Announced as a participant on the upcoming DREAM.17: Fight for Japan event at the end of May, DREAM lightweight champ Shinya Aoki (27-5, 1NC) now has an opponent for the event.
Meeting the Japanese champ on his home turf will be Brazilian fighter Willamy “Chiquerim” Friere (17-4). MMAWeekly.com reported the news after learning of the bout from sources close to the negotiations. No word was given on if Aoki would be putting up his title or not.
DREAM.17 is set to take place on May 29 at the Saitama Super Arena Hall in Saitama, Japan. The event features the Bantamweight Japan Grand Prix Tournament, with eight participants taking part. The top three will be chosen to participate in the DREAM’s fall World Bantamweight Grand Prix Tournament.
Aoki recently earned his third straight mma victory earlier this month by submitting Lyle Beerbohm at the April 9 Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Daley event. It was Aoki’s second fight on U.S. soil and the quick first round submission helped him erase a loss to Gilbert Melendez one year ago in Nashville. Before this months win, the Japanese champ fought on New Years Eve in a mixed rules bout against Yuichiro Nagashima and was knocked out in the opening seconds of the second round.
Freire made his UFC debut in his last bout, losing a unanimous decision to Waylon Lowe at January’s UFC: Fight for the Troops 2 event. “Chiquerim” was released by the UFC after the loss, which also ended an eleven bout win streak for the Brazilian. Before moving to the UFC, Freire was the former Shooto 154 lbs champion, which he defended once then vacated to join the UFC.