England's Michael Bisping gave the fans in London something to cheer about in the main event at UFC 120 on Saturday, coming back from a shaky start to win a unanimous decision after a hard-fought 15 minutes in the Octagon with Yoshihiro Akiyama."Right at the start of the first round he hit me with a shot here and I was seeing double," Bisping said afterward. "Akiyama is a great fighter but I truly believed in my training, my skills and my ability to win this fight."
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Akiyama landed a big right hand to Bisping's head just seconds into the first round and appeared to have Bisping seriously hurt, although Bisping stayed on his feet and weathered the early storm. Once Bisping recovered he went for a takedown, landed an uppercut when Akiyama stuffed the first takedown attempt and then got Akiyama on the ground briefly before getting back up and connecting with a kick. It was a competitive, back-and-forth first round.
In the second round Akiyama tried to do the same things that worked for him in the first, namely, connecting with big punches, especially with the right hand. But Bisping seemed to figure out Akiyama's timing as the round went on, and Akiyama seemed to get a big frustrated as Bisping started to land shots and then move away before Akiyama could connect. Akiyama did hurt Bisping late in the round with a right hand, but the bell rang before Akiyama could capitalize.
At the start of the third round Bisping really started to pour it on, landing punches and head kicks, and he appeared to have Akiyama in trouble. And that's when it got ugly, as Bisping went for an inside leg kick and missed, instead landing a hard kick right to Akiyama's groin. Akiyama immediately crumpled to the ground in pain, but after a few minutes to recover, he got back up and kept fighting. That showed a lot of toughness, but Akiyama was clearly hurt and worn down as the fight went on, and Bisping deserved to win the third round, and the fight.
Bisping thanked the British fans afterward and credited his showing to his tough training camp.
"I'm training my ass off," Bisping said. "No one works harder than me and no one wants it more than me."
The judges all scored it 30-27 for Bisping, whose record improves to 20-3. Akiyama falls to 13-3.
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