Shinya Aoki had a very tough, albeit short, night in Nagoya, Japan; twenty-seven seconds short, to be exact. The WAMMA Lightweight Champion took on seasoned veteran, Hayato “Mach” Sakurai in one of four welterweight tournament bouts that took place Sunday, April 5th, at DREAM 8.
Aoki, dressed in a new pair of black and gold spats, looked all business coming into the fight and seemed to take the advantage just as the bout started with Sakurai shooting in. Aoki was able to get underneath Sakurai’s shot and get the fight to the ground where Aoki is considered a master.
It is damn near impossible to think about a submission though when you have a knee hitting you in the face. In fact any thinking that may have been going on in Aoki’s mind was soon stopped as the colorful Japanese submission artist went unconscious after Sakurai’s knee and punches made contact with his head.