The torchbearer for English MMA fights on home soil at UFC 120 in London, England as Michael Bisping enters the octagon for a middleweight bought against Japanese fighter Yoshihiro Akiyama on Saturday, October 16.

Bisping is heavily favored in UFC 120 lines at -225 to Akiyama’s +185.

The English favorite, Michael “The Count” Bisping (19-3-0 MMA, 9-3-0 UFC), should control this fight from the beginning using his superior reach and technical striking ability that comes from his kickboxing and boxing training to punish his opponent.

Bisping is coming off of a decision victory over Dan Miller at UFC 114 and is looking to work his way up to the top of the middleweight division.

His fights always have Fight of the Night potential because he trains hard so that he can go after an opponent at full speed from the first bell to the last if he needs.

The problems for Yoshihiro Akiyama (13-2-0 MMA, 1-1-0 UFC) at the UFC have always come towards the ends of his fights where his poor conditioning starts to show. He did not look great in the third round of his lone UFC victory over Alan Belcher and he got submitted by Chris Leben in the third round of his lone UFC loss because he was too gassed to defend himself properly.

Part of the problem for Akiyama was that he was so dominant in Japan that he never had to go past nine minutes in a fight. Akiyama’s strength is in his Judo and he has seven victories by submission to his resume, but he also has knockout power and has demonstrated it on a number of occasions.

This fight is really Bisping’s to lose. Akiyama may have a little more experience, but Bisping’s conditioning and reach advantage will make it very difficult for Akiyama to control the fight. The Japanese fighter will no doubt be looking for a take-down, but Bisping’s BJJ has improved to the point where he can keep himself out of trouble most of the time.

This fight just looks like a bad MMA betting matchup for Akiyama and he needs to get used to the UFC and improve his conditioning against some of the weaker fighters in the division before taking a crack at the better middleweights.

The UFC just released their trailer for UFC 120 which takes place October 16 in London featuring home-country favorite Michael Bisping against much-hyped, but so far a big bust, Yoshihiro Akiyama.

Early UFC 120 odds are out for the top fights on the card.

• Michael Bisping (-250) vs Yoshihiro Akiyama (+190)
• John Hathaway (-500) vs Mike Pyle (+325)
• Dan Hardy -165 vs Carlos Condit (+135)

UFC 116 was one of the best cards ever with a bunch of good fights and some surprises.

Heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar got absolutely rocked by Shane Carwin, but he did something no other fighter before him had done and got through a round with Carwin. Carwin was clearly not accustomed to fighting for longer than a few minutes and Lesnar made him pay with the submission victory.

Chris Leben got an upset victory over Yoshihiro Akiyama in a fight that wasn’t supposed to even happen. We’re glad it did because both fighters entertained.

Stephan Bonnar and Krzysztof Soszynski also entertained with Bonner coming out on top thanks to a TKO.

Chris Leben and Yoshihiro Akiyama square off at UFC 116 both looking to prove something.

Leben is the heavy underdog in this fight as he has slowly risen in the ranks of the UFC after getting his start in TUF. A win over Akiyama would help raise his profile.

Akiyama has proven all he can prove fighting in Asia. He wants to reverse the string of failures for Asian fighters in the UFC and prove that they can fight with the best.

Akiyama is listed at -205 in UFC odds while Leben is +165.

Chris Leben talks about his upcoming fight against Yoshihiro Akiyama at UFC 116. Leben likes his chances in this fight because Akiyama likes to fight on his feet and Chris Leben is best on his feet too. He expects his straightforward approach to fighting to give him the advantage before all is done.

Akiyama is the overwhelming UFC betting lines favorite at -205 while Leben is +165.

Light heavyweight Yoshihiro Akiyama faces Chris Leben at UFC 116 after Wanderlei Silva was forced to withdraw due to an injury sustained in training.

Akiyama is heavily favored in UFC 116 lines listed at -205 while Leben is +165.

Yoshihiro Akiyama (13-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) has a background in Judo and Shotokan Karate. He is primarily a submission threat, but has the power to get the knockouts too. His lone UFC victory came against Alan Belcher at UFC 100. The fight was Akiyama’s first fight to go the full three rounds and ended in a split decision. Akiyama won the fight despite suffering a broken orbital bone in the second round.

TUF Season 1 alumnus Chris Leben (20-6 MMA, 10-5 UFC) is trained in Boxing, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Wrestling. Just like the fighter that he is replacing, Wanderlei Silva, Chris Leben is an aggressive fighter. He often gets away with mistakes by employing a very relentless brawling style that doesn’t give opponents time to react. He also has a good chin which also helps. He is primarily a knockout threat and all of his wins against better opposition have come by knockout or TKO. He last fought at the TUF season finale and has less than two weeks between fights.

Akiyama’s fight against Belcher won Fight of the Night and this matchup certainly has the potential to give him his second straight Fight of the Night award.

Leben will likely need a knockout to get a victory. Akiyama should be able to put Leben on the mat where Akiyama enjoys a significant advantage if Leben gets too close. Akiyama is just as dangerous as Leben standing up with space between the two.

Ahead of his UFC 116 matchup with Chris Leben, Yoshihiro Akiyama talks about how he got in to MMA and about getting in to the UFC. He also talks about how Asian fighters have struggled and how he wants to show that Asian’s can compete at the highest levels of mixed martial arts.

Against Chris Leben, Akiyama’s UFC odds are very favorable at -205.

UFC 116 features Brock Lesnar defending his heavyweight title against interim champion Shane Carwin in one of the biggest heavyweight fights in the UFC.

Shane Carwin (4-0 UFC, 12-0 MMA) won the interim belt after defeating Frank Mir at UFC 111. No one has even got past the first round of a fight with Carwin as fighter after fighter gets KOed by the striker or saved by the ref awarding a TKO.

Brock Lesnar (3-1 UFC, 4-1 MMA) is a former professional and amateur wrestler who took the heavyweight title from Randy Couture and then successfully defended it against Frank Mir who had defeated Lesnar in his UFC debut. Lesnar packs plenty of power, but his strength is his speed and grappling ability.

Lesnar is the early UFC 116 odds favorite going in at -175 while Carwin pays +135.

Middleweights Wanderlei Silva and Yoshihiro Akiyama are co-featured on the stacked UFC 116 card.