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The intense bad blood and epic battle between Yoshihiro Akiyama and former ONE lightweight MMA world champion Shinya Aoki seems to come straight from an action-packed anime film.
The two Japanese MMA legends put on a dramatic rivalry that lasted a staggering 14 years, culminating in a heart-stopping conclusion at ONE X last year.
It was one of the most memorable bouts in the historic ONE X event. Akiyama had to fend off a frightening submission attempt in the first round and came back to knock Aoki out in the second frame.
ONE Championship posted a throwback video of the fight and its pre-fight build-up on YouTube:
"Relive the intense mixed martial arts grudge match between Japanese rivals Yoshihiro Akiyama and Shinya Aoki in 2022!"
If this rivalry was an anime series on Netflix, we'd definitely binge-watch. Aoki has a villainous, baritone and almost broken voice that reminds us of the most compelling anime villains of all time. Yoshihiro Akiyama, on the other hand, has the face, hair, and physique of every hero in any anime ever.
The two comfortably took the villain and hero roles in the build-up, as well. Aoki took on the bad guy persona and threw all kinds of trash talk towards 'Sexyama'. Yoshihiro Akiyama managed to keep his cool and never stooped down to the level of beef Aoki was trying to pull him to.
In the bout, Aoki nearly ended things in one-sided fashion when he took Akiyama's back early. 'Sexyama' had to harness all his mental fortitude to keep his concentration and avoid getting choked out by the human backpack that was 'Tobikan Judan'.
After surviving what most couldn't survive against Aoki, Akiyama came back with a vengeance in round two and swiftly knocked his rival out shortly after the bell rang. It was one of the greatest comebacks in ONE Championship history and a culmination of one of the most memorable rivalries in Japanese MMA.
