Fletch Blog: Shinya Aoki, Lightweight Greatness and The Deepest Recent Resume In The Sport
Posted on September 10, 2010, 03:36 AM by DanielFletcherHello… hello… it’s good to be back, it’s good to be back! So sang Liam Gallagher in his dulcet tones, back in the heady days of 1995; the year when his band were the biggest around, and the year in which Ken Shamrock ruled the roost in the UFC.
Photos: Esther Lin / AllElbows.com
As with my first piece of prose on LowKick, straight from the annals of http://mmafletch.blogspot.com, this second piece strives to correct the opinions of the misinformed, and it is centred on another MMA legend, who also honed his craft under the glare of the Rising Sun. In this case, it is because this particular fighting champion happens to originate from Japan itself… the man who I feel strongly is the #1 lightweight in the world… The Tobikan Judan, Shinya Aoki.
All rise, for the Rainbow Panted one. I’ll warn you now, kids; plenty of people across the forums have heaped hatred on this man in the most vitriolic way imaginable – he ALWAYS shoves it back down their throats. And this article will explain why.
Pull up a ringside seat, settle down, remove your grubby little hands from below your beltline, and place your hands on your knees like a gentleman. This topic is deserving of your utmost respect – I am here to discuss GREATNESS.
First of all, in order to drum the point home, let me preface my examination of Aoki’s legacy by making what clueless idiots may consider to be a bold statement, and what true fans will likely agree with. And it is as follows:
Shinya Aoki has the deepest resume over the last half decade, in the ENTIRE sport of MMA. Not just at lightweight… in the sport.
Is the hype machine that powerful, that people will not entertain the idea of the man who has toppled champions from nigh on ALL organisations, and beaten more top 10 talent in recent years than ANYONE, even having a chance at beating “the invincible lightweight, BJ Penn? No one gives him a one in ten chance. How sickening, that though the hype was false and BJ just lost twice to an undersized lightweight, that it simply means there is a new guy in the UFC who would “destroy Aoki.”
Insert face palm emoticon. I would bet money on Shinya defeating any fighter below welterweight in MMA, provided the fight occurred in a ring. And yes, that includes the overhyped UFC stars too. Let me explain something – the reason many of the UFC guys who would “destroy Aoki” are even IN the top 10 in the first place, is because Aoki has been knocking the former occupants of those top 10 spots out of the rankings!!!
If there is another fighter in MMA with at least 9 victories over top 10 ranked opponents since 2006, please show him to me. If there is another fighter with a 15-2 divisional record at the highest level (Pride & Dream) that includes 12 top 10 ranked opponents since 2006, then please show him to me.
The thought that Aoki could not potentially snap the limbs of these overhyped UFC superstars is laughable. Melendez neutralising his grappling in the worst performance of Aoki’s career does not mean that Aoki cannot deal with elite, top 10 ranked guys with a boxer-wrestler style – he submitted p4p and elite lightweight Eddie Alvarez in a couple of minutes. Another powerful boxer-wrestler in the top 10, Mizuto Hirota, was pretty much EMBARRASSED by Aoki, who snapped his arm with what is colloquially known here as a “copper lock” (used by policemen) and then added insult to injury by showing him the middle finger salute whilst doing the Gremlin dance. JZ Cavalcante was Hero*s champion, p4p list member and no slouch himself – Aoki soundly decisioned him. And as for Shaolin Ribiero – ANOTHER top ranked lightweight, the master grappler Aoki even put on a striking clinic!
Yet Aoki has “no chance” against Frankie Edgar, Kenny Florian, BJ Penn? These guys “all destroy him in one round?”
Am I literally the only forum poster in the online MMA community with any damn sense anymore? Aoki has the potential to show up and look sloppy if his takedowns are stuffed in a wide cage a la the Gil fight… he also has the potential to embarrass elite opponents, and put them out of action with snapped limbs. Aoki can submit anyone at his weight, and don’t let the propaganda fool you… he is on a divisional tear. Here is why.
Shinya Aoki currently holds a 15-2 win/loss record at lightweight, and a 9-3 ledger at welterweight. I will examine his four-year campaign at lightweight, to explain why this criminally underrated MONSTER of Mixed Martial Arts is quickly compiling what could well become the greatest resume at his weight division both in the sports short history, and for many, many years to come.
