Akiyo Nishiura

After compiling a record of 9-3-1 in organizations such as Shooto and Cage Force, Nishiura made his promotional debut with DREAM on March 8, 2009 against Abel Cullum at DREAM 7 in the opening round of the Featherweight Grand Prix, where he lost via unanimous decision. He returned at DREAM 14 in May 2010 and was able to cause an upset by defeating Hideo Tokoro via technical knockout within the first round.

In his next fight at DREAM 16, he faced Mitsuhiro Ishida. Ishida worked frequent takedowns almost exclusively in favor of striking for the 15-minute affair, though Nishiura was able to regain his feet quickly each time. In the second frame, Ishida was able to gain mount, but it was Nishiura who drew first blood with a successful sprawl in the final moments that led to a barrage of hammerfists to his opponent's face. It wasn't enough to sway the judges, who awarded Ishida a split decision win.

In June 2015, Nishiura was announced as one of the eight featherweights competing on Road to UFC: Japan, a show in the style of The Ultimate Fighter. On the show he was scheduled to face Hiroto Uesako in the quarterfinals but Uesako had a hand injury. He was replaced by Hiroyuki Oshiro and Nishiura won the fight by TKO in the first round. He then faced Teruto Ishihara in the semifinals and lost by decision.

On December 31, 2010, he made his kickboxing debut on the annual New Year's Eve event Dynamite!! against K-1 veteran Tetsuya Yamato. After three rounds, the bout was scored as a draw.

Nishiura entered the 2013 –65 kg S-Cup held at Shoot Boxing Battle Summit Ground Zero Tokyo 2013 in Tokyo, Japan on November 15, 2013. After defeating Masaya by unanimous decision in the quarter-finals, he then faced fellow mixed martial artist Michihiro Omigawa in the semis. The fight was ruled a majority draw after the regulation three rounds and so went to an extension round to produce a winner, after which Omigawa was given the nod by all three judges.[1][2]