Melendez fight is Aoki's proving ground
On April 17th, Strikeforce lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez will be the measuring stick used to find out exactly how good Shinya Aoki is.
Aoki, the DREAM lightweight champion, is the highest ranking pound-for-pound fighter of those who complete almost exclusively in Japan. He’s not the biggest mainstream fighting star in Japan because he doesn’t have the crossover appeal of the charismatic Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto, recently retired kickboxer Masato or boxing's Kameda brothers. But for the hardcore mixed martial arts audience that follows the sport closely, Aoki, 26, with his bevy of incredible submissions, has been the country's top star the past four years.
Tall and skinny, with enough of a bookworm look to almost make the cerebral Kenny Florian seem like a thug in comparison, Aoki's demeanor belies his skill and his mean streak.
Aoki is headed to his U.S. debut against Melendez on April 17 in Nashville amid a good deal of controversy in Japan. The annual New Year's Eve television event in Japan was based on Japan's two leading companies, DREAM and Sengoku, doing a best-of-nine series. The score was even at four wins leading to a battle of lightweight champions. Aoki took Mizuto Hirota down immediately, maneuvered him into an old-fashioned, schoolyard chicken wing maneuver, and cranked. Hirota refused to tap, and Aoki wrenched on the hold until you could see the arm break, whereupon the fight was stopped. Aoki then channeled Brock Lesnar, celebrating in Hirota's face and flipping him off. He was forced to apologize for his post-fight antics.
Aoki (23-4, 1 no contest) is ranked in many places No. 2 in the world at lightweight, behind only UFC champion B.J. Penn. Three of Aoki's four losses have been while fighting at welterweight.
While some may question his ranking, what can't be argued is that if the fight goes to the ground, few are in Aoki’s league. He has 14 wins via submission, including a finish of current Bellator champ Eddie Alvarez at the 2008 New Year's Eve show with a heel hook in 1:32.
But after so many Japanese MMA superstars have come to the U.S. and struggled – most recently former PRIDE champ Takanori Gomi – many have come to question their high rankings based on the Japanese competition.
Melendez, though, disagrees with anyone questioning Aoki's ranking.
"He's great," said Melendez. "I think he totally deserves to be ranked No. 2 in the world. B.J. Penn is No. 1. He's the master. Aoki is next. Then there are a group of us below them."
In what is the first major match in history between a world champion of a still-active Japanese promotion and a major American promotion, Aoki and Melendez will meet in Nashville in a match that airs on CBS. Only Melendez's title is at stake. But the Strikeforce champion says he will take a challenger's mentality into the fight.
"Rankings are more important than championships, and he’s No. 2," said Melendez. "I just hope that if I beat him, people don’t start saying that he really never deserved that ranking."
Where Aoki differs from someone like Florian, Melendez, Frankie Edgar, or other top lightweights is that he doesn't have a great stand-up game. Aoki has good takedowns, particularly from the clinch, but almost nobody in the sport can match his submission game.
"In my mind, the two best submission guys in the sport are Aoki and Jake Shields," said Melendez, who feels a big advantage he has in this fight is his years of training with Shields and the Diaz brothers, who are all great on the ground.
"I think about [Aoki] constantly," he said. "Sometimes I have to watch a comedy movie or take some time out with my girl just to get away from it."
Melendez, 17-2, is coming off a win over Josh Thomson on Dec. 19 in San Jose in one of 2009's most exciting encounters, where he regained the Strikeforce belt he had lost to Thomson in 2008. Melendez, whose most recent fights aired on Showtime, will be making his network television debut. Between the skill level of his opponent and the large number of people will see the fight, Melendez considers this the biggest match of his career. It's the final fight of his contract with the company, but while Melendez recognizes advantages of going to UFC, mentally he’s already committed to staying. "I’m very happy with Strikeforce," he said. "Being in UFC gives you an advantage when you look at the top ten rankings. But [Strikeforce promoter Scott [Coker] has always been good to me. He’s got me a fight with the No. 2 guy in the world and he’s putting me on CBS. I can say it looks like I’ll be staying."
The April 17 fight is a long time in the making. In late 2006, when both competed in PRIDE, there were challenges issued back and forth for a match on that year’s New Year's Eve show. Instead, the promoters decided to go with Aoki vs. Hansen and Melendez vs. Tatsuya Kawajiri. Both won on that evening, seemingly setting up the bout, but PRIDE folded before the match could be made and another three years passed before their paths finally crossed.
