(Photo courtesy of fightsport.fr)

The UFC’s most epic event of the year isn’t really the time or place to trot out unfamiliar faces from regional leagues. And so we have another lonely edition of The New Guys, with only one fighter on the UFC 100 lineup who’s never competed in the UFC before. The good news is, he’s one of Japan’s biggest MMA superstars, and could make a serious dent in the UFC’s rising middleweight division. So without further ado…

YOSHIHIRO AKIYAMA (MW)
?Experience: 12-1 record with 2 no-contests (10 wins by first-round stoppage), with multiple appearances in K-1 HERO’s, K-1 Dynamite!!, and DREAM. Holds notable victories over Denis Kang, Melvin Manhoef, and Kestutis Smirnovas. His only official loss came in his second MMA match against heavyweight kickboxer Jerome LeBanner, who significantly outweighed him. Akiyama most recently defeated Masanori Tonooka via armbar at DREAM.6 last September.

Will be fighting: Alan Belcher (14-5, 5-3 UFC)

Unlike recent UFC events that have featured a horde of fresh talent, there’s only going to be one unfamiliar face at UFC 98 later this month: King of the Cage heavyweight champion Tim "The Thrashing Machine" Hague, who will be appearing on the "Evans vs. Machida" undercard against leg-kick-artist Pat Barry. A native of Edmonton, Hague has built up a 9-1 record, with seven wins by stoppage within the first two rounds, and notable victories over Ruben "Warpath" Villareal and Sherman Pendergarst. He most recently competed at a Raw Combat event last October, where he avenged his sole career loss to Miodrag Petkovic. He’s also strong as hell. But judging from the above highlight reel — which actually shows Hague getting his ass kicked for the first 48 seconds — could he be too unseasoned to make an impression in the UFC?