After going 7-2 in Shooto’s middleweight division (welterweight in the western world) Aoki began his lightweight odyssey in 2006. The pinnacle of Mixed Martial Arts competition, Pride Fighting Championships snapped up the promising youngster, who despite being undersized at the weight, had won the Shooto middleweight (170lbs) championship, and gone the distance with Japanese MMA O.G. Hayato “Mach” Sakurai. It was a wise decision – a new star was blooded on the big stage, and Aoki won all three of his bouts in Pride. He would of course go on to become a huge star and standard-bearer for the successor of that wonderful, doomed organisation.
Aoki claimed his first big scalp outside of Shooto that year, when on October 14th 2006 he defeated George Sotiropoulos, a man who is still a top ranked fighter with only one other loss in his career. This win may seem on the surface an inauspicious start to lightweight and pound-for-pound greatness, given that it is technically a DQ loss due to the illegal foul committed by George, but still… Aoki had been handsomely outgrappling the overmatched Australian, and it was more than likely he was en route to a submission victory.
A triangle choke win followed some weeks later at Pride Bushido 13, before Aoki came up against another elite fighter – Joachim “Hellboy” Hansen. Now, anyone who knows MMA, in particular the Japanese scene, knows that Hellboy Hansen is a savage. This is a guy who beat prime Takanori Gomi, prime JZ Cavalcante, prime Caol Uno, prime Masakazu Imanari, prime Rumina Sato, had been the Shooto Welterweight champion, and of course was the future Dream Lightweight Grand Prix winner, and thus future Dream Lightweight champion. Hellboy is and was Japanese MMA royalty.
Aoki submitted him via gogoplata in 2:24 of round 1. It is fitting that this event was called Pride: Shockwave, because the victory by gogo over one of the most feared lightweights around sent shockwaves throughout the MMA world. The then 23-year-old Aoki had arrived on the big stage with a bang, and was by now entrenched in the elite rankings. Four years later, there is no sign of him dropping out of them.
Roll on 2007, and Aoki’s tear continued. His record for the year would be 3-0, his best win over Akira Kikuchi – a man who competed in the welterweight division, and held a win over future p4p list entrant and Strikeforce middleweight champion Jake Shields. In the light of 2010, a win over Shields is extremely impressive, but it was a feat he could not manage with Aoki; the Tobikan Judan narrowly, but rightly earned a decision win over the dangerous Kikuchi to defend his old Shooto middleweight championship.
The death of Pride was undoubtedly responsible for the relative lack of activity for Aoki in 2007, but with the emergence of a legitimate successor org to PrideFC in Dream, the Baka Survivor more than compensated in 2008. It would be one of the deepest gauntlets that any fighter has ever run in MMA, with Aoki facing top lightweight competition in a seven-fight murderers row.
First off was former K-1 Hero*s champion JZ Cavalcante, one of MMA’s then brightest stars. Illegal strikes curtailed that first fight – a no contest – but then the rematch resulted in an entertaining grappling exchange between both men… one that Aoki emerged victorious from. This also further advanced Shinya in the Dream Lightweight Grand Prix, the next round of which he successfully navigated with another first round gogoplata win over Katsuhiko Nagata. He was nearing his goal to proving his divisional dominance, and the sub-77kg fighters must have all been looking over their shoulders nervously.
July 21st 2008 was that fateful day. Clouds gathered, blocking out the rays of the Rising Sun, and tumbleweeds gathered in the streets of Tokyo, Nagoya, Yokohama, Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Only in Osaka could the rumble of distant movement be heard, as the people clamoured for tickets for the hottest show in town. It was time for the object of their love and hate to claim his mantle, take his place on the throne that had awaited him since early 2006. It was Aoki’s day.
He faced one of the unluckiest men in MMA, Caol Uno. They went the distance, after a predictably grappling based struggle, and despite Uno surviving a triangle choke attempt in which he came desperately close to losing, he managed only to survive in a losing effort, as all three judged deemed Aoki the winner. The tournament final in sight, Aoki had an impending encounter with either the dangerous Japanese wrestler with KO power, Tatsuya Kawajiri, or the perennial top 10 American Eddie Alvarez.
Disaster struck. His fellow semi-final victor Alvarez was unable to continue to the final in the one-night event, and he was replaced by former Aoki victim Hellboy Hansen. A fired up Hellboy delivered perhaps the best display of a glittering career in J-MMA, as he avenged his earlier loss in style. Aoki suffered his first ever loss at lightweight, and his first loss by technical knockout. Hellboy was the Grand Prix winner, and thus the inaugural Dream Lightweight Champion.
