(Will one of these two men find themselves unemployed with a loss against the other?)

The UFC has added a second bout to its return to Japan on February 26 for UFC 144.

According to UFC president Dana White, joining a main event lightweight championship bout between Frankie Edgar and Benson Henderson on the card will be a welterweight showdown between former Strikeforce middleweight champion Jake Shields and Japanese fan favorite Yoshihiro Akiyama, who will be make his 170-lb debut that night.

(You won, Dude! Oh, wait…)

So it took almost a month, but the verdict is now in for the December 31st bout between Yoshihiro Akiyama and Kazuo Misaki. The fight was at the New Year’s Eve Yarennoka event which ended with Akiyama being knocked out by a kick to the face from Misaki as Yoshihiro was trying to get to his feet. After the fight, Lady Controversy reared her head as to whether the kick was legal or not.

It wasn’t.

After Akiyama submitted a formal protest, the Yarennoka executive committee – headed by Keiichi Sasahara – reviewed the fight. After the review, a “no contest” was entered and Misaki’s win was erased from the records.

In the headlining match at yesterday’s K-1 HERO’s Korea event in Seoul, Yoshihiro Akiyama proved that he had no ring rust from his 10-month lubrication-related suspension. Though he was generally considered an underdog in his matchup against Denis Kang — an American Top Team member who had gone 20-1-1 with one no contest in his last 23 fights — Akiyama looked razor-sharp once he settled in, busting Kang’s nose with a jab and stalking his opponent until he connected with a right uppercut that put Kang’s lights out. Check out 6:22-6:24 — that nose isn’t so much broken as exploded.