Shinya Aoki is a Japanese mixed martial artist, professional wrestler and grappler currently competing in ONE Championship's and Rizin Fighting Federation's Welterweight division.
77 Facts About Shinya Aoki
2.
Shinya Aoki competes in DDT Pro-Wrestling where he is a former three-time DDT Extreme Champion.
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Training in Judo since childhood, Shinya Aoki became a successful Judoka and competed in national and international championships.
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Shinya Aoki attended Waseda University where he was part of the Judo Club.
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Shinya Aoki initially joined the Judo-based RJJ gym before moving to Team Roken along with his longtime friend Masakazu Imanari, though he later moved to Paraestra Shooto Gym, where he trained under former Kosen representative Yuki Nakai.
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Shinya Aoki earned both his A-class Shooto rank as well as his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt under Nakai, and became one of the team's main teachers.
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Shinya Aoki had his MMA debut for DEEP in November 2003, winning a one night tournament by fast armbar submissions.
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Shinya Aoki went to compete in both companies until 2007, defeating Akira Kikuchi to win the Shooto Welterweight Championship.
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Shinya Aoki submitted French in just under four minutes with a triangle choke.
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Shinya Aoki successfully defended his title against Kikuchi, winning via split decision.
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Shinya Aoki's next fight was at Pride 34, where he faced little known Dutch fighter Brian Lo-A-Njoe.
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At the event Shinya Aoki submitted Lo-A-Njoe in the first round with an armbar.
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Shinya Aoki defeated Korean Olympic Judo silver medalist Jung Bu-Kyung, Cavalcante's replacement, via unanimous decision in what was Jung Bu-Kyung's mixed martial arts debut.
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Shinya Aoki had promised to use a never before seen submission in the match but was unable to finish the debut fighter.
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The ringside doctor announced that Shinya Aoki was unable to continue due to the injury and Cavalcante apologized for the incident.
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Shinya Aoki was later found to have sustained concussion of the cervical vertebra.
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Shinya Aoki sustained a severely bruised rib and tore cartilage in his costal area during the match.
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At Dream 4, Shinya Aoki defeated Katsuhiko Nagata via a mounted gogoplata submission to advance to the semi-finals of the Dream Lightweight Grand Prix.
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At Dream 5, Shinya Aoki defeated Caol Uno by unanimous decision.
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Later that night, Eddie Alvarez was set to fight Shinya Aoki, but had to bow out due to injury from his previous match that evening.
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Shinya Aoki started quickly, securing Alvarez's back after catching a kick, before being thrown to the canvas by the stronger American.
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Alvarez fought the hold, but tapped out shortly after Shinya Aoki adjusted his grip.
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Shinya Aoki defeated David Gardner at the March 8,2009, Featherweight Grand Prix card at Dream 7 at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.
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Shinya Aoki, who was still recognized by Shooto as its Welterweight Champion, moved back to that weight to fight in Dream's Welterweight Grand Prix at Dream 8 in 2009.
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Shinya Aoki's first match in the tournament was a rematch with Hayato Sakurai.
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Shinya Aoki lost the fight in twenty-seven seconds via TKO due to punches and knees following a Sakurai reversal from a takedown by Shinya Aoki.
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Shinya Aoki defeated Vitor Ribeiro at Dream 10 on July 20,2009, which earned him a title fight against Joachim Hansen.
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Shinya Aoki faced Joachim Hansen in a rematch for the DREAM Lightweight Championship at Dream 11 on October 6,2009.
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Shinya Aoki ended up defeating Hansen in the second round for the title shot via submission to become the new DREAM Lightweight Champion.
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Shinya Aoki defeated Hirota with a brutal submission that broke Hirota's arm in the first round at 1:17.
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Shinya Aoki then proceeded to get in the face of his downed opponent and give him the finger then, get up and run around the ring doing the same to the crowd before leaving the ring.
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Shinya Aoki lost his US debut against then Strikeforce Lightweight Champion Gilbert Melendez on April 17,2010, at Strikeforce: Nashville.
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Shinya Aoki successfully defended his Lightweight title against top contender Tatsuya Kawajiri in just under two minutes of the first round via an Achilles lock submission, at Dream 15 on July 10,2010.
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Shinya Aoki defeated Marcus Aurelio by unanimous decision in a non-title bout on September 25,2010, at Dream 16.
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Shinya Aoki won by submission 1:00 into the first round against Sithoar.
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Shinya Aoki was warned repeatedly by the referee, however no points were deducted as there could not be a decision winner.
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At 0:04 of the second MMA rules round, Shinya Aoki was knocked out immediately as he went for a double leg takedown via flying knee and subsequent grounded strikes.
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Shinya Aoki then defeated Lyle Beerbohm on April 9,2011, at Strikeforce: Diaz vs Daley via neck crank in the first round.
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Shinya Aoki defeated Rob McCullough by neck crank at the 4:57 point of Round 1 at Dream 17.
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Shinya Aoki fought Satoru Kitaoka for the DREAM lightweight title at Fight For Japan: Genki Desu Ka Omisoka 2011.
