Shinya Aoki Thinks He's Better Than All The UFC Lightweights

by Kelvin Hunt on Oct 5, 2009 8:15 AM EDT in News Comment 14 comments

Shinya Aoki

For every fight, it simply boils down to my wanting to win, or rather, my dogged determination to win. The belt will follow my victory, so I am focused solely on winning and do not allow myself to be distracted by belt or all the other frivolous stuff…. I am interested in fighting in a cage since a lot of the major promotions hold their fights in the cage nowadays. I am aware that some people raise the question about my viability in the cage — it upsets me whenever I hear them say that I will not succeed fighting in the cage under a different set of rules. I think I will not be beaten by anyone. It is often said that UFC is the pre-eminent force in the MMA world with the best fighters and BJ Penn is number one: (Raising his voice) It does not anger me, but it makes me want to challenge the assertion. I acknowledge their major league status, financial power, the caliber of their fighters, but I do not consider them the number one. I think I am the better fighter and capable of beating their fighters… so yeah, regardless of the opponent, I cannot afford to lose.”

Shinya Aoki(MMA4Real's #4 ranked LW) talks about making the transition from a ring to the cage to prove the doubters wrong. I'd LOVE to see Aoki in the UFC, and even moreso I'd like to see how Aoki would fare without the grappling pants he's allowed to wear while fighting in Japan. What say you? You agree with his sentiments about the UFC fighters?

HT: MMAMania via DREAM Channel

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He could do okay in the UFC, I see him having trouble with some of the bigger wrestlers in the lightweight division…and of course BJ, but like you said, without those pants, he might not fare well

by Charles Walker on Oct 5, 2009 8:20 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Would he even fight at LW?

He was the Shooto 168lb champ after all. While he may be physically larger than some of the UFC LWs, he is badly outclassed in pure strength. I don’t see him doing well against many of the wrestlers and his sub game isn’t the spectacle it is made out to be either. Penn, Florian and Sanchez would all easily nullify his ground game while BJ has a very good chance of pulling off a sub of his own. Aoki would be mid tier at best in the UFC, maybe top 10 if he got lucky.

Just out of pure meanness i’d love to see him fight at WW like he did in Shooto. GSP would rape him like the japanese schoolgirl that he seems to like dressing as.

Some people are like Slinkies... not really good for anything, but you still can't
help but smile when you see one tumble down the stairs...

by villin on Oct 5, 2009 9:27 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

lol

I take it you are not a fan.

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by Kelvin Hunt on Oct 5, 2009 9:52 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I got nothing against the guy, he is just extremely over rated is all.

Some people are like Slinkies... not really good for anything, but you still can't
help but smile when you see one tumble down the stairs...

by villin on Oct 5, 2009 4:27 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

BJ, Florian, Diego, Maynard, Sherk, Stevenson, Guida, Tyson Griffin…. Does anyone believe Aoki would beat ANY of them? They would all outmuscle him and ragdoll him around. Those guys are all so powerful, have better striking and have very good submission defense and in BJ’s case, world class subs of his own.

I hope Hellboy KOs him again.

by cauliflower_ears on Oct 5, 2009 10:33 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

i think aoki would catch some of the guys on the above list in a submission. i’d rate BJ as better on the ground and a stronger finisher/overall mixed martial artist (ala the way he put away stevenson, sherk, and ken-flo), but i don’t think he’d breeze through some of those guys. his stand up and but scooting around would not fly in the ufc. granted, aoki has faced some top tier opposition, i think he wins a lot of the fights he could potentially have in the UFC, but his suspect standup would lead to a KO by some of those guys.

Gatti. Dekkers. Pele. Aoki. Kang. Vanderlei.
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by theworldsoldestsport on Oct 5, 2009 10:39 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Personaly

I think he’s too small for the 155’ers in the UFC…he may be able to catch a couple in a submission…but he would get mauled beforehand…and again…just how good is his sub game without those pants?

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by Kelvin Hunt on Oct 5, 2009 10:51 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

grappling pants to me are the equivilant of the gis

plus the transition to the cage. probably would be competitve outside the top five lw. no disrespect to royce gracie but if you watch some of those early fights he would use the gis to cover opponents eyes for about 1 second but thats all he needed for the submission.

by wolfmanshowlforever on Oct 5, 2009 1:18 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

LMAO

that Royce Gracie statement was funny as hell to me.

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by Kelvin Hunt on Oct 5, 2009 2:01 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

in a good way i hope?

by wolfmanshowlforever on Oct 5, 2009 3:40 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

indeed.

http://www.mmaforreal.com
Follow Me On Twitter@KelvinHunt

by Kelvin Hunt on Oct 5, 2009 4:24 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah, I see Aoki getting beat by a lot of guys in the UFC. He’s got some soul crushing JJ (and some Muay Thai, depending on who you ask), but between his lankyness and lack of standup, I think he’d end up being a high level Nate Diaz.

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by -Neil- on Oct 5, 2009 2:29 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Hahaha

No way. Aoki is great in DREAM, but he’s allowed his mega-Japan-stardom to cloud his ability to judge just how over-matched he would be against BJ Penn. BJ Penn by face smash. Aoki would not stand a chance on the feet, and BJ would be able to keep it there. BJ, no doubt, would take this fight. Diego Sanchez would probably had Aoki’s ass to him as well. I can see Aoki subbing Guida, perhaps… I think he’d have tons of trouble with Ken-Flo, though.

Aoki, take your head out of your fans’ asses and prove it!

by LeonDaLion on Oct 5, 2009 4:42 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs