(Quit faking it, girl.  We all know books aren’t funny.)

Some big changes in Yoshihiro Akiyama’s life lately.  First he signs with the UFC and holds press conferences in both Japan and Korea to trumpet the move, but he also just got married to Japanese supermodel Shiho Yano, commonly known in her home country simply as “Shiho” or “Charismatic Shiho.”  

According to the Korea Times, Shiho said of the union, “I’m comfortable to be with Akiyama.  I’m grateful I met him.”  Awwww.  Isn’t that…sort of nice.

Akiyama, who is rumored to be making his Octagon debut at UFC 100 this summer, possibly against Dream fighter-slayer Alan Belcher, joins a long and storied list of famous pro athletes who marry supermodels.  Naturally, upon hearing the news, we rushed right out onto the information superhighway to find arousing photos of Akiyama’s new wife.  The results were somewhat disappointing.  Apparently in Japan they don’t require their models to strip down the way we do, which is their loss.  Someone should tell them that chicks who want to get rich and famous off their looks will do almost anything. 

(We love a woman who loves to party.)

- One man who won’t be sorry to see California State Athletic Commissioner Armando Garcia go is Sean Sherk, who still feels like he got a raw deal on his steroid case thanks to Garcia and his bungling of the appeals process. Sherk told MMA Rated that he “knew the guy had some issues” that would lead to his eventual removal, and now Sherk’s “glad to see that is finally taking place.” The sad irony is that it most likely wasn’t Garcia’s incompetence that got him in trouble so much as his ill-fated inter-office romance.

- Guess which over-stimulated, hyperbolic UFC announcer will be celebrating his 100th broadcast at UFC 91 on Saturday night? Did you guess Mike Goldberg? Damn, you’re good. UFC.com has an interesting article that looks at how Goldie went from some dude in front of a microphone who knew nothing about MMA to some dude in front of a microphone who is at least better than Mauro Ranallo. The best part of the article is hearing it all straight from Goldberg, who apparently loves mixing metaphors even when he’s not working. On why he stuck with the UFC even after the WWE made him a lucrative offer:

I can equate it to maybe playing for the Cincinnati Bengals and being 3-13 and 4-12, and finally you think you’ve got a team that might make it to the postseason. Do you bail and go to the Patriots or 49ers at that point, or do you say ‘the ship is sailing and is about to find a really cool island – do I want to jump off that ship now or see where it’s gonna land?’

Wait, are we still talking about the UFC?

Props to TheSun, Sherdog, MMAWeekly, and UFC.com. If you missed Saturday’s liveblog, click here.