Shinya Aoki on his way to Strikeforce, possible for early 2010
Following the recent acquisition of DREAM welterweight champion Marius Zaromskis, it now appears as though the most recent fighter on his way over to Strikeforce could very well be the Japanese promotion’s lightweight champion.
Shinya Aoki is widely regarded to be among the very best lightweights in the business, and Strikeforce is aiming to bring him stateside in early 2010.
“He’s fought for Dream and we’re hoping he’s one of the guys that we can bring over to our stable in the first quarter,” said Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker during a recent conversation with Sherdog.com.
Coker went on to name Josh Thomson and Gilbert Melendez as possible opponents for the “Tobikan Judan” if and when he makes the trip to Strikeforce.
Be on the lookout for Shinya at tomorrow evening’s “Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Rogers” card, as the submission specialist is expected to be in attendance.
Cory Brady is the managing editor of FiveOuncesOfPain.com, along with being a regular feature writer with Ultimate MMA Magazine. You can follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/corybrady
| All posts by Cory Brady
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Well-Done.
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I thought Thompsen had to fight Melendez first, you cant have Aoki fight Melendez for the interim title if Josh is healthy. I would like to see SF put him in there with a good wrestler, maybe Beerholm or the winner of tonights main event, then let Aoki fight Thompsen or Melendez.
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personally i wanna see Josh have a tune up fight or two, he’s been out a long long time, and Gilbert is one of the best fighters out there at 155.
chuffed to see Aoki get more limelight
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I would agree with you Hindsight but Josh has said in few interviews that he wants no part of atuneup and wants Melendez as soon as possible. I tend to agree with you though man that he should take a tune up first.
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Smart move on Aoki’s part. He’s a great LW, but it’s best to take a dip in the shallow water and get his name out to the US audience, as opposed to jumping straight to the deep end of the UFC’s LW division and end up killing any marketability he could have over here.
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StrikeForce is becoming very strong. Look for a few more surprises in the near future as far as new signings go for SF. I can feel a few more shocks coming like the that of the Fedor signing.
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This is a very smart move to come in like a previous post said to test the water. There are some game opponents that definitely I see having a chance to beat aoki because of his lack of stand up skills. I personally am tired of his hype train in Japan and being ranked so high like much other lightweights over there and wouldn’t be suprised if he gets beat by Thomson or Melendez slowing the train down. I’m not hoping that happens, but I would be tempted to bet against him if he fought either. Prove me wrong Aoki and go to the UFC and deserve your number 3 or 2 or whatever all these sites have him ranked at.
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Oh man, I can’t wait to see this guy fight in America if he indeed does come over. If judo and jiu jitsu made an energetic little baby, its name would be Shinya Aoki.
I don’t know how well he would fair against some bigger, stronger wrestlers, but as a big fan of his, I hope he’d be able to get some momentum behind himself.
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I cant wait!!!! I hope this happens
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yoohoo Shinya, Fedor, Gegard, (looks like Hendo), I’d think you guys were a lot cooler if you came to the UFC!
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Aoki is generally considered by most rankings to be somewhere between 2-5 in the LW rankings. I tend to agree more with the recent 5oz rankings that had him at 8, so here are his options
If Aoki comes to Strikeforce he can fight consensus top 20 guys like Thompson, and Melendez, and and up an coming prospect like Beerholm.
If Aoki goes to UFC he can fight consensus top 10 guys like BJ, Florian, Maynard, Sanchez, Edgar.
I’d rather see him earn his top 10 ranking against guys generally considered to be top 10.
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Woooow this is great..
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From the looks of that picture he could cut to 135 easily. I know he’s done well at 55, but damn, he’s skinny
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Great acquisition by Strikeforce, and a good org. for Aoki since he won’t have to deal with elbow strikes from fighters in his guard. If he had to defend those, he’d be screwed, and that’s why I wouldn’t expect to see him in the UFC ever. That having been said, he’s in for a brutal awakening. He has great submissions, but his prior loss to Hell Boy proves he can be ko’d. And he won’t have a Japanese ref, who have been protective of him in the past. I have serious doubts about his ability to handle the top-tier strikers. I’m definitely going to enjoy watching the fights!
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He needs to stop calling out Bj Penn if he’s going to sign with srikeforce.Personally i dont think he would even get by Florian.You got to have more than a submission game if you’re gonna compete with tops in the UFC just ask Maia.I would like to see Aoki vs Nate Diaz but he’ll probably play it safe and stay away from the hellbows not allowed in strikeforce.
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big signings for SF but disappointing to me as an mma fan ironically because they’re not fighting the best. Shinya Aoki calls out BJ Penn, then goes to SF. Ha. People are absolutely delusional if they think shinya aoki has even a decent chance against top tier ufc LW’s, never mind Penn. This isnt dream where you take sloppy strikes to secure a third round submission, BJ Penn would have Aoki beaten to a bloody pulp while avoiding every takedown and sub. Get real, talk is cheap.
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Yet he has rarely fought any of the other top 5.
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Says you Honor. You should open your mind to the possibility that UFC does not have all the best fighters. Aoki is a great fighter and Strikeforce is becoming a contender. Get used to it.
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lol, calm down, I dont think the ufc has the best by rule, I just think aoki would get slaughtered by penn, sanchez, florian, etc, its not my fault they fight under the ufc banner. But if rationalizing my opinions to simplistic views helps you cope with life, go for it.
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