Despite the blip, Aoki pressed on. He got back to winning ways, and secured the Super-fight that fans had been denied at the Grand Prix finals, a bout with Eddie Alvarez that the World Alliance of Mixed Martial Arts saw fit as to put their inaugural lightweight championship at stake in. Removing all doubts that if the Baka Survivor was not THE best lightweight in the sport, that he was still at least in the top 3, Aoki submitted the American after only 1:32 in round 1 with a heel hook. The 25-year-old had added a new belt to his growing collection, and a new name to his ever-growing collection of scalps of elite fighters.
Re-entry into the welterweight division followed, in the desire to try his luck in a second Grand Prix, and Aoki went 1-1 – defeating David Gardner in hilarious fashion after the American was foolish enough to wave at the crowd and shout “Hello Japan”, while the most dangerous Japanese submission artist had his back… and losing in a rematch to the legend, Hayato Sakurai. After this phase, Aoki was back in the saddle at lightweight. In the remainder of 2009, he would defeat FOUR top 10 ranked fighters in a row.
Aoki put on a surprise striking clinic against Vitor “Shaolin” Ribiero at Dream 10, eschewing his master grappling to stifle takedowns and pepper his opponent with kicks. Following this - yet another - ranked win, The "Master of Flying Submissions" (Tobikan Judan) then he got his rubber match against Joachim “Hellboy” Hansen. The Norwegian had been out of action for the previous year since winning the belt, but was still ranked, and had one of the more impressive 19-7 win/loss records that you are going to find in MMA. Aoki removed all doubts, facing him fresh without the wear and tear of a previous bout that night as he had at the Grand Prix finals, and in this third fight he won decisively – securing an armbar with only seconds left in the fight. Shinya Aoki had avenged his sole loss at lightweight, and become the Dream Lightweight Champion. His worth was proven – he was the #1 Lightweight on the planet, with a 13-1 divisional tear to his name. Like Gomi, whose identical 13-1 tear in Pride made his name and legacy, Aoki had now capped such a streak, but one that was to continue.
One thorn stuck in his side. The upstart org in Japan, Sengoku, had a top 10 ranked lightweight as its champion, a man known to all hardcores; Mizuto Hirota. A specially co-promoted show on New Years Eve 2009 may have raised the eyebrows of those concerned that one of Japan’s premier orgs must be in financial difficulties, but fight fans salivated over the prospect of a champion vs. champion bout to determine the TRUE lightweight champion in Japan. Aoki had the resume, the streak, the top 10 ranked scalps in his wins column… and Hirota claimed to have the answers; namely his powerful punches and the grappling that would supposedly neutralise Aoki’s attempts to put the fight in his realm.
It would not transpire quite that way.
Shortly into the fight, Aoki rode the apparently “much stronger man” (aren’t all his opponents meant to be stronger? Isn’t that why “all the UFC guys would destroy him”? Pfft, don’t get me started on that crap). Not only did Aoki ride his back, he did so with only one hand controlling the nonplussed Hirota. One hand waved to the crowd. Then, in a display of savagery, Aoki used the aforementioned “copper-lock” – or “hammer-lock” in puro-resu terms – and grotesquely bent Hirota’s arm in the wrong direction, until the elbow joint visibly snapped. Just to display his superiority over his hated rival, Aoki abandoned the Japanese code of Bushido and Samurai spirit, by breaking into the Goblin dance and flipping Hirota and the booing crowd off.
Aoki seems to have the light and dark in him - a softly spoken, nerdy looking man, he can be petulant, and as he showed against Hirota, has the dark warring with the light within him... the Bushido spirit instilled in the Japanese warrior, and Kehakuma; the devilish tendencies that earned Aoki the wrath of the MMA world, and cost him his place as an instructor at the Paraestra Tokyo Gym.
Regardless, the now 14-1 lightweight was untouched in the MMA world. For all the hate and empty statements thrown at him (he’d get killed in the UFC, etc) there was not one single fighter in the world who could even touch that recent resume. Aoki is to 2006-2009 what Fedor Emelianenko was to 2003-2006, what Igor Vovchanchyn was from 1995-2000, what Frank Shamrock was 1997-1999, and what Ken Shamrock was 1994-1996. Aoki is cut from that cloth. For four years, he cleaned house in his division.
