Tag: Aoki Shinya

Shinya Aoki and Andrei Arlovski Grace ONE Fighting Championship Manila Presser

ONE Fighting Championship held a press conference yesterday at the Discovery Hotel in Pasig City, Metro Manila, Philippines for its ONE FC: Pride of a Nation, presenting internationally renowned fighters Shinya Aoki, Andrei Arlovski, Bibiano Fernandes,…

ONE Fighting Championship held a press conference yesterday at the Discovery Hotel in Pasig City, Metro Manila, Philippines for its ONE FC: Pride of a Nation, presenting internationally renowned fighters Shinya Aoki, Andrei Arlovski, Bibiano Fernandes, Gustavo Falciroli, Eduard “The Landslide” Folayang and Eric “The Natural” Kelly.

ONE FC CEO and owner Victor Cui—who shared to the media that his parents are Filipinos from the Southern province of Cebu—proclaimed that for the Singapore-based MMA company’s Philippine debut,

We have put together the greatest card in ONE FC history for our Manila event. When you put Shinya Aoki and Bibiano Fernandes  on the same card, one can expect nothing less than an epic night of world-class MMA action like Manila has never seen before…We are beyond excited to hold this incredible card in such a passionate and pride driven city.

For the Filipino fight fans, the main event of “Asia’s largest MMA organization” pits DREAM Bantamweight Champion Bibiano Fernandes against CFC Australia Champion Gustavo Falciroli, with the venue being the historic SMART Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City. (The Araneta Coliseum also hosted the legendary boxing event “Thrilla in Manila” between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier in 1975, among other important sporting and non-sporting events in the nation’s history.)

In the other matches, former UFC heavyweight champion Arlovski will face rising star Soa Palelei of Australia. Another past UFC champion, Jens Pulver, will face undefeated Filipino fighter Eric Kelly.

Aoki and popular hometown fighter Folayang so far have unnamed opponents, which Cui said will be announced soon.

 

Clearly still the most world-famous fighters in the card, Aoki, Pulver and Arlovski aim to impress the Filipino fans with emphatic wins in their debut in Manny Pacquiao’s home country.

DREAM Lightweight Champion Aoki looks to rebound from his TKO loss in his last fight, against Eddie Alvarez in Bellator 66 last April. (Negotiations are still ongoing for a possible fight between Aoki and Kazushi Sakuraba, according to the Tobikan Judan’s interpreter.)

Little Evil Pulver wants to make it a two-fight winning streak, after winning his last match, at flyweight, last April.

Arlovski is currently running high on two consecutive knockout wins versus Ray Lopez and Travis Fulton, respectively, both in ProElite fights.

The Pit Bull commits not to repeat his folly versus legend Fedor Emelianenko, who knocked him out three years ago during their Affliction main event after he attempted an ill-timed flying knee. He vows,

I’m not going to jump again like I did to Fedor. I lost a lot of money. I learned from those fights.

The former UFC heavyweight titlist was the wackiest in the press conference, even imitating Gerard Butler’s King Leonidas character in the action movie “300” (when told by a reporter that they look alike) by extending his arms laterally and shouting, “This is Sparta!“

And this is ONE FC.

 

Note: The ONE FC organizers advise MMA fans who plan to watch One FC: Pride of a Nation live to purchase tickets at TicketNet Philippines as early as possible to avoid the precedent in Indonesia, when there were fans who were not able to get inside the jam-packed fight venue of its Battle of Heroes event, after the tickets were sold out.

This upcoming event will be shown via live stream at www.onefc.com, at delayed telecast on ESPN Star Sports and local Philippine TV’s Channel 13 AKTV, which will run a series of build-up episodes beginning August 19.

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Shinya Aoki and Andrei Arlovski Grace ONE Fighting Championship Manila Presser

ONE Fighting Championship held a press conference yesterday at the Discovery Hotel in Pasig City, Metro Manila, Philippines for its ONE FC: Pride of a Nation, presenting internationally renowned fighters Shinya Aoki, Andrei Arlovski, Bibiano Fernandes,…

ONE Fighting Championship held a press conference yesterday at the Discovery Hotel in Pasig City, Metro Manila, Philippines for its ONE FC: Pride of a Nation, presenting internationally renowned fighters Shinya Aoki, Andrei Arlovski, Bibiano Fernandes, Gustavo Falciroli, Eduard “The Landslide” Folayang and Eric “The Natural” Kelly.

ONE FC CEO and owner Victor Cui—who shared to the media that his parents are Filipinos from the Southern province of Cebu—proclaimed that for the Singapore-based MMA company’s Philippine debut,

We have put together the greatest card in ONE FC history for our Manila event. When you put Shinya Aoki and Bibiano Fernandes  on the same card, one can expect nothing less than an epic night of world-class MMA action like Manila has never seen before…We are beyond excited to hold this incredible card in such a passionate and pride driven city.

