World Of Swords

In one of the highlight matches of the DREAM/K-1 Fields Dynamite! New Years Eve megacard, Japanese submission machine Shinya Aoki used a heel hook to submit a top notch opponent in Eddie Alverez at 1:32 of the first round. With the victory, Aoki sets up a rematch against reigning DREAM lightweight champion Joachim Hellboy Hansen and bolsters his claim as the best lightweight fighter in the world.

When the Aoki/Alverez fight was first announced, there was some speculation that Aoki had chosen one of the worst possible stylistic matchups for him. A product of tough Kensington neighborhood in Philadelphia, he grew up not far from where much of the exterior scenes were shot for the first Rocky movie. With this sort of toughness and heart bred into him, and a solid background in boxing and amateur wrestling hes become one of the best all round fighters in MMA and among the best in the world at the weight.

Alverez received an enthusiastic reaction from the fans in Tokyos Saitama Super Arena as he made his way to the ring on New Years Eve"his run to the DREAM lightweight finals and particularly the epic battle with Hansen has made him a highly respected and popular fighter in Japan. The reaction he received was nothing like Aokis, however, who was cheered like a rock star as he bounced to the ring.

As the two fighters stood for referee instructions, it was striking how much taller and rangier Aoki was than his opponent. The two men respectfully touched gloves and bowed slightly before heading back to their corner for the opening bell of what most anticipated would be a lengthy chess match between two of the best fighters at the weight.

For the first minute of the match, it appeared that a slow feeling out process was underway. Alverez was the aggressor for most of the first minute, coming forward while using his jab as a range finder. Aoki flashed a couple of leg kicks, but never connected with any. Alverez landed the first blows of the contest, connecting with a nice three punch combination that displayed his lightning fast hands. Aoki danced away, however, and wasnt hurt by the attack.

What happened next can only be described as unbelievable"the sequence started when Aoki grabbed Alverezs ankle after a kick and appeared to go for what looked like a standing anklelock submission. Alverez managed to extricate his ankle and seeing that Aoki was off balance took the opportunity to go for his own takedown with a move that looked more like a judo throw than a traditional wrestling move. Against 99.9% of the other fighters in the world, Alverez would have ended up on top and started working in full or half guard.

When Alverez landed, however, Aoki wasnt there. In one single, almost gravity defying motion hed used the momentum from the takedown to shoot under Alverez and grab his leg. Alverez struggled briefly, but Aoki quickly cinched in a painful heel hook. Eventually, Alverez maneuvered himself into an even worse position and with an audible shout of pain was forced to tap.

Ever the gentleman, Aoki dropped to the canvas after the tapout to check on his opponents condition than started his postfight celebration. Aoki is known as one of the most emotional fighters in the sport, and its an even money proposition that hell start crying during his postfight speech to the crowd. This time, however, he quickly addressed the crowd in Japanese to an enthusiastic response before heading to the back.

One superlative that is no longer in dispute is Shinya Aokis status as the best submission artist in mixed martial arts. Hes got the technical background to be sure, but what elevates him above the rest is his amazing ability at improvisation. Even if an opponent has mastered all of the defenses and counters for every known submission technique, theres no way to defend someone who can make up effective submission moves during a fight.

After a controversial no contest in their first matchup, there was no doubt as to the winner of the DREAM 2 rematch between Shina Aoki and JZ Calvan. Aoki controlled the fight from the opening bell and used a wide repertoire of submission attempts to keep his opponent off balance. Most impressive was Aokis dominance of the ground game, which many observers considered to be JZs edge in the contest.

Aoki scored early with a takedown and controlled Calvan on the ground, working a heel lock attempt before taking his opponents back and attempting a rear naked choke. He was never able to complete the hold, but maintained a bodylock on JZC for the rest of the round. In the second, Aoki put on a submission clinic and demonstrated his ungodly flexibility as he spun from an armbar to a triangle choke and back again. Calvan was able to counter or escape, but looked completely out of sync as he generated almost no offense whatsoever over the 15 minutes.

Aoki was very emotional in his postfight speech to the crowd. JZC had grumbled about the no-contest in their DREAM 1 matchup, and the one sided decision made him even more dejected in his postfight press interviews.

With the victory Aoki advances to the semifinals of the lightweight GP tournament. Thats the plan at least, as Aoki made some statements in the Japanese press leading up to the fight that win or lose there would be no way hed be ready for the next round with only half the preparation time as the rest of the field. Hopefully the impressive victory and the enthusiastic response from the holiday week Tokyo crowd will change his mind as hes now the man to beat even with the short prep time.

The rest of the card was devoted to the opening round of the middleweight GP tournament. Taiei Kin defeated Minowa-man Ikuhisa Minowa in a very closely contested and entertaining fight.