Next up, April 2010, came the single downfall that is used to justify the way Aoki is criminally underrated. The Melendez fight.
*Never mind that Melendez was a pound-for-pound top 3 fighter in the summer of 2007.
*Never mind that Melendez had a TREMENDOUS game plan for Aoki.
*Never mind that Melendez gave the performance of a lifetime.
*Never mind that it was Aoki’s first fight in a cage.
*Never mind that Aoki never came close to being finished.
Despite all this, the Melendez fight is the sole barometer that so many fans use to discredit Aoki with. And that is WRONG.
All I’ll say is this – lets see the rematch in the Dream ring. 15 minutes is a LONG time to avoid getting submitted by Shinya Aoki in the smaller ring, as opposed to the huge cages used in USMMA.
But regardless, Aoki soldiered on and faced his sixth top 10 ranked opponent in a row, his 12th overall in a period of less than five years, and his 9th in less than three years. It would be the dangerous Tatsuya Kawajiri, a former friend of Aoki’s, and a man that fight fans had been clamouring for for years – some say, despite the Aoki/Hirota Super-fight, and the battles between Aoki and Uno, Sakurai and others, that after the post-Pride decline of Takanori Gomi, that THIS was the real fight to decide the #1 lightweight that Japan could field. Aoki vs. Kawajiri, a dream fight for all.
Fans of the Baka Survivor may have been worried that his game was scouted, given the ineffectiveness against Melendez. They need not have feared. Aoki was back to his devastating best, and the fight more resembled Aoki vs. the p4p ranked Bellator champion Eddie Alvarez; Kawajiri was taken down quickly, and submitted via a vicious heel hook. Aoki was back to best.
And that is the story of Shinya Aoki’s career, from 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, and his two fights of 2010. An amazing odyssey, especially for such a young yet cerebral fighter. Even now, Aoki is only 27-years-old, and any true fight fan – love him or hate him – must be wondering about just how much this young fella can achieve. (OK, he is five years older than me, but still – the guy is hardly old). Already boasting one of the deepest resumes in the short history of our sport, this man shows no signs of slowing down, and is just entering the age of his athletic physical prime.
Do not believe “the truth”. Believe the record books, the list of fallen champions, and your own eyes. Tune into Dream, and watch FEG’s lightweight champion. I’m sure my work will be discredited, but in time what I have said will be viewed through the lens of history, with the benefit of retrospect. And I will be vindicated.
It is a pleasure to watch the modern great, Shinya Aoki perform. I only wish that more people actually appreciated that pleasure, instead of being so quick to look for any means of discrediting him, just because the champions he beat did not have “UFC” emblazoned across the 6oz gloves that they were unable to knock Shinya out with.
This man is the real deal, and he has the record to prove it.
I’d like to shout out my forum pahtnah, from Noo Yowk City, Mr Anthony “Bloodstain” Lane, and everyone at our Team Takeover forum. Teamtakeover.forum-express.com… my own blog is mmafletch.blogspot.com
Fletch
http://twitter.com/danielfletcher_
teamtakeover.forum-express.com
Comments
posting in epic comment section
The BEST writers produce non-bias articles and let the readers start the debate. As of now every thread you write attacks the UFC and pushes your bias beliefs. Not much different from a poster looking for a mess, and pleased when it happens.
booo you stink Fletcher.......poopface (an intelligent response is wasted on someone like you Fletcher)
im gonna quote 'fletch' here..
"Propaganda is a terrible thing, and worse still when the ones propagating it are hardly at the level of Dr Josef Goebbels"
so what did u just spend the last god knows how long writing? this is PURE propaganda, your shoving the notion of 'aoki being the greatest' down our throats as much as u claim the ufc does with its fighters, and yet u insult the ufc for doing it? are you physically capable of writing a non-bias article? ill acknowledge aoki is a great LW, but not the BEST LW (an opinion which i feel a lot of ppl share) but according to you im a brain-dead moron for having this opinion...
fletch doesn't have to be the best writer out there. i agree with what he says because it is true that the ufc has the most overhyped fighters in the world. the records clearly show that aoki is an elite mma fighter regardless of weight class and people seem to think that he couldn't do to gray maynard or any other ufc fighter what he's already done to the best of his time. and also pointing out that aoki is still young and may just be reaching his physical prime.
