(gif courtesy of WatchKalibRun)

It seems that the MMA community is quite upset at Shinya Aoki for pulling a Brock Lesnar last night.  Some media outlets have stated that Aoki "marred" the excitement of the show and "stole much of the event's luster", while others report that Aoki has "set new lows for sportsmanship".

The gif above illustrates pure pain in the form of a 155 pound submission expert snaked around Mizuto Hirota's cleverly disabled arm. Aoki engulfed Hirota in a vice-like web of pale, scrawny appendages, isolated his arm behind him, and wrenched it until it broke. There is really no malice or foul play involved here, as this is MMA--Hirota was free to tap at any time, and bending limbs the wrong way is not only an acceptable way to win a fight, it's the specialty of Shinya Aoki.

The bad vibes come into play after the referee intervenes and Aoki thrusts his middle finger into the face of Hirota, and then proceeds to flit about the ring waving said middle finger around aimlessly.  Needless to say, this callous act was indeed in poor taste and severely lacking in sportsmanship and class.  The animosity from Aoki and Kawajiri towards their Sengoku opponents was well documented leading up to this fight; however, I'm of the opinion that twisting Hirota's arm off was enough of a slap in the face, and I do prefer and appreciate fighters that show respect after they've physically bested their adversaries.

To be quite honest, I like Aoki but detest Brock Lesnar.  Even if I like a fighter, that does not mean I excuse him for something that I find unsportsmanlike and uncalled for.  My point?  I simply cry for equality when judging these two incidents.  I'm unsure how Aoki could "set new lows for sportsmanship" when Brock plummeted the bar quite low after he pounded Mir into oblivion at UFC 100, got in his face and taunted him afterwards, and also paced around the cage wielding his middle finger to the fans. 

Oh, and while we're tallying the list of unsportsmanlike atrocities, Lesnar also slobbered all over the fence like a rabid rottweiler, nearly had to be restrained in the cage by several commission officials, and finally ended the night by disparaging one of the UFC's main sponsors (Bud Light).  I am never one to attempt to sway another's personal opinion, but let's try to avoid the insinuation that Shinya Aoki has broken new ground or surpassed new standards for sportsmanship when we just saw an inarguably comparable display by Brock Lesnar in the UFC, which was, coincidentally, a historically significant landmark event for the promotion.

For anyone willing to put in the effort, the search results for "UFC 100" on some of the web sites that are knocking Aoki for unsportsmanlike conduct often do not reflect the same harsh perspective towards Lesnar in these two very similar occurrences.  In fact, one prominent website praises Lesnar's actions as "good for the sport" while claiming that the people who thought it was disgraceful just "don't get it"; but then the same author today actually uses the term "disgraceful" to describe Aoki's actions in a negative light. 

Happy hunting, if you so choose.