Issue 087

April 2012

Shinya Aoki vs Mizuto Hirota

The tone was set at the initial Dynamite!! 2009 press conference. Shinya Aoki was called upon to talk about his upcoming fight against the Sengoku belt holder at the New Year’s Eve champion vs champion extravaganza. Aoki reacted with contempt: “Who’s the champion now? I don’t know. I didn’t say I wanted to fight him, and no one knows who he is.”

This ignorance was an act. Aoki was well aware of Mizuto Hirota. A few months earlier, he had beaten Aoki’s close friend Saturo Kitaoka so severely he had vomited blood in the ring, The Dream champion’s studied indifference was the result of a bruised ego. Aoki felt the fight was beneath him. He wanted to prove himself by mixing it with the elite Stateside. In his mind, the only domestic match worth his while was a showdown with the dominant wrestler Tatsuya Kawajiri. 

Hirota fired back. He said he wanted to beat up Aoki so badly he would be forced to quit. At every opportunity, he told the press that his opponent was arrogant and annoying and he planned shut him up. At a later press conference, Hirota played to the crowd: “It doesn’t seem like Aoki knows who I am. Should I hit him hard?”

The assembled journalists lapped it up. 

Aoki took off his beanie hat and pushed his designer spectacles back on his nose. He seemed to be straining to keep his emotions in check; like an adult containing the urge to spank a naughty child.

When December 31st finally came round, Hirota looked all business, marching to the cage in a black T-shirt with his hair cropped in a tidy Mohawk. He got a warm reception from most of the 45,606 people in the Saitama Super Arena. Aoki cranked up the atmosphere; bouncing on the stage resplendent in his gi and black belt before resolutely making his way to the ring. Once there, he stripped down to reveal a pair of blue shorts over his trademark multi colored tights.

From the first bell, Aoki plays it smart. Hirota’s only conceivable route to victory is to goad Japan’s grappler par excellence into a brawl. Aoki shoots for the takedown and gets it. The writing is on the wall. No man on the planet can exploit the dimensions of a ring like Aoki. Once he’s got you down and trapped in a corner, tapping is the only escape route. Aoki softens up Hirota with punches, takes his back then pounces to grab his right arm and applies a hammerlock, wrenching the appendage behind the back. Hirota is in pain. 

Aoki rolls his man onto his back then wraps his legs around him for extra leverage. The crowd feel the agony as the pressure is piled on and the arm is bent to an improbable angle.

Release comes in the most brutal manner possible. Labored inches turn into a sudden jolt as the sound of the limb snapping rings out. Aoki dismounts, leaving his vanquished foe on the canvas with a useless, limp arm beside him.

What happened next made sure that the fight would go down in MMA history. For years, we have seen the grudge match pantomime play out: trash talk followed by the fight, followed by an embrace of mutual respect and the suggestion that it’s all just showbiz. Shinya Aoki had forgotten the script. He bent over, got in Hirota’s face and flipped him off. Not content with this example of boorishness, he stood up to do a lap of dishonor, directing the same one-fingered gesture at the jeering crowd.

Aoki would later offer a half-hearted apology, blaming his actions on his excited state. He also gave his side of the incident in less than repentant language: “When I had his arm behind his back, I could feel it popping, I thought, ‘Well, this guy’s pride just won’t let him tap, will it?’ So without hesitation, I broke it. I heard it break, and I thought, ‘Ah, there, I just broke it.’ I was stopped afterward, but even if I hadn’t been, continuing to break it more would have been fine by me.”

Aoki was publicly vilified and dismissed as an instructor at the Paraestra Kasai gym. On the other hand, he was now a bona fide bad ass with enhanced box office appeal. He got his dream big fight in America when he was matched against Gilbert Melendez on Strikeforce and, with typical modesty, declared that the honor of Japan rested on his shoulders. After he was comprehensively out wrestled, he returned to the Land of the Rising Sun with his tail between his legs, but was soon back in the spotlight as he finally landed a fight against his nemesis, Tatsuya Kawajiri, at Dream 15. 

Aoki caught Kawajiri in a tendon straining heel hook that earned a tap and led to the defeated wrestler being carried from the ring. In another eccentric post-fight display, Aoki grabbed the mic and announced he was engaged to be married. That contest was the start of a seven-fight win streak that has seen Aoki edge back up the 155lb rankings.

Life has been less sweet for Mizuto Hirota. He was out of action for 18 months as he waited for his destroyed arm to repair, no doubt resentfully eyeing the progress of Aoki during the painful rehab process. In his comeback fight last August, he decisioned Katsunori Kikuno to take the Deep lightweight title. A couple more wins like that and talk of revenge match against the man who took him out in the most disrespectful fashion will be inevitable. 

THE HATE ISSUE

Shinya Aoki / Mizuto Hirota

“When I had his arm behind his back, I could feel it popping, I thought, ‘Well, this guy’s pride just won’t let him tap, will it?’ So without hesitation, I broke it. I heard it break, and I thought, ‘Ah, there, I just broke it.’ I was stopped afterward, but even if I hadn’t been, continuing to break it more would have been fine by me”