well aoki has certainly shown that he has many times the talent than a gray maynard does no doubt. with a serious resume and many finishes to prove it. what does gray maynard have to his credit?? a few decision wins in ufc and now he's the contender #2 best fighter in ufc??
fletch i think you make a lot of great points, also with your video blog about fedor and all. i agree, most people on these websites who comment drive me f'in mad. keep doing your thing. you obviously are educated and love the sport. i've just come to the conclusion that ufc fans are bigger fans of the show than they are the sport. take away everything that happens outside of and the cage in ufc and all the hype and drama and you have a distaster of lay n pray wrestlers claiming to be the top fighters earning win bonuses by grinding out decisions. the other good exciting fighters have already fought eachother or are stuck waiting for the right opponent to surface. a. silva hasn't had a good challenge since... and the ww and lw divisions are as stale as old bread unless you find something so great about gsp, koscheck, fitch and enter jake shields. there's a lot of top talent outside of ufc. cung le is better than any middleweight ufc has save for anderson and the best matchups in mma are easily the ufc vs strikeforce fighters. which we won't ever get to see. sadly. and instead of the fans reeling behind an effort to see the real superbowl of mma, fans support dana and ufc like they're getting paid to or will recieve some kind of benefits. they run their org like the mob because they are the mob. and they treat the fans like sheep. the ufc and their selfish ppv model is sad. and their attempt to monopolize the mma is illegal and counter-programming is the most childish thing they could do. they're trying to put their competition out of business and deny all those fighters from earning a good paycheck. many of them can get paid more than if they fought in ufc. they do hold the sport in their grip, frank fertitta used to be in the nevada state athletic commission and that's why they can do whatever they want in vegas. like turn the other cheek when your champ and his team devise a plan to specifically smear vaseline on his upper back to prevent bj penn from sliding his leg up his back. he got caught red handed and the ufc mob did nothing about it. gsp is a greasing cheater. josh koscheck has no honor. they promote whatever teenage kids would like to see, wwf style smashing doors and getting in altercations in the hallway calling eachother names. there's a reason why fletch and some others aren't into what the ufc has done with their brand. and it's probably the main reason why ufc won't get sanctioned in new york. because they run their show like its a pro wrestling circus act.
+juan
You mean the one who falls and has NO standup?
Lose the UFC hate man. Aoki is a one dimensional little cry baby who takes his anger out on those hes lucky enough to get to the ground, nor less scootin his ass across the ring after his opponents like a dog wiping his ass.
your 0-2-0 so far my lovely.
Respect to Gomi, Aoki can lick his feet.
another great article mate, Aoki is one of my favourite fighters, but still this proves hes top tier, and all ufc fan boys wont admit it, he is the modern day submission artist, and probably the best grappler to ever come out of Japan at his weight!!!
Anyway keep up the good work Fletch, always enjoy your work : )
http://www.mma-core.com/gifs/_Mach_Sakurai_beats_up_and_makes_Shinya_Aoki_Cry_DR?gid=10000706&tid=100
it's alright to cry, most fights are fought on raw emotion, after frankie edgar lost to gray maynard he broke down in the locker room crying after the fight, so big deal, Aoki is one of the best Period!!!
Aoki would probably sub Edgar maybe florian but penn would destroy him. BTW you forgot **** da police!
Penn would destroy Aoki, but got destroyed by Edgar, but Aoki would sub him? Do you purposely fail to make sense?
great post, but as an Irish man, you know very few of out american friends will get the Blur/Oasis joke?
keep up the good work though
None of the haters in this comment box have proved that Aoki does NOT have the deepest resume in the sport since 2006.
My haters are always so vapid. "Never underestimate the predictability of stupidity".
If any hater can contest my article and point out anyone with a deeper half-decade slate, go ahead... otherwise you're just stupid, mindless, moronic fool slugs with no base to your opinions - you just don't like Aoki. There is no way to reasonably deny his greatness though.
@DanielCassidy, I know mate - but I had a video of the 1996 Brit awards in a fresh tab while I wrote this, and laughed out loud when Liam sang Parklife from the podium.... as "shite-life"... haha, allllll the people!
The "predictability of stupidity" you refer to is knowing what I'm going to see if I open another of your threads.
Nice article. I think Edgars resume is as good as any LW alive now though having beat BJ twice, and the rest on his resume are world class. He beat 4 undefeated fighters and ex LW champs on his way to the UFC title. Maynard may have his number, depends how he handles him 2nd time around, but I accept the point (which many fans seem devoid of the capability these days), that there is top talent outside of the UFC and has been always. Due to the media coverage UFC gets compared with other organisations in the west, many find it unthinkable such talent could exist and build as good a resume outside the UFC.
