Top ranked Lightweight Shinya Aoki (20-4) found out the hard way that weight classes do matter. Aoki, who stepped up a weight class competed in Dreams Welterweight tournament and was defeated by veteran fighter Hayato "Mach" Sakurai (35-8-2). Sakurai is an experienced fighter and has notable wins over Frank Trigg, Jens Pulver and an earlier win over Aoki in 2005.
Much like Rampage has Liddell's number, so it seems does Sakauri have the style and strength to counter Aoki's grappling skills. The last time Aoki and Sakurai fought it went to a decision, this time Sakurai won in a much more convincing fashion. This is Sakurai's third straight victory and he is considered one of the favorites in the Welterweight tournament.
Shinya Aoki and BJ Penn the two top Lightweights have both been unsuccessful in their attempt to move up to welterweight in the past year. The lesson here is pretty simple, when you have two great fighters evenly matched size and strength can make all the difference in the world. Hopefully, they have both learned their lessons and can move on to defend their natural weight class.
(Knees on the ground are legal in Japan)
Dream 8 Results
Hayato "Mach" Sakurai def. Shinya Aoki via TKO (strikes) - Round 1, 0:27*
Jason High def. Yuya Shirai via technical submission (rear-naked choke) - Round 1, 0:59*
Marius Zaromskis def. Seichi Ikemoto via unanimous decision*
Andre Galvao def. John Alessio via submission (arm bar) - Round 1, 7:34*
Daiki "DJ.taiki" Hata def. Hideo Tokoro via unanimous decision+
Jeff Monson def. Sergei Kharitonov via submission (North-South choke) - Round 1, 1:42
Riki Fukuda def. Murilo "Ninja" Rua via unanimous decision
Vitor "Shaolin" Ribeiro def. Katsuhiko Nagata via TKO (cut) - Round 1, 7:58
Andrews Nakahara def. Shungo Oyama via TKO (strikes) - Round 1, 2:00
Katsutori Shibata def. Ikuhisa "Minowaman" Minowa via unanimous decision
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment