Wanderlei Silva and Yoshihiro Akiyama Set To Battle At UFC 116

From Fighters Only Magazine:

Wanderlei Silva’s birthday gift is all set - a July 3rd fight with Yoshihiro Akiyama at the Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas, Fighters Only can reveal. Silva was born on July 3rd 1976, which means he will turn 34 on the night he faces the Japanese-Korean judo stylist.

It has long been rumoured that Silva’s next opponent would be Akiyama. The two were originally thought to be meeting at UFC 110 before Silva-Bisping was made and UFC president Dana White said after that event that Silva would probably fight Akiyama next.

But the date was not set until recently. One of the fighters has signed and returned his bout agreements and the other is expected to be returned this week, making the clash official for UFC 116. The event will also see the return of UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar, who will face the winner of the Shane Carwin/Frank Mir fight that takes place at UFC 111 this weekend.

So the long rumored bout between Akiyama and Silva is set for one of the biggest cards of the year.  It would seem that the winner would be close to a shot at Anderson Silva's middleweight championship.  With Demian Maia getting the next shot at the title thanks to an injured Vitor Belfort and Chael Sonnen positioning himself for a shot in the near future I would think that the Silva/Akiyama winner is one win away from getting his shot.

Early odds on the fight should probably be somewhere around even to slightly favoring Wanderlei.