Prospect in the Spotlight (Aug 7-8): Kyoma Akimoto

Introduction

Tuesday, August 11th, Japanese featherweight prospect Kyoma Akimoto will be in action for Rizin, where he will be looking continue his winning ways against Kleber Koike Erbst. He will be looking for another win, as Akimoto looks to inch closer to a UFC. He represents Japan Top Team, a solid camp in MMA. Let’s take a closer look at this prospect as this week’s “Prospect Spotlight.”

Strengths

Kickboxing: Akimoto is a brutal kickboxer who combines impressive technical prowess with nasty stopping power, which has led to seven wins by knockout in his career. If you go through his tape, you can see a strong kickboxing base and background, where he uses all the tools on the feet with brutal kicks, nasty knees and powerful punches. He is coming off a highlight-reel finish of former Bellator champ and UFC vet Patrick Mix, who he blasted with his hands before soccer kicking him into oblivion.

Strength of Schedule vs. Age: Akimoto is just 20 years old, making him a true blue-chip prospect in mixed martial arts. To this point, this 20-year-old has taken on some experienced opponents and some reputable opponents as well. In addition to Mix, Akimoto has fought three 30-fight vets in victories, and his lone loss came to 50-figth vet Yuki Motoya when he was just 18.

Needs Improvement

Counter-Wrestling: Akimoto has minimal tape when it comes to meat-and-potatoes wrestlers, but his loss to Motoya, who was likely the best wrestler outside of Mix that he’s faced, was when we saw the only real hole in his game right now. As he moves up in competition level, he’s going to have to face wrestlers and guys who will look to take him down from bell to bell.

Outlook

Future Contender: As mentioned, Akimoto is just 20 years old and already this good. That means he has a very bright future and could be a guy that contends in the UFC. Right now, he’s a key player for a Rizin promotion that has some very promising fighters like Razhabali Shaydullaev and Karshyga Dautbek. He takes on yet another experienced veteran and former Rizin contender Kleber Koike Erbst here, who presents a real challenge to Akimoto. If he gets by Erbst, Akimoto needs to explore his route to the UFC unless he has fights left on his Rizin contract.