[VIDEO] Why you should never attempt to prank MMA legend Yoshihiro Akiyama
Note: Akiyama portion begins at 5:12
Yoshihiro Akiyama is many things: A former UFC fighter with three “Fight of the Night" awards, a K-1 HERO’s light heavyweight Grand Prix champion, a music video star and a the unofficial winner of Korea’s Next Top Model ten years running. But if there’s one thing “Sexyama” ain’t, it’s a bitch.
It seems like a fairly obvious connection to make – that a man who fought such MMA legends as Vitor Belfort, Kazushi Sakuraba, and Melvin Mahoef would not scare easily – but one that was apparently overlooked by the members of a Japanese game show who attempted to scare Akiyama with the classic “ghost in the elevator” prank recently.
After getting Akiyama alone in what I can only assume is the world’s largest elevator, the game show puppeteers kill the lights and send their ghost in to do his thing. This is their first mistake. While previous versions of this prank often involve a little girl, the Japanese version opted to have a grown ass man charge through the elevator walls and directly at Akiyama.
Believe it or not, a highly decorated judoka and 20 fight MMA veteran didn’t exactly piss his pants when dealing with the prospect of an old man covered in face paint attacking him, and proceeded to send prankster crashing to the floor with a simple yet incredibly painful looking shove. Basically, it’s that classic “Halloween Prank” clip we’ve all seen, but with a professional fighter swapped in as the “victim.”
The lesson: Don’t prank someone who can kill you with their bare hands.