· UFC 133 Features Yoshihiro Akiyama vs. Vitor Belfort

· Article author: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). Posted on 04/21 at 08:08 PM

UFC 133 is nearly four months away and is still not officially announced, but a pivotal middleweight matchup announcement has surfaced. Former number one contender Vitor Belfort, fresh off his head kick loss to Anderson Silva in February, is slated to take on Japanese superstar Yoshihiro Akiyama. It is currently unknown if UFC 133 will air on Spike TV or pay-per-view, but it is scheduled for August 6 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Penn.

Akiyama is somewhat of a folk hero in his native Japan and brought tremendous hype with him at his UFC debut at UFC 100 in July 2009. Carrying only one career loss, albeit to a much bigger fighter in K-1 World Kickboxing Champion Jerome LeBanner, Akiyama's status as one of the premier and most popular fighters in the world was concrete. Following a split decision win to Alan Belcher at the UFC 100 event, Akiyama did not compete in the UFC for a year, resurfacing at UFC 116 the following July. He lost by submission to Chris Leben at that event. Just three months later, Akiyama faced England's own Michael Bisping and fell via unanimous decision. Stepping into face Vitor Belfort coming off back-to-back losses is a tall task given the UFC's history of severing ties with fighters after two losses in a row, much less three. The bout with Belfort will be speculated as a must-win situation until well after the smoke clears from the event.

Belfort made his middleweight debut in July 2008 after competing at heavyweight and light heavyweight his entire career. His destruction of Terry Martin at the Affliction event that year signaled Belfort's arrival in the division. Following that up with devastating knockouts over Matt Lindland and Rich Franklin assured Belfort would be in line to take his shot at current Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva. The fight would take 18 months to take place after Belfort was injured leading to the event. By February 2011, the anticipation was at an all-time high. With a front kick to the face, Silva knocked Belfort out in just the first round, defending his 185-pound title for the eighth time. A win over Akiyama would place Belfort back among the top in the division waiting for another chance at the champion.