Jake Shields Welcomes Yoshihiro Akiyama to Welterweight at UFC 144

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On Monday, it was announced a welterweight shootout between Jake Shields (Pictured) and Yoshihiro Akiyama will go down at UFC 144 in Japan.

Shields owns an impressive 26-6-1 professional mark, but lost in his most recent outing to Jake Ellenberger at “UFC Fight Night 25.” The former Strikeforce middleweight champion made the difficult decision to remain in the bout after the passing of his father, Jack.

Akiyama owns a 13-4 (2 NC) record and was last seen getting put to sleep by Vitor Belfort at UFC 133 in August. After losing his third straight scrap, the judoka standout decided to drop to the 170-pound weight class and completely redefine his body.

The Saitama Super Arena in Saitama will host the February 26th festivities.

No word from the UFC on how the show will be made available for viewing.

Here are the athletes slated to appear in the Orient:

Jake Shields vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama

Ben Henderson vs. Frankie Edgar (UFC Lightweight Champion)