What’s Next For Evolve’s Shinya Aoki ~ ONE FC?

What’s Next For Evolve’s Shinya Aoki ~ ONE FC?

Published on April 22, 2012 by The Coffee Boy in Opinion

Shinya Aoki Could ONE FC Be Next?

Shinya Aoki – Where does this loss leave him?

The “Grandmaster of Flying Submissions” now stands at 30-6-1 following his loss to former Bellator Lightweight Champion Eddie Alvarez at their rematch. Alvarez dropped Shinya Aoki with a nice right hook, and while tentative at first, he eventually jumped in and dropped bombs on Aoki’s face until the referee jumped in.

The big question for Shinya Aoki now: What’s next for this submission phenom? He has fought only three times in the US, and stands at 1-2 there, an unimpressive record. He has fought mostly in Japan, and has certainly beaten some of the best lightweights out there. But after this loss to Alvarez, what could possibly be next?

Shinya Aoki is still the DREAM Lightweight Champion, and there are a couple possible rematches which could happen. Unfortunately, none of the rematches would really generate too much interest, seeing as the DREAM lightweights have overall not been very impressive lately.

Also keep in mind that ONE Fighting Championship – touted by many as the “UFC of Asia” – recently signed Shinya Aoki on to their growing roster of stacked fighters.

Shinya Aoki is by no means a chump. He has beaten many great fighters such as Lyle Beerbohm, Rich Clementi, Rob McCullough, Tatsuya Kawajiri, Joachim Hansen, and Vitor Ribeiro. He trains out of probably the best gym in Asia – Evolve MMA, home to Eddie Ng, Zorobabel Moreira, Rafael dos Anjos, Leandro Issa, and Fabricio Monteiro.

The problem now is that most of the best lightweights are in the UFC and Bellator, and he has just lost to Eddie Alvarez who barely makes the top 10 lightweight rankings in the world.

Aoki usually comes back a better fighter after a loss. After his loss to Hayato Sakurai in 2009, he went on a three-fight win streak and earned himself a title shot against Gilbert Melendez in Strikeforce. He came up short in that fight, but then went on a seven-fight tear until losing in his rematch to Alvarez.

History has shown us that Shinya Aoki learns from his mistakes and comes back better than before. But with so few options left, what does he do?

To keep himself relevant, One FC has a roster full of good match-ups for him. It is unlikely he would be forced to face Evolve MMA teammates Eddie Ng or Zorobabel Moreira, but the current roster does offer a few appropriate fighters. Let us take a look at three names off the current One FC roster who could be good possibilities:

1) Felipe Enomoto

Coming off of a submission loss to Zorobabel Moreira, this matchup is good for both parties because it gives Shinya Aoki a chance to fight someone who has a decent overall game and build his confidence, but also for Enomoto because it should motivate him to come back strong.

Enomoto has had his fair share of wars. Back in February he fought a tough fight against Ole Laursen in a back-and-forth battle. He eventually landed a good head kick and finished Laursen with a rear-naked choke. His record now stands at 6-4, and one no contest.

If this fight happens, I predict a fairly even fight until Aoki gets it to the ground. That’s when we get to see what Enomoto is made of, and also it gives Aoki a good chance to build up his confidence again if he plans on staying a world-class combat athlete.

2) Danny van Bergen

This fighter’s record stands at 11-10-3 (1), and would be a good matchup for Shinya Aoki because a) Danny is definitely looking to make it big, and b) Danny looked very impressive in his last fight against American prospect Richie Whitson, winning via a classic armbar.

This matchup would provide the fireworks needed to keep Shinya on his toes, and the fans would be entertained to a slick fight. On the ground, Aoki certainly outclasses most opponents. However, Bergen would still be somewhat of a challenge, having won 7 fights by submission, and should keep Aoki alert.

3) Ole Laursen

Ole Laursen is coming off a great battle against Eduard Folayang, in what many have said was one of the most exciting fights of the year thus far. Folayang hit Laursen with spinning strikes and devastating kicks, but Laursen kept coming forward, took him down repeatedly, and eventually got the win via judges’ decision.

His current record stands at 6-3, and would definitely have a striker’s chance against Shinya Aoki. If Aoki wants to test his striking ability, it would be a no-brainer to have it tested against hard –hitting Ole Laursen.

Laursen is a Muay Thai and Kickboxing champion, holding titles in several promotions. His MMA career took off to a slow start, but now it’s on track and he’s ready to dominate.

This is a good matchup because Shinya’s standup would be tested, and Ole’s ground game – or takedown defense – would be pushed to a whole new limit. This is the fight that would have the crowd on its feet, and the fight that could take One FC one step closer to completely dominating the Asian MMA scene.

Shinya Aoki will be back, but without the UFC and maybe Bellator, it’s up to One FC to provide him with credible match-ups to keep his reputation as a world-class mixed martial artist.