That said, I don't think Aoki could work his way through the LW division and get the belt. It is brimming with world class fighters, and any given fighter can lose to any given fighter due to the level they are at right now.
OK all done.....Fletcher is family now.
aoki does have the best resume in the sport, regardless of how u feel about him as a fighter no one can argue that
DiabloBlanco how can u say melendez isnt a top fighter because he isnt in the ufc? id put money on him to beat edgar anyday. This is why i hate all these scrubs who have started watching mma after playing ufc on xbox. The ufc does have the majority of the top talent in the world but to say guys outside the ufc cant win the belt is beyond absurd
I think Gilbert is top 10 but he would not beat Edgar. No freaking way.
Good stuff as usual fletch... This is LTF just showing some support. Aoki is one of the most underapreciated fighters in the states and your article helps correct that wrong. Peace bro
as usual along with your pal bloodstain lane you make some good points aoki is one of the most underrated fighters out there. but unfourtantly you lose the message in all the bull s**t that comes afterwards you even go father to discredit yourself when you name anyone that disagrees with you as a moronic slug or feeble minded simpletons. later to my great amusement you even go as far as to say that history shall vindicate and your genius shall finally be reconized. bj penn would most likely beat aoki mainly because aoki has no standup while bj has good hands and excellent takedown defense. my main message to you is grow up and realize that some people are going to have a opinion that differs from yours. this doesnt make the stupid or somehow less informed than you. when you claim that it does it only weakens your arguement and makes you look like a fool
I would like to point a few things;
Aoki is great no doubt about it, but also he is really predictable and one dimensional,he has a better resume than BJ penn but I do not think that proves nothing we will only find out who is better if they ever fight each other, but to say he is not able to compete against top UFC fighter is completely unreal, even when I disagree with the way team takeover deals with the people that does not share their oppinions I do get why they use the term Zuffa-Zombies...
I think him being one dimensional is why he is so great and interesting to watch. Everyone knows what Aoki wants to do but most people still can't stop it.
ill give you a guy with a more impressive resume in the past half decade.
GSP!!! since Jan 2005 hes gone 13-1 only losing to Matt Serra who he ends up TKO'ing in 2008. heres of list of people Gsp has beat in the past 5 years besides his 1-1 record with Serra.
Mayhem Miller
Frank Trigg
Sean Sherk (former champ)
Bj Penn - Twice (former champ)
Matt Hughes - Twice (former champ)
Josh Koscheck
Jon Fitch
Thiago Alves
Dan Hardy
Gsp has beat the most p4p opponents in the past 5 years and has been the UFC WW Champion since 07 Im pretty sure thats arguable enough that GSP has a better resumer then Aoki
how come all of your picks are ufc fighterS? wat about Gomi, Fedor, mousasi, Faber... I disagree with Alves, Trigg and hardy because although he has a solid record he really hasnt beaten any top 10 guys aside from maybe swick.
thats the list of guys GSP has beat not some list of guys i say are better then Aoki. thats everyone GSP has beat in the past 5 years. His Resume of compition
I skipped the first part my bad. I consider GSP the P4P best. The guy is the most complete fighter out there. Great wrestler, great striking, great submissions and he uses all of it not just one aspect.
Damn, hes in the UFC, UFC haters cant take that. My favorite to watch WW is in Strikeforce, I dont simply root for one org, but I know what substance is in each division. Its been an achiles heel to the Japanese fighters to be 3-4 dimensional, usually they specialize in one area more than others. 70% are ground fighters, then you have the few that can bang, Gomi, Sakuraba, Sakurai. Matter of fact watch the Sakurai fight banging the crap out of Aoki.
Haha drive that point Hype!
GSP has an undoubtedly great record, but the murderers row Aoki has faced since 2006 trumps all, in my opinion.
I wont respond to the rest of these hater fools, because they offer NO COUNTER ARGUMENT - ALL they say is "aoki sucks he lost to melendez wah wah" what a set of ****ing idiots. Look at the rest of his resume, and wait until Aoki gets his rematch in the Dream ring. You bunch of tits.
Cheers for the (very few) people for your kind words, I appreciate it. I'll keep writing until my words are spammed across forums the way that the words of Zuffa LLC's PR department and Dana's are!!!!