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Shinya Aoki Took on former Maximum Fighting Championship Lightweight Champion, Antonio McKee at Dream 18 on December 31,2012.
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Shinya Aoki faced Eddie Alvarez in a rematch at Bellator 66.
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Shinya Aoki lost the fight via TKO in the first round.
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Shinya Aoki faced Kotetsu Boku at ONE Fighting Championship: Kings and Champions on April 5,2013, for the Lightweight Championship.
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Shinya Aoki stated that win or lose, he will be dropping to the Featherweight division after the fight.
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Shinya Aoki defeated his opponent at 2:01 of the second round via rear-naked choke, successfully avenging his Evolve teammate Zorobabel Moreira.
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Shinya Aoki made his featherweight debut on October 18,2013, at ONE FC: Total Domination when he took on Cody Stevens.
48.
Shinya Aoki later returned to lightweight and picked up a victory in the Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye promotion before successfully defending his ONE Lightweight World Championship against Kamal Shalorus by submission in the first round at ONE FC: Reign of Champions on August 29,2014.
49.
Shinya Aoki defended his title against Koji Ando at ONE Championship 28: Warrior's Quest on May 22,2015.
50.
Rizin Fighting Federation announced Shinya Aoki would compete on December 29,2015, against Kazushi Sakuraba in the main event of their inaugural event.
51.
Shinya Aoki won the fight via TKO at 5:56 in the first round after Sakuraba's corner threw in the towel.
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Shinya Aoki lost the bout and title via TKO in the third round.
53.
Shinya Aoki lost the fight via TKO in the fight's opening minute.
54.
Shinya Aoki faced Ev Ting on October 6,2018, at ONE Championship: Kingdom of Heroes and won the fight via arm-triangle choke in the opening minute of the bout.
55.
On March 31,2019, at ONE Championship: A New Era Shinya Aoki recaptured the lightweight title in a rematch with Eduard Folayang by defeating Folayang via technical submission.
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Shinya Aoki lost the title in his first defense against Christian Lee at ONE Championship: Enter the Dragon on May 17,2019.
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Shinya Aoki returned to defeat Honorio Banario via D'Arce choke at ONE Championship: Century.
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Shinya Aoki next faced Kimihiro Eto at Road to One 3: Tokyo Fight Night on September 10,2020.
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Shinya Aoki was expected to face former LFA Welterweight Champion James Nakashima on January 22,2021, at ONE Championship: Unbreakable He won the fight via submission in the first round.
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Shinya Aoki was scheduled to fight the former UFC Lightweight Sage Northcutt at ONE on TNT 4, on April 28,2021.
61.
Shinya Aoki won the bout via armbar in the first round.
62.
Shinya Aoki faced Yoshihiro Akiyama at ONE: X on March 26,2022.
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Shinya Aoki lost the fight via TKO in the second round.
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Shinya Aoki was booked to face Saygid Izagakhmaev on November 19,2022, at ONE 163.
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Shinya Aoki lost the fight by a first-round technical knockout.
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Shinya Aoki began dabbling in pro wrestling in 2014 for Antonio Inoki's Inoki Genome Federation, competing in a series of MMA fights on his cards before eventually transitioning to pro wrestling.
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In 2017, Shinya Aoki was announced as a member of Next Exciting Wrestling, a new show under the IGF banner.
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Shinya Aoki competed for NEW until IGF announced its cancellation in July 2017.
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Shinya Aoki lost the title back to Harashima on February 19,2019, at Judgement.
70.
At the Reversal Cup in 2004, Shinya Aoki fought Kuniyoshi Hironaka in a superfight and submitted him with a flying armbar that broke his arm.
71.
Shinya Aoki was scheduled to compete against Gordon Ryan at a ONE Championship event in August, 2021 but the match was cancelled due to a stomach condition that Ryan was suffering from at the time.
72.
Shinya Aoki was then booked to compete against Kade Ruotolo at ONE 157 on May 20,2021, instead.
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Shinya Aoki has received criticisms by the mixed martial arts community for his disrespectful victory celebrations and perceived lack of care for his opponents, often causing injuries which are seen as needless.
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Shinya Aoki firstly became known for breaking Keith Wisniewski's arm by waki-gatame, then doing the same with Kuniyoshi Hironaka via flying armbar in a submission grappling match, sidelining him for a year.
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In 2014, after submitting Yuki Yamamoto, Shinya Aoki again taunted his opponent and the crowd with a middle finger, while Yamamoto had to be restrained by his cornermen.
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Once on the mat, Shinya Aoki is an electric grappler, drawing strength from his expertise in many different disciplines like Shooto's style of shoot wrestling, judo, jiu-jitsu and Eddie Bravo's 10th Planet Jiu-Jitsu system.
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Shinya Aoki is an active guard player, favouring specially the rubber guard thanks to his flexibility, and is famous for his creative approach to submissions, excelling not only in armlocks and leglocks, but in neck cranks and more exotic joint locks.