With Chael Sonnen Suspended, Yoshihiro Akiyama Expected to Face Nate Marquardt at UFC 128

A rumored bout between Yoshihiro Akiyama and Chael Sonnen came about right as news broke that Sonnen plead guilty to mortgage fraud.  The next day, Dana White let the world know that Sonnen was temporarily suspended while he gets his legal issues under control.  Now, Nate Marquardt is stepping up to face Akiyama at UFC 128.  

Many have stated that Akiyama would be better suited dropping down from middleweight, and fighting at welterweight.  Akiyama is an undersized middleweight, and would be a very welcome addition to the welterweight ranks, but it appears that this is not happening yet, for some odd reason.  Akiyama has put on two very good fights since getting signed to the UFC, against Alan Belcher and Chris Leben, but one can't help but feel that he would perform even better at 170lbs after watching his performance against Michael Bisping in his most recent fight at UFC 120.

 Nate Marquardt is a very tough fight for anyone in the middleweight division, a loss here may just be what it takes to send Akiyama down a weight class...or get him cut from the UFC.

Photo via Daniel Herbertson, for Sherdog