For the Filipino fight fans, the main event of “Asia’s largest MMA organization” pits DREAM Bantamweight Champion Bibiano Fernandes against CFC Australia Champion Gustavo Falciroli, with the venue being the historic SMART Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City. (The Araneta Coliseum also hosted the legendary boxing event “Thrilla in Manila” between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier in 1975, among other important sporting and non-sporting events in the nation’s history.)

In the other matches, former UFC heavyweight champion Arlovski will face Soa Palelei of Australia. Another past UFC champion, Jens “Lil Evil” Pulver, will face undefeated Filipino fighter Eric Kelly.

Aoki and popular hometown fighter Folayang so far have unnamed opponents, which Cui said will be announced soon.

Clearly still the most world-famous fighters in the card, Aoki, Pulver and Arlovski aim to impress the Filipino fans with emphatic wins in their debut in Manny Pacquiao’s home country.

DREAM Lightweight Champion Aoki looks to rebound from his TKO loss in his last fight, against Eddie Alvarez in Bellator 66 last April. (Negotiations are still ongoing for a possible fight between Aoki and Kazushi Sakuraba, according to the Tobikan Judan’s interpreter.)

Little Evil Pulver wants to make it a two-fight winning streak, after winning his last match, at flyweight, last April.

Arlovski is currently running high on two consecutive knockout wins versus Ray Lopez and Travis Fulton, respectively, both in ProElite fights.

The Pit Bull commits not to repeat his folly versus legend Fedor Emelianenko, who knocked him out three years ago during their Affliction main event after he attempted an ill-timed flying knee. He vows,

I’m not going to jump again like I did to Fedor. I lost a lot of money. I learned from those fights.

 

Note: The ONE FC organizers advise MMA fans who plan to watch One FC: Pride of a Nation live to purchase tickets at TicketNet Philippines as early as possible to avoid the precedent in Indonesia, when there were fans who were not able to get inside the jam-packed fight venue of its Battle of Heroes event, after the tickets were sold out.

This upcoming event will be shown via live stream at www.onefc.com, at delayed telecast on ESPN Star Sports and local Philippine TV’s Channel 13 AKTV, which will run a series of build-up episodes beginning August 19.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

1 FC Signs 2 Former DREAM Stars in Bibiano Fernandes and Shinya Aoki

One FC is quickly becoming the premier MMA organization in Asia. Home to MMA stars like Renato “Babalu” Sobral and Roger Huerta, the promotion announced a pair of signings to help bolster their ranks. Perhaps their biggest signing to date, top ranked b…

One FC is quickly becoming the premier MMA organization in Asia. Home to MMA stars like Renato “Babalu” Sobral and Roger Huerta, the promotion announced a pair of signings to help bolster their ranks.

Perhaps their biggest signing to date, top ranked bantamweight Bibiano Fernandes chose to sign with One FC over the UFC. The last DREAM bantamweight title holder was believed to be competing at UFC 149 but a strange turn of events have led to Fernandes signing with One FC.

“One FC said that he has officially signed with them and will debut at an August 31 show in Manila, Philippines.” (MMAFighting.com)

Fernandes has won 10 of his last 11 bouts and is widely considered to be one of the best fighters competing outside the Octagon.

The promotion wasn’t done signing top talent it seems as they’ve added another talented fighter to their ranks. MMA-Japan has announced that Japanese superstar Shinya Aoki has inked a deal with One FC as well.

“The Japanese superstar is signing with the promotion either today or tomorrow and will headline the event in Manila later this summer.” (MMA-Japan)

Aoki became an international sensation while competing overseas due to his submission victories and vaunted jiu-jitsu game. His travels to America haven’t fared well with losses to Gilbert Melendez and Eddie Alvarez.

Prior to the loss against Alvarez, Aoki had won seven straight fights.

Neither Aoki or Fernandes has had an opponent named for their One FC debuts.

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Bibiano Fernandes and Shinya Aoki Sign for ONE FC: Possible Opponents for Debut

On Thursday, ONE Fighting Championship (ONE FC) proudly announced the signing of Dream bantamweight champion Bibiano Fernandes and lightweight champion Shinya Aoki. Both fighters were standouts from Dream and were the last champions in their respective…

On Thursday, ONE Fighting Championship (ONE FC) proudly announced the signing of Dream bantamweight champion Bibiano Fernandes and lightweight champion Shinya Aoki. Both fighters were standouts from Dream and were the last champions in their respective weight classes.

We take a look at possible opponents for the duo, who are set to make their respective debuts in ONE FC: Pride of a Nation in Manila on August 31st. 

Japanese Shinya Aoki is a submission specialist who is opportunistic with his submissions.  Boasting a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, 19 of his 30 wins have come via submission. However, he is coming to ONE FC following a TKO loss to Eddie Alvarez in April. 

It would make sense for Shinya Aoki to face Zorobabel Moreira in the main event. Brazilian Moreira is coming off a knockout victory over ex-UFC fighter Roger Huerta via soccer kick. He is riding a five-fight winning streak, also defeating notables Felipe Enomoto and Andy Wang.

