Aoki and Kawajiri Show No Respect for Their Sengoku Opponents

DREAM superstar lightweights Shinya Aoki and Tatsuya Kawajiri have made no attempts to mask their disdain for their Sengoku opponents on tomorrow morning's Dynamite!! mega-event.

Aoki and Kawajiri were expected to face each other under the DREAM banner before the shocking news that former rival parent companies FEG and WVR would combine strength and unite for one giant New Year's Eve MMA extravaganza.  Ever since the announcement that they would be facing top Sengoku lightweights Mizuto Hirota (who faces Aoki) and Kazunori Yokota (who drew Kawajiri), the pair have freely voiced their contempt and disinterest.

Aoki's first comment about who he'd like to face in Sengoku was, "Who is the current champion in Sengoku?  I don't know."  In another press conference, Yokota was discussing how he feels he could beat Kawajiri in a K-1 style fight, and Aoki interrupted to make the curt statement, "Enough already.  Be quiet, you."  Kawajiri was equally blunt by expressing, "I have no interest in this fight and I’m not motivated either," which was followed today by an ominous warning to the referee:  "Referees, be sure to step in and stop the fight on time tomorrow, because I might get carried away in the moment and my many punches may end up destroying my opponent.”

Possible explanations for their drab attitudes could stem from Kawajiri's frustration at not receiving a hard-earned title shot against Aoki as anticipated, and widespread rumors that Aoki is finally poised to enter the American MMA arena with Strikeforce.

Occasionally, elements such as a lack of motivation and supreme overconfidence can provide the ingredients for an upset.  Although Kawajiri has more openly defied Yokota, I feel his overwhelming top game and strong wrestling will be too much for Yokota--but Hirota's heavy hands may cause more problems for Shinya Aoki than he realizes.  Of course, both DREAM fighters have fought and defeated a higher level of competition than either of the Sengoku fighters, and deserve to be both ranked higher and favored in their respective fights, but prophetic images of Hirota anticipating Aoki's footwork and dropping him with a bomb have floated in and out of my wandering mind lately.

12-3-1 Mizuto Hirota began his career in Shooto, had a brief stint in Greatest Common Multiple (GCM), and then burst on the Sengoku scene with a 1st round KO of Ryan Schultz.  In his last 8 fights, he's won 6 (all by KO or TKO), fought to a draw with Katsuya Inoue, and lost a decision to Yokota (Kawajiri's opponent).  Perhaps his most impressive recent victory was a 1st round throttling of Mitsuhiro Ishida (video below), where Hirota joined Takanori Gomi and Gilbert Melendez as the only fighters to stop Ishida with strikes.

Aoki has shown a susceptibility to powerful strikers, such as in his sophomore outings against Joachim Hansen and "Mach" Sakurai, especially when he seems not to be focused on the formidable task in front of him.  No one should be shocked if one of the best submission artists in the history of the sport is able to impose his will over the lower ranked and less experienced Hirota, but something about the cool and composed Sengoku fighter caused me to throw out a caution flag for a potential upset. 

By the way, when Hirota was questioned about Aoki's claim that he didn't know who he was, Hirota smiled at the crowd and responded:  "Should I put a heavy strike on him?"  Aoki has been favored as high as -375 and -500 on the betting lines, and I think Hirota will at the very least gain some respect and surprise a few people with his skills.