Exclusive Photo Gallery: Shinya Aoki Trains In Singapore for DREAM.17
by Anton Tabuena on Aug 30, 2011 11:00 PM EDT
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DREAM lightweight champion, Shinya Aoki is currently preparing to face former WEC lightweight champ, 'Razor' Rob McCullough on September 24. One of the biggest changes Aoki made recently, was deciding to move all of his training camps outside Japan, and into Singapore. He joined Evolve MMA where he feels that their deep talent pool could help him prepare and improve better:
"I joined the Evolve Fight Team in order to improve myself as a fighter. I consider Evolve MMA to be the top MMA camp in Asia by far," Shinya Aoki told BloodyElbow.com as translated by the people at Evolve, "There are so many world champions here in every discipline. I am able to learn from everyone."
"My weakness has always been my striking. With Evolve MMA, I am exposed to the world's best Muay Thai champions and fighters," Aoki continued, "For example, Namsaknoi Yudthagarngamtorn has been helping me tremendously. Attachai Fairtex, Yodteera Sityodtong, and Yodchatri Sityodtong have helped me a lot too."
"At Evolve MMA, I feel that I get a complete training camp. I can train BJJ with so many top notch Black Belts. I can learn Muay Thai from so many world champions."
I was able to have a short glimpse of him preparing during the critical moments of their camp, and like I did with the Evolve guys training for OneFC, I was able to take enough photos for an entire gallery.
So do check after the jump for our exclusive gallery with Aoki, as he works out with a few of the world champions at Evolve MMA.
Also, don't forget to check out our other gallery "Evolve MMA Fighters Train for ONE FC".
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Who are some “big” names out of Evolve MMA? Just like to youtube and see who Aoki is training with now.
several of the best Muay Thai fighters in history,
several BJJ world champs, and a few Asian MMA champs as well.
http://evolve-mma.com/instructors.html
That guy he’s rolling with, wearing blue, is ‘Zoro’, a 6’3 lightweight, who is also a bjj world champion.
Plus, Phil Baroni, Rolles, Igor, Gregor, and Renzo Gracie are all there now finishing up camp for One FC.
by Anton Tabuena on Aug 30, 2011 11:09 PM EDT up reply actions
Awesome, awesome pics Anton
must have been a lot of fun!
"This is blood for blood and by the gallon. These are the old days, the bad days, the all-or-nothing days. They’re back! There’s no choice left. And I’m ready for war."
"I’m ready. It doesn’t matter with who or where. On foot or on horseback. With maces or poleaxes. To fight. To first blood or to death. It doesn’t matter, I’m ready to fight. I went hunting. For bears. With a knife. " - Aleksander Emelianenko
by John Danaher's Hair on Aug 30, 2011 11:16 PM EDT reply actions
I only stayed for around 2+ hours,
cause I had a plane to catch, but yeah, it was pretty fun.
by Anton Tabuena on Aug 30, 2011 11:20 PM EDT up reply actions
Can I have a job carrying your bags?
I’m really good at carrying stuff, and I already have a passport.
Learn JiuJitsu.
Always looking for that new danger.
by RolloTomasi on Aug 30, 2011 11:46 PM EDT up reply actions
haha.
alright. meet me in Manila, bring beer.
by Anton Tabuena on Aug 30, 2011 11:48 PM EDT up reply actions
I got a place we can crash at in Baguio.
Learn JiuJitsu.
Always looking for that new danger.
by RolloTomasi on Aug 30, 2011 11:49 PM EDT up reply actions
That's pretty far,
but well, at least we can visit the guys at Team Lakay Wushu. haha.
Seriously though, a huge storm hit that area this past week. I wonder if that affected their training for One FC this weekend.
by Anton Tabuena on Aug 30, 2011 11:51 PM EDT up reply actions
As always,
I love your work, Anton. You’ve got a knack for catching unique pics.
by Paulo Filho's Psychiatrist on Aug 30, 2011 11:28 PM EDT reply actions
thanks a lot. :)
you won’t recognize them from this, but to be honest, this was my favorite Aoki pic:
by Anton Tabuena on Aug 30, 2011 11:30 PM EDT up reply actions 3 recs
You get a rec for that. Seriously, that’s a badass pic.
Check out the C&D Channel on YouTube for MMA reviews, predictions, analysis, and other MMA related content.
You could seriously present that as a work of art to people unfamiliar with MMA. Call it “Man Being Choked.” I love how much emotion you can feel from their faces even though they’re mostly concealed.
"He's like Elvis in Korea! They love him there." - Mike Goldberg on Denis Kang
Thanks
for the kind words man. It’s really appreciated. :)
by Anton Tabuena on Aug 31, 2011 6:57 AM EDT up reply actions
Speaking of emotions, he was faking it on this shot.
It’s pretty funny, (in a you-had-to-be-there kinda way) actually. He knew I went closer to take his photo, and then Aoki, being goofy, started making this face as soon as I was about to take his photo even if Zoro wasn’t attempting a submission or trying anything yet:
Here’s how it all happened: I raise my camera, he makes a goofy face, I take the photo, then check if it’s good… They were on the same position but this with no emotion being shown… I decided to take another. I raise my camera, then he sees it, so he made the same goofy face again. haha. :)
by Anton Tabuena on Aug 31, 2011 7:05 AM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
Yup, that picture is awesome and why I always refer to Aoki as "prehensile"
Every one of his limbs just constrict around things in a very inhuman way.
