Akiyama to Return at DREAM 5

According to Sportnavi.yahoo.co.jp, Yoshihiro Akiyama will return to competition at DREAM 5 on July 21. Akiyama will be competing for the first time since facing Kazuo Misaki at the Yarrenoka event on new year's eve. The match. initially declared a KO victory for Misaki, was later changed to a no contest, as it was determined that the kick Misaki used to end the fight was illegal.

No opponent for Akiyama has been announced.

The return of Akiyama in addition to the return of KID Yamamoto add to an already intriguing card, featuring a welterweight title fight between Nick Diaz and Hayato "Mach" Sakurai and the conclusion of DREAM's Lightweight tournament.

The full card, which looks to be one of the strongest of the year, below:

• Yoshihiro Akiyama (10-1-0) v. TBD

• Lightweight Tournament Finale - Participants:

Shinya Aoki (15-2-0) -or- Katsuhiko Nagata (4-2-0)

Eddie Alvarez (14-1-0)

Tatsuya Kawajiri (22-4-2)

Caol Uno (25-10-4)

• Norifumi "KID" Yamamoto (17-1-0) v. Joseph Benavidez (7-0-0)

• Nick Diaz (16-7-0) v. Hayato "Mach" Sakurai (32-8-2) - Welterweight Title Match

HT: Japan MMA