Enlightenment is knowing Dream's fighters are not the top fighters in the world. Mariuz was DREAM CHAMP got owned in one round. Sakurai did about as crappy and he OWNED the little Japanese boy your infatuated with.
A hyped up record against a bunch of nobodies, theres your COUNTER ARGUMENT.
Damn son..... that is WEAK.
However, Aoki beating Eddie Alvarez in 2mins with ease is not "weak", beating Hellboy Hansen twice is not "weak", embarrassing Hirota is not "weak", embarrassing Kawajiri is not "weak", beating Ribiero is not "weak".... let me stop there.
Beating 9 top10 ranked opponents is amazing, and only Fedor and Nogueira can claim to have done it in recent years (post-2000).
There is YOUR counter-argument.
No one can argue against Aoki's record when the facts are on paper. Go on, admit you're wrong. Don't be scared homie
After all your Aoki ball fondeling, I have to think you like small japanese boys. Seeing your pic, you have no buisness telling someone not to be scared, your a puney wanna be
"I'm a puny wannabe"..... that discredits anything else you will ever say on this website.... I'm a writer, exactly what makes me a "wannabe"... I was quoting Jason Miller for a joke.... you are a typical American MMA fan - ignorant, oozing testosterone, insulting, unintelligent.... I will waste no more time on you, you are beneath me - the lowest common denominator that the UFC has attracted to my beloved sport.
Also, you're wrong with "puny" but lets leave it there - I am above the likes of you.
Typical "American" fan huh? Nice.
Thats YOUR opinion on top opponents. Not MY opinion of top opponents.
Aoki would get owned anywhere near the UFC and exposed as bad as a bias writer. Keep kissing butt on your PAPER champion. Im beginning to think Bloodstail Lane was a step up from your lame "look at his record" crap.
lmao fletch
japanegro, i agree every 1 knows Aoki is a submission machine, and they still watch just to see wat crazy shit he pulls next
Great article, I agree whole heartedly. Aoki is the bizness. He's one of the best MMA has ever seen!!
this article is about lightweight greatness
GSP is welterweight
u wont meet a bigger GSP fan than me
Aoki is the real deal
Aoki is the equivalent od GSP since 05/06
except Aoki likes to wrap in gogoplatas, heelhooks etc
the man is crazy good
heres a direct quote from the article above in bold letters
"Shinya Aoki has the deepest resume over the last half decade, in the ENTIRE sport of MMA. Not just at lightweight… in the sport."
i agree with most of wat u say
but tryin to accuse GSP of greasin go Fuk urself and ur life
just becuz GSP made ur 'beloved' BJ quit like a bitch is no reason to accuse him of that
most real fans will know any time Bitch J gets beat he always makes excuses 1st edgar fight for example
then frankie totally dominates him in the 2nd fight
BJ;s worst problem is himself thinkin hes better than every 1
he needs to be more 'down to earth'
and realise 'HE' needs to evolve his game
his next fight should speak volumes regardless
and I hope the UFC dont feed him a win
hey Crippla, does your name have anything to do with Chris "The Crippler" Leben?
If we were to go by unbiased rankings aoki would be ranked around number 5.
I need to find more than one site though that goes by actual unbiased rankings. Some claim they are but really are not!
Once again, nice article. It is always nice to get new writers to write stuff instead of the same people every time. Very refreshing.
I want my three minutes back.
Another highly informative article that goes against most of the articles that indoctrinated zuffa fans read and mma 'journalists' write. Not only does aoki's resume speak volumes but watching how he does it, is astonishing.
Some good observations in this article, with some unfortunately rudimentary and pathetic arguments whining against it. Hopefully this article will serve to counter the zuffa hype machine and alter some of the perceptions held by the indoctrinated and less intelligible posters on here.
Looking forward to the next topic covered by fletch!
YOU DRIVE ME CRAZY TEAM TEAKEOVER!!!!! STOP WITH THE BIASED ITS TOTALLY SICKONING! your not an analyst because you let your personal feelings and your team takeover cult overshadow any logical opinon you might have. ayoki lost to melendez.. therefore hes not the better fighter lol.
that is logic that no amount of swear words and long paragraphs can counter.
lemme just put this simply if aoki was the best lightweight then he'd be able to fight in a ring or a cage
n plus ufc is the best so fuk all u zuffa haters