The only issue with a Moreira and Aoki bout is that they both train out of Singapore-based Evolve and might be hesitant about fighting a teammate. Perhaps debuting a lightweight championship and giving the fighters the opportunity to be the first ONE FC lightweight champion might be enough for them to accept the fight.

Another alternative opponent would be Ole Laursen. An accomplished kick-boxer, Laursen always puts on exciting fights such as his five-round war against Eduard Folayang in his last outing. Born in the Phillipines, he would have the support of the hometown crowd behind him in what would essentially a boxer vs. grappler match.

Bibiano Fernandes is the first, and only, Bantamweight Champion of Dream.

In Dream’s last card on New Year’s Eve last year, he defeated both Rodolfo Marques and Antonio Banuelos on the same night to be crowned champion. Hailing from Brazil and now fighting out of Canada, he is nicknamed “the flash” for his lightning-fast speed that has helped him defeat Joachim Hansen and Joe Warren, among others.

Two notable names stand out from the rest in ONE FC’s bantamweight division.

Kevin Belingon is the URCC Flyweight Champion and has a record of 9-1. Training out of Team Lakay in the Philippines, Belingon will prove a tough test for Fernandes. The other notable is Leonardo Issa. Issa defeated Masakazu Imanari in last Saturday’s ONE FC: Destiny of Warriors. A BJJ world champion, he displayed solid wrestling skills and a smart game plan to defeat Imanari via decision. With a record of 9-2, he is coming off a win, whereas Belingon lost to the aforementioned Imanari last March. 

Both Fernandes and Aoki are huge additions to ONE FC’s growing stable of fighters, and it will be exciting to see how they fare on August 31st. 

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Hall of Weird: The Oddest, Iconic Moments/Signatures in MMA

In MMA, like any sport, the participants want to become iconic for what they do within the confines of their sport if not iconic outside of it as well. Yet for the majority of fighters, they may never become truly iconic, but they may have signature m…

In MMA, like any sport, the participants want to become iconic for what they do within the confines of their sport if not iconic outside of it as well. Yet for the majority of fighters, they may never become truly iconic, but they may have signature moments that define certain parts of their careers. These signatures can be good or bad depending on who’s looking, but they are there nonetheless. This list is of the signatures of a wide range of fighters, from future hall-of-famers to tomato cans.

The way that I chose the signatures listed is if you showed someone who had never seen much of MMA videos covering the entire careers of the listed fighters, what would they most remember? Those moments are what make up this list.

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Bellator 66: Can Eddie Alvarez Defeat Aoki in Rematch?

When Eddie Alvarez and Shinya Aoki first squared off it was Aoki who took home the victory with an inverted heel hook. Alvarez has gone 7-1 since with the only loss coming to Michael Chandler in a title-losing barnburner for Alvarez.  The former B…

When Eddie Alvarez and Shinya Aoki first squared off it was Aoki who took home the victory with an inverted heel hook. Alvarez has gone 7-1 since with the only loss coming to Michael Chandler in a title-losing barnburner for Alvarez. 

The former Bellator champion now sits at a crossroads. He can choose to enter another tournament and grind out three bouts to get back to Chandler, but it doubtful at this point that Eddie is going to consider going through the tournament process again. 

Alvarez has now booked a significant career-boosting kind of fight with the man who defeated him at K-1 Dynamite 2008. Shinya Aoki has been a tear as of late. The Tokyo-based submission fighter has now won seven fights in a row, five by submission, since his loss to Gilbert Melendez at Strikeforce Nashville in April 2010.

Aoki, however has shown a weakness to more powerful wrestlers, which was on display in his loss to Melendez in which he was manhandled and lost a one-sided decision. Eddie has a strong wrestling base like Gilbert does and this could be where he can win the bout.

The two major motivating factors that will drive Eddie Alvarez are his size and wrestling advantage coupled with his possible UFC offer that could material after a win of this caliber. 

1) I can remember it like it was yesterday. I walked down to Broadway Avenue to get some barbecue and a beer before the bout. The group included a good friend, my father, myself and my sister. Skyler and I went to the strip first to get some chow and a brew.  We got to the arena just before the first preliminary bout began.

It’s incredible that I remember anything else from this card besides the brawl at the end, but that is irrelevant to this story. The Aoki vs. Melendez bout was one the most anticipated of the evening, and it turned out to be a total domination that would have been a fast forward DVR moment waiting to happen. The point here is that the size and wrestling ability of Gilbert proved to be an Achilles heel for Aoki. Eddie can use similar advantages to smother Aoki and avoid getting a limb dislocated.

2) Eddie’s other major motivation in this bout will be the fact that he may be fighting for a UFC contract. He could likely get a pretty nice deal even if he loses, but it would greatly benefit his athletic stock if he wins this rematch tonight. Alvarez will use his wrestling and ground and pound to wear the smaller man out and will likely end up with a decision victory.

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