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The return of Yoshihiro ‘Sexyama’ Akiyama in front of the Japanese fans this past weekend unfortunately didn’t go to plan.
His mixed rules super fight with Nieky Holzken never got to play out as promised with one round of boxing, followed by a round of Muay Thai, and MMA to close out the contest.
The Dutch kickboxing legend closed the show in dominant fashion by getting the job done with his boxing skills inside the Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan.
It was a difficult result for the 48-year-old, especially because of the occasion that ONE 165 was built around as ONE Championship made a long-awaited return to Japan.
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Whilst he wasn’t able to take too many positives from the fight itself, ‘Sexyama’ was still able to take one major bonus away from the contest.
The 48-year-old told Sportskeeda MMA that fighting for all of his fans back in Japan kept him motivated to put on a show on January 28 even if the result didn’t go his way:
“I couldn't get the victory today and I don’t feel cool about it but I was very happy to compete in front of my Japanese fans.”
Watch the full interview below:
‘Sexyama’ hasn’t been discouraged by his difficult loss at ONE 165
If there’s one thing you can never call into question about ‘Sexyama’, it’s his drive and mentality to continue competing at this stage in his career.
The fan favorite need never step inside the circle ever again and would still retain all of the love from his fans for what he has accomplished.
The 48-year-old shows no signs of stopping. though, with no feeling of regret despite his knockout loss at the hands of Nieky Holzken.
With the goal of continuing to compete in MMA where he is more at home in that particular rule and skillset, we haven’t seen the last of Akiyama and that’s one positive that his fans can take out of ONE 165.
ONE Championship fans that missed any of the action from ONE 165 can watch the entire event back via the on-demand replay available at ONE’s official website.