"Who do you bow down to you? Does your God come in a capsule or on a plate?"
by Dallas Winston on Aug 31, 2011 12:28 PM EDT up reply actions
You guys can click the photos to see a slightly larger version of them...
also, if you want to see Aoki talking more about his move, and his teammates at Evolve, check this video out.
It’s about 9 minutes, but it’s worth the watch – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1xlyJn6Pno&feature=player_embedded
Bellator has non exclusive contracts.
Aoki has never been in an exclusive contract of any kind.
He’s always taking fights in small orgs in between his DREAM bouts.
Learn JiuJitsu.
Always looking for that new danger.
by RolloTomasi on Aug 30, 2011 11:43 PM EDT up reply actions
i forget but i think only their champions are exclusive ya?
though i remember Alvarez fighting in one of the DREAM events after winning his belt. i think it was DREAM.12 with the fish net cage.
by Fiber Optic Troll on Aug 31, 2011 8:57 AM EDT up reply actions
Non-exclusive NORTH AMERICAN contracts
+ champion’s clause as mentioned above.
"Who do you bow down to you? Does your God come in a capsule or on a plate?"
by Dallas Winston on Aug 31, 2011 12:26 PM EDT up reply actions
Awesome photos and quotes
Man, I can’t wait to see him vs. Alvarez if that comes off. It’s good that Aoki’s still fairly young and sounds like he’s really taking the training seriously. Love watching this guy fight.
.....
Get on board the Jake Train® . Next stop: Fight Night 25® Winner's Circle!
by Scabby Knuckle on Aug 31, 2011 12:15 AM EDT reply actions
Sometimes his antics bug
But I was thrilled to see the Phace-crank sub on Beerbaum, that had wondering what was going on for a second.
He’s got the NECK, oh wait, no… no he’s just torqing that dood’s face off!
--When you saw only one set of footprints, it was Herb Dean who carried you.
by hardlyworking on Aug 31, 2011 1:24 AM EDT up reply actions
Aoki's last two wins were via Neck Crank
He’s got 3 overall. He’s just a master of bending body parts in painful ways.
"Who do you bow down to you? Does your God come in a capsule or on a plate?"
by Dallas Winston on Aug 31, 2011 12:27 PM EDT up reply actions
Aoki needs to get to the UFC
so he can fight better competition than Razor Rob. I think Aoki is an awesome fighter and would give any lightweight in the world problems. It’s a shame he’s wasting his prime fighting WEC washouts.
Im pretty sure Aoki and Alvarez are finalizing a rematch
Certainly not a waste there.
This seems like a great camp and all, but the thing that worries me is that they never seem to talk about wrestling. They always talk about how world-class their Muay Thai and BJJ guys, but I’ve yet to hear them mention wrestling. I would hope they realize how important that is in modern MMA, and don’t neglect it.
check the comments on my last gallery
I posted a quote from Chatri talking about their trouble with getting champion wrestlers to move to Singapore.
http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2011/8/23/2379037/exclusive-photo-gallery-evolve-mma-one-fc-dream-shinya-aoki-mma-news
by Anton Tabuena on Aug 31, 2011 4:37 AM EDT up reply actions
Ah okay, thanks! Yeah, that makes sense. Good to hear that they are making the effort there, hopefully they should find someone soon.
by Horselover Fat on Aug 31, 2011 6:31 AM EDT up reply actions
Yeah, it's going to be tough though,
Maybe they should try luring champion wrestlers out of Russia instead. Unless that dude turns out to be a Karlos Vemola type of wrestler. haha.
by Anton Tabuena on Aug 31, 2011 7:07 AM EDT up reply actions
Haha, well. There is a big difference between Czech and Russian wrestling. :P
God, how annoying was that in his last fight.. Joe just kept repeating that BS about him being a “six time national Czech wrestling champion” over and over, even though it was so obvious that it doesn’t mean shit, and apparently it was when he was like 16 years old or something. If a guy from Brazil with no wrestling background can outwrestle him that easy, it’s not really that impressive, it just means that Vemola and his credentials were crap to begin with.
by Horselover Fat on Aug 31, 2011 10:49 AM EDT up reply actions
I think it’s kinda funny he says he has to work on his stand-up and all we see are grappling pictures :). Great pics btw.
haha.
Thanks. I only took photos during their grappling session. I couldn’t stay for their afternoon Muay Thai training cause I had a plane to catch.
by Anton Tabuena on Aug 31, 2011 5:02 AM EDT up reply actions
Awesome
-AboveThisFire
The mat is my church, the ground is my heaven, Jiu-Jitsu is my religion. And once you hit the ground you're in my world. My world is like the ocean, I’m like a shark and most people don't even know how to swim - Draculino
If I live in a castle and you want to kill me, storming the gates is probably not the best idea. You'd do a lot better hitting me in the head with a brick when I come out for the mail. -Ryan Hall
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