Filed under: DREAM, Strikeforce, News, Japan
Two of the fighters who lost lopsided decisions on April’s Strikeforce card on CBS bounced back with impressive victories Saturday at Dream 15 in Saitama, Japan.
In the main event, Dream lightweight champion Shinya Aoki submitted Tatsuya Kawajiri to retain his title, looking as good as he ever has three months after looking as bad as he ever had in a loss to Gilbert Melendez.
Aoki, wearing board shorts rather than his trademark spandex grappling pants, immediately took the fight to the ground and went for one of his signature foot lock submissions, twisting and turning Kawajiri’s leg for a full minute on the ground before Kawajiri finally had to tap out. There was nothing more to it than that, as Aoki — Japan’s biggest MMA star — did exactly what he wanted to do.