Shinya Aoki

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Shinya Aoki

Statistics
Nickname	Tobikan Judan
Height	5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Weight	170 lb (77 kg)
Born	May 9, 1983 (1983-05-09) (age 25)
Town of birth	Japan
Team/Association	Paraestra Tokyo
Fighting style	Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Judo
Mixed martial arts record
Wins	13
By knockout	1
By submission	6
Losses	2
Draws	0

Shinya "Tobikan Judan" Aoki (Japanese: 青木真也) (born May 9, 1983) is a Japanese mixed martial artist, grappler, and former police officer. Aoki is the current Shooto middleweight (167 lb) champion after defeating Akira Kikuchi in February of 2006. Aoki holds a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu under Yuki Nakai, as well as a black belt in judo. He works as an instructor at Paraestra Kasai, but represents the Paraestra Tokyo head-school when competing. He is best known for his excellent flexibility,^[1]^[2] often taking opponents by surprise and earning him the nickname "Tobikan Judan," meaning "tenth degree black belt in jumping locks."

1 MMA career
2 MMA record
3 See also
4 Footnotes
5 Sources
6 External links

[edit] MMA career

In August of 2006, Aoki made his PRIDE Fighting Championships debut at PRIDE Bushido 12, submitting American Jason Black in under two minutes with a triangle choke. Following that win, Aoki was booked to face rising lightweight star Gilbert Melendez at the following Bushido card, Bushido 13. However, prior to the fight Melendez received an elbow injury (a burst bursa sac) in training and was forced to pull out of the fight. Aoki's opponent was changed to Clay French. Aoki submitted French in just under four minutes with a triangle choke. Afterwards, Melendez was shown in the crowd with a sling, and announced he would like to face Aoki at PRIDE Shockwave 2006 on New Year's Eve. Aoki agreed.

For unknown reasons, the proposed fight with Melendez did not take place. Instead, Aoki faced highly ranked lightweight fighter Joachim Hansen. Aoki submitted Hansen with a gogoplata — considered the first successful gogoplata in MMA competition.^[3]

After his win over Hansen, Aoki was set to rematch Kikuchi in Shooto, with Aoki's Shooto middleweight title (previously won from Kikuchi) on the line. Aoki successfully defended his title against Kikuchi, winning via split decision.

Following his victory, Aoki announced that he was to be the Shooto representative in the forthcoming PRIDE Lightweight Grand Prix tournament. Aoki's next fight was at PRIDE 34, where he faced little known Dutch fighter Brian Lo-A-Njoe. At the event Aoki submitted Lo-A-Njoe in the first round with an armbar. Following the fight, Aoki once again confirmed his participation in the Lightweight Grand Prix. With the purchase of PRIDE by the majority owners of Zuffa LLC, the PRIDE Lightweight Grand Prix was cancelled.^[4]

On November 21, 2007, Aoki's participation on the New Year's Eve MMA card Yarennoka! was announced. Originally, his opponent was to be two-time K-1 Hero's Middleweight Grand Prix champion Gesias "JZ Calvan" Calvancante. Rumors that Calvancante was injured surfaced only two weeks before the bout, though Calvancante denied them before eventually admitted the injury and withdrawing from the fight. Aoki defeated Korean Olympic Judo silver medalist Jung Bu-Kyung, Calvancante's replacement, via unanimous decision in what was Jung Bu-Kyung's mixed martial arts debut. Aoki had promised to use a never before seen submission in the match but was unable to finish the debut fighter. ^[5] ^[6]

Aoki finally faced Calvancante on March 15, 2008 at the opening round of the DREAM Lightweight Grand Prix tournament. Early in the first round, the referee stopped the action when Calvancante apparently landed illegal elbow strikes to the back of Aoki's neck. The ringside doctor announced that Aoki was unable to continue due to the injury and Calvancante apologized for the incident. ^[7] The fight resulted in a no contest. Elbow strikes to the neck and spine area are illegal under DREAM rules. Aoki was later found to have sustained concussion of the cervical vertebra.^[8]

They had their rematch on at DREAM.2 on April 29, 2008. In that match, Aoki defeated Calvancante via unanimous decision.^[9] However, he sustained a severely bruised rib and tore cartilage in his costal area during the match.^[10]

[edit] MMA record

Professional record breakdown
15 matches	13 wins	2 losses
By knockout	1	1
By submission	6	0
By decision	6	1

Date	Result	Opponent	Event	Method	Round	Time	Notes
4/29/2008	Win	Gesias Calvancante	DREAM.2: Middle Weight Grandprix 2008 1st Round	Decision (unanimous)	2	5:00
3/15/2008	zNC	Gesias Calvancante	DREAM.1: Light Weight Grandprix 2008 1st Round	No Contest	1	3:46
12/31/2007	Win	Jung Bu-Kyung	Yarennoka! 2007	Decision (unanimous)	3	5:00
4/8/2007	Win	Brian Lo-A-Njoe	PRIDE 34	Submission (armbar)	1	1:33
2/17/2007	Win	Akira Kikuchi	Shooto - Back to Our Roots	Decision (split)	3	5:00	Shooto Middleweight Championship bout
12/31/2006	Win	Joachim Hansen	PRIDE Shockwave 2006	Submission (gogoplata)	1	2:24
11/5/2006	Win	Clay French	PRIDE Bushido 13	Submission (flying triangle choke)	1	3:57
10/14/2006	Win	George Sotiropoulos	Shooto - Champion Carnival	DQ (illegal groin strike)	2	0:05
8/26/2006	Win	\|Jason Black	PRIDE Bushido 12	Submission (triangle choke)	1	1:58
2/17/2006	Win	Akira Kikuchi	Shooto - The Victory of the Truth	Decision (unanimous)	3	5:00	Shooto Middleweight Championship bout
11/5/2006	Win	Kuniyoshi Hironaka	Shooto at Korakuen Hall	TKO (cut)	1	2:10
8/20/2005	Loss	Hayato Sakurai	Shooto - Alive Road 2005	Decision (unanimous)	3	5:00
7/30/2005	Win	Shigetoshi Iwase	Shooto at Korakuen Hall	DQ (illegal groin strike)	1	0:35
1/29/2005	Win	Keith Wisniewski	Shooto at Korakuen Hall	Submission (standing arm lock)	1	2:22
10/30/2004	Loss	Jutaro Nakao	DEEP - 16th Impact	KO (punch)	1	4:29
7/3/2004	Win	Seichi Ikemoto	DEEP - 15th Impact	Submission (armbar)	2	0:52