Silva Out and Chris Leben In

by Dave Walsh on Jun 22, 2010 5:57 PM EDT in MMA

Who will step up to fight Sexyama? Ad via Nike.

As we were all getting hyped up for Yoshihiro Akiyama, known to fans as Sexyama, taking on former PRIDE superstar Wanderlei Silva in what was primed to be an epic bout MMAFighting.com tosses us a curveball by reporting that Wanderlei Silva has pulled out of the fight.

Wanderlei Silva, who was scheduled to meet Yoshihiro Akiyama at UFC 116 on July 3, has been forced to withdraw from the card due to fractured ribs suffered in training, UFC president Dana White confirmed with MMA Fighting Tuesday afternoon.

Akiyama, who defeated Alan Belcher in his UFC debut last July, will still fight on the card, and according to White, the organization is currently working on signing his replacement. No word just yet on who that might be.

Obviously this is a huge blow to fans, as this has been a dream fight of sorts with a lot of hype amongst the hardcores. One has to really wonder about what will go down at 116 now, as Akiyama was training for the Axe Murderer and with less than two weeks to fight-time, will have to prepare for a new fighter while wrapping up his fight camp.

UPDATE: MMAJunkie claims Chris Leben has signed on the dotted line to face Sexyama. This is going to be a wild, crazy, awesome fight.

SBN coverage of UFC 116: Lesnar vs. Carwin

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Leben

is supposedly replacing him now

@fjbar on twitter...formerly El Mexicutioner

by _Felix_ on Jun 22, 2010 5:57 PM EDT reply actions

haha, yeah

Like the second I hit submit, I look on Twitter and saw the Junkie update.

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Twitter @HeadKickLegend

by Dave Walsh on Jun 22, 2010 6:01 PM EDT up reply actions

Akiyama was going to murder Wanderlei, now he will murder Leben

by Meshuggeth on Jun 22, 2010 6:51 PM EDT reply actions

Even if Leben is cleared medically after fighting this past weekend, it seems a little weird for UFC in a major commission state.

by David Bixenspan on Jun 22, 2010 7:01 PM EDT reply actions

maaan,this was a fight I was waiting for,a great matchup. Leben is a decent replacement though,never was a fan of him,so I hope for Akiyama to finally show the UFC his great judo,it should be a fun fight

"Its not about the size of the dog in the fight...its about the size of the fight in the dog"

by SoulBrotherNo1 on Jun 22, 2010 7:09 PM EDT reply actions

Yeah hopefully Akiyama will bring some of that judo out against Leben. Thats one guy you dont wanna brawl with.

by Yasnian on Jun 22, 2010 7:21 PM EDT reply actions

Akiyama by Sub or UD. I don’t think Leben coming off of a fight after two weeks will be much of a challenge for Akiyama. That being said; kudos to Leben for taking the fight.

by mikedh on Jun 23, 2010 6:24 PM EDT reply actions