Korean judoka Yoon Dong-Sik also advanced with a unanimous decision victory over Shungo Oyama. Two one sided contests followed, with Zeleg Galesic submitting Magomed Sultanakhmadov via arm bar in a minute and a half of the first round. That was followed by the MMA debut of former Pac 10 wrestling standout Ian Murphy, was dominated by BJJ specialist Ronaldo Jacare

It may be a bit of a stretch to call Satoshi Ishii the Michael Phelps of Japan, but not by much. His victory in the heavyweight judo competition at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing was easily the defining moment of the games for his countrymen and was considered by most media outlets the #1 highlight of the year in all of sports.

Ishii himself is also a marketing dream. Hes especially big by Japanese standards with 240 pounds packed on his bulky 511 frame. Not surprisingly, hes tough as nails and a terror on the mat but away from the gym he comes off like an awkwardly cheerful overgrown boy. He definitely seems younger than his 22 years, but gives off the vibe of a nice neighbor boy who youd gladly pay to mow your lawn. Unlike his telegenic American gold medalist counterpart Phelps, who acts as if he spent as much time working on media relations as his backstroke heading up to the Olympic games, Ishiis demeanor is of an athlete who literally spent the bulk of his life in a gym only to emerge and find himself a national hero.

With the ability to offer him the most money and exposure, it seemed almost a fait accompli that Ishii would sign with DREAM and K-1 parent group FEG. Obviously its a good idea to keep your options open in negotiations, so he also reportedly talked to Sengoku parent World Victory Road and Antonio Inoki's Inoki Genome Federation pro wrestling group. As expected, however, FEG reportedly presented Ishii with the most lucrative offer: 500 million yen (roughly $5.5 million US) to fight on DREAM and K-1 cards, with incentive bonuses based on his drawing power and performance. He would very likely become the highest paid mixed martial artist in the world before hed even stepped into the ring for the first time. The tentative plan was for Ishii to appear on the year end K-1/DREAM Fields Dynamite! joint show, if not fighting at least in a heavily hyped opportunity for FEG to unveil their investment.

Ishii then shocked the Japanese fight sport world by categorically rejecting FEGs offer, saying that it was his lifelong dream to fight in the UFC. While this rationale might sound plausible to a US based fan, its akin to a top college baseball player from a SEC school turning down a big offer from the Atlanta Braves saying that its his lifelong dream to play for the Yomiuri Giants in Japan Central League. It frequently comes a shock to US MMA fans when immersed in Japans culture for the first time just how low the UFC ranks in the countrys fight sport pantheon. In MMA, their profile is lower than DREAM and Sengoku, but even smaller groups like Shooto and DEEP. Overall, the interest in and prestige of the UFC is well below not only boxing but even Japanese pro wrestling (puroresu).

Ishii then travelled to Las Vegas for UFC 92, with the Japanese media in tow covering his every move. There were countless photo opportunities with Dana White, who spoke of Ishii in glowing terms, along with top UFC stars. Upon his return to Japan, he was repeatedly photographed wearing UFC t-shirts while speaking enthusiastically about Dana White, Lorenzo Fertitta and everyone else involved with the promotion. He appeared at the Sengoku card in January addressing the audience from the ring and wearing his ubiquitous UFC shirt; his message was that he was going to fight in America for awhile but would eventually return to Japan.

At age 22, Ishiis got plenty of time to develop as a fighter. His biggest downside risk from signing with Zuffa is financial since hed be lucky to get a fraction of what FEG is willing to pay him. The competitive logic of learning his craft slowly notwithstanding, theres a huge risk in automatically assuming that he can fight for the UFC for a few years and then cash a big check when he returns to Japan as the potential of injury and changing market conditions could seriously impact his market value. On the other hand, it could be a risk hes willing to take given that hes got his celebrity both with the mainstream public and in the judo community to fall back on.

Theres another very realistic scenario that it was all a negotiating ploy by Ishii. The UFC was likely willing to play along, figuring that their investment of a few plane tickets and hotel suites would be worth the resulting PR surge in Japan. Ishii and the UFC develop a cordial relationship which could be to the benefit of both parties down the road and both sides realized that a long term commitment wasn't the right move at this point.

With the recent revelation that Ishii has broken off UFC negotiations to entertain offers from other parties thats starting to look like the plausible explanation for the once hot and heavy courtship between Ishii and Zuffa.

As a postscript to the Ishiis relationship with the UFC, it apparently opened the doors for his move to the US where hell be training with the American Top Team in Florida. That alone is a positive for his future development as a fighter, as hell be training with a whos who of professional fighting.

Ross Everett is a consulting handicapper for a number of offshore sportsbooks and an authority on NFL betting. He's a noted expert on sports handicapping and stock investing theory. He contributes to a number of online media outlets providing insight on how to bet on NFL football, MMA and boxing.