Shinya Aoki
The final DREAM lightweight champion Shinya Aoki (30-6, 1NC) will step back into the limelight next month, debuting under the ONE Fighting Championship banner in the main event of the upcoming Rise of Kings event.
Aoki is scheduled to face French fighter Arnold Lepont, a man the Japanese fighter knows little about, but can say for certain that “I think he has made a mistake by asking to fight me.”
The two meet on October 6, 2012 in the Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kallang, Singapore on a stacked card featuring three ONE FC title bouts.
Aoki spoke to MMAWeekly.com recently about his upcoming fight.
“I don’t know very much about him and I don’t really care. He says he is a fan but if that is the case then fighting me is a very stupid thing to do, most of my fans want to take a photo with me but he wants to fight me? I find that very strange,” said Aoki.
“I am not a fan of Arnaud Lepont because I don’t know who he is and I think he has made a mistake by asking to fight me.”
“I have fought more than 30 times and every opponent has said the same thing. Before I was mainly a Jiu-Jitsu fighter but Evolve MMA has helped me to change and become an all round MMA fighter,” said Aoki. “I am sure he thinks his standup is better than mine and that he can knock me out but maybe I think the same thing too? My job is just to win but if I could knock out Arnaud Lepont that would also be fun for me.”
Aoki enters the bout on a loss, having been finished by first round TKO by former Bellator champ Eddie Alvarez in their rematch bout. Previous to the defeat, the last DREAM lightweight title holder had won seven straight bouts.
Aoki has been training with the Evolve MMA gym in Singapore, and has been working on improving his striking so fans of the Japanese star could see him knock out Lepont on October 6.