Tag: Tatsuya Kawajiri

MMA Top 10 Lightweights: Edgar Is the Best, Maynard on His Heels

Filed under: DREAM, UFC, Strikeforce, Bellator, LightweightsNo one can doubt Frankie Edgar anymore.

After Edgar beat B.J. Penn by unanimous decision in April, a lot of people believed that the fight was a fluke, that the judges erred, and that Penn wa…

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No one can doubt Frankie Edgar anymore.

After Edgar beat B.J. Penn by unanimous decision in April, a lot of people believed that the fight was a fluke, that the judges erred, and that Penn was still the best lightweight in mixed martial arts. But now that Edgar has defeated Penn once again at UFC 118, there’s no room for debate: Edgar is the undisputed champion.

Except that Edgar has one loss on his record, and that one loss is to Gray Maynard, who has been anointed the next challenger to Edgar’s title. Maynard could make a case that he deserves to be considered the top fighter in the division, but unless he makes that case again in the cage, I’m sticking with Edgar at No. 1. The rest of the rankings are below.

Shinya Aoki Discusses the Need “to Destroy the Other Foot”

Seems like we’ve had a bit of theme going here lately,  in that every second post here on Fix, deals with guys who know how to ‘maximize’ their mic potential. Meaning, there are certain dudes in MMA with a rep for saying stuff that either incites laughter, anger, or both. That makes for good copy […]

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Seems like we’ve had a bit of theme going here lately,  in that every second post here on Fix, deals with guys who know how to ‘maximize’ their mic potential. Meaning, there are certain dudes in MMA with a rep for saying stuff that either incites laughter, anger, or both. That makes for good copy folks. This post will journey beyond James Toney and Chael Sonnen (surprisingly), and over to Japan, to pass along some rather interesting comments from Dream Lightweight champ Shinya Aoki. As you probably know, Mr. Aoki isn’t just famous for his ‘holy sheet’ submissions, he’s also been know for saying / doing things that are…well, ‘colorful.’

In a recent interview with MMA Fighting Aoki discussed his recent tap-out victory over Tatsuya Kawajiri in some detail. Why did we choose the word ‘detail?’ Well check out some of what the submission wiz had to say, while discussing the Achilles Lock he used to seal the deal at Dream 15.

“I actually try to think of this last part of the joint as being non-existent. For example, you can’t move at all if your neck or your backbone is broken, right? But if I am attacking the elbow or the ankle, my opponent can still move. If I break that last remaining part of the joint in the foot and don’t get a tap, my opponent can still move with his other foot then I’d be in a difficult situation. I thought I might have needed to destroy the other foot too.”

All cringing aside…guess Shinya’s got a valid point no?

Dream.15 Results: Aoki vs. Kawajiri, Manhoef vs. Mizuno, More

Filed under: DREAM, Results, JapanMMAFighting.com has complete Dream.15 results of Shinya Aoki vs. Tatsuya Kawajiri and the six other fights on the July 10 card happening from the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.

On the heels of a devastating lo…

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MMAFighting.com has complete Dream.15 results of Shinya Aoki vs. Tatsuya Kawajiri and the six other fights on the July 10 card happening from the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.

On the heels of a devastating loss to Gilbert Melendez in a Strikeforce championship bout last April, Aoki is back in action in Japan to defend his Dream lightweight belt against rival Kawajiri.

Full Dream.15 results are below.

Dream 15: Aoki, Mousasi Bounce Back With Big Wins

Filed under: DREAM, Strikeforce, News, JapanTwo 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…

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Shinya Aoki, Tatsuya KawajiriTwo 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.

DREAM 15 Aftermath: Aoki, Mousasi Go Back To Japan, Where the Competition is a Little Easier

(VidProps: YouTube/evilbyte)
Give the DREAM bosses some credit, these guys sure know how to build suspense into what otherwise might be a fairly straightforward and pleasing night of MMA fights. As it turned out, there was no surprise run-in from …

(VidProps: YouTube/evilbyte)

Give the DREAM bosses some credit, these guys sure know how to build suspense into what otherwise might be a fairly straightforward and pleasing night of MMA fights. As it turned out, there was no surprise run-in from Alistair Overeem and the Japanese promotion with the fly-by-the-seat-of-its pants matchmaking style never found a fight for Ricco Rodriguez. We hope it paid for the flight and the sushi, at least.  On the bright side, DREAM finally did manage to convince Gegard Mousasi to put in the 31 seconds of work it took to defeat an overweight Jake O’Brien and Shinya Aoki likewise bounced back from an embarrassing loss in Strikeforce a few months ago to put a quick and typically stoic beating on Tatsuya Kawajiri.

Like “Sweet and Sassy,” Aoki called it an early night, withstanding some heel kicks to the face as he locked up an Achilles lock that secured the tap and appeared to damage his Kawajiri’s leg in just one minute, 53 seconds. A couple of days after possibly declaring his bi-sexuality at the event’s weigh-in (we assume he was being ironical), Aoki ditched his trademark colorful tights for relatively conservative board shorts and rushed from the ring following his win to get some lovin’ from his (possibly female) fiancé.

After the jump, O’Brien vs. Mousasi, where it will take you all of the first 15 seconds to see why the American had a little trouble making weight …

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Dream.15 Live Blog: Shinya Aoki vs. Tatsuya Kawajiri Updates

Filed under: DREAMThis is the Dream.15 live blog for Shinya Aoki vs. Tatsuya Kawajiri, a lightweight championship bout on tonight’s Dream event from the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.

Aoki will defend his lightweight belt against rival Kawajir…

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This is the Dream.15 live blog for Shinya Aoki vs. Tatsuya Kawajiri, a lightweight championship bout on tonight’s Dream event from the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.

Aoki will defend his lightweight belt against rival Kawajiri in the main event.

The live blog is below.