Aoki's wrestling myth

[Oddisius]

he was always undersized at 155 ...he's looking good at 145

I thought he looked bad at 145, 155 is fine for him.

 

[FootstompShonie]

I don't think anyone is saying Aoki has bad wrestling, but it's not great.

I believe people think he has bad wrestling when compared to guys in the top-10. I mean this is what happened last time he fought a top-10 guy -

 

[eseseses681]

Wrestling = spamming double-legs. Ergo, Aoki has terrible wrestling. Clinching and takedowns from the- is an irrelevant aspect of wrestling. Seems legit.

 

[The Reed]

I don't think anyone is saying Aoki has bad wrestling, but it's not great.

I believe people think he has bad wrestling when compared to guys in the top-10. I mean this is what happened last time he fought a top-10 guy -

Context, first time in a cage and first time in America and it was against a top 5 guy.

 

[RubberGuard5]

Context, first time in a cage and first time in America and it was against a top 5 guy.

Furthermore, Melendez doesnt get taken down by anyone really. Bendo couldnt do it either. Since being wrestlefucked by Ishida and Thomson, he prolly said fuck this, it aint happening no more and improved takedown defense to perfection.

 

[eseseses681]

Also, the most common knowledge shared about Aoki's wrestling is that he doesn't posses a great shoot takedown. His strength in wrestling (Judo) has always come in the clinch, and Melendez used distance throughout the fight to keep Aoki away from him. Even when they were on the ground he was using distance to beat Aoki; he stayed on his knees, like, 2-feet away from Aoki whenever they were on the ground (to keep Shinya from using his upkicks-- one of his go-to moves off his back), jumped in to land a shot to his stomach, then jumped back out. On the feet, Melendez was outboxing with Aoki and keeping his distance in the masterful manner that Melendez always does. In doing this, he kept A_OK_I from clinching up and using his phenomenal clinching game to take Melendez down (as Aoki is wont to do to his opponents), leaving him to defend the shoots of Aoki (which Melendez can easily shuck off) and, in the meantime, outbox him.

That fight was almost entirely a matter of Melendez' supreme use of distance negating Aoki's attempts to implement his strengths [quesitonably, however, Aoki threw, like, two kicks in the entire fight, which was strange, considering his kicks are the best thing he can do off his feet and it's one of his means of closing the distance and clinching up], not one of Aoki being one-dimensional or helpless against wrestlers. He fought Kawajiri right afterwards-- a better wrestler than most fighters and a far better wrestler than Melendez-- and submitted him in a minute.

 

[RubberGuard5]

Also, the most common knowledge shared about Aoki's wrestling is that he doesn't posses a great shoot takedown. His strength in wrestling (Judo) has always come in the clinch, and Melendez used distance throughout the fight to keep Aoki away from him. Even when they were on the ground he was using distance to beat Aoki; he stayed on his knees, like, 2-feet away from Aoki whenever they were on the ground (to keep Shinya from using his upkicks-- one of his go-to moves off his back), jumped in to land a shot to his stomach, then jumped back out. On the feet, Melendez was outboxing with Aoki and keeping his distance in the masterful manner that Melendez always does. In doing this, he kept A_OK_I from clinching up and using his phenomenal clinching game to take Melendez down (as Aoki is wont to do to his opponents), leaving him to defend the shoots of Aoki (which Melendez can easily shuck off) and, in the meantime, outbox him.

That fight was almost entirely a matter of Melendez' supreme use of distance negating Aoki's attempts to implement his strengths [quesitonably, however, Aoki threw, like, two kicks in the entire fight, which was strange, considering his kicks are the best thing he can do off his feet and it's one of his means of closing the distance and clinching up], not one of Aoki being one-dimensional or helpless against wrestlers. He fought Kawajiri right afterwards-- a better wrestler than most fighters and a far better wrestler than Melendez-- and submitted him in a minute.

This. Aoki couldn't get the takedown because he couldn't even get the clinch. No corners like in a ring. Too bad we didn't get a rematch in Japan

 

[EndlessCritic]

Context, first time in a cage and first time in America and it was against a top 5 guy.

Aoki is a great fighter, but he didn't lose that fight because it was in a cage lmao.

 

[SBC]

I don't care what anyone says, Shinya's loss to Melendez has more to do with Shinya's horrific game planning in that match than Melendez being a better fighter. Instead of embracing what he's best at Aoki chose to shoot from the outside instead of getting to the inside where he excels. This was no masterplan of Melendez. Before the fight DREAM had released a prefight VTR thing and it showed Aoki drilling single leg shots in the cage. He purposefully chose to fight that way. If a rematch ever happened and Aoki fought to his strengths he wins the fight hands down. I also think it's messed up how Melendez wouldn't give Aoki a rematch when fighters who've beaten Gil have given him rematches. Totally took the easy way out ducking Aoki in Japan. I like Melendez but it was a punk move.

 

[The Reed]

Aoki is a great fighter, but he didn't lose that fight because it was in a cage lmao.

It didn't help.

I really do think this Kamal win is severely underrated, not only that he took Kamal(one of the best wrestlers in the division) down and controlled him but that he beat him with a lot less trouble than top lightweights Miller, Khabib and even Dos Anjos had.

It's a huge shame we'll probably never get to see Aoki fight in the UFC, I know he'd shut up a lot of haters and work his way back into the top 5.

 

[Kingz]

I don't think anyone is saying Aoki has bad wrestling, but it's not great.

I believe people think he has bad wrestling when compared to guys in the top-10. I mean this is what happened last time he fought a top-10 guy -

The last time he fought a top 10 guy he got knocked the fuck out.

Either way, Aoki kicks ass and i still consider him top shelf as far as LW goes. Hopefully he can get more fights stateside or they up the division over there in OneFC.

 

[heliotropic]

Aoki is not a traditional wrestler. However, his wrestling for MMA is fantastic. He has high level Judo, and he has worked hard to develop good takedowns combining elements of judo and wrestling. He is particularly good against the cage and using it for takedowns. If he gets his opponent's back against the cage, which he often does, he almost always gets them down to the ground.

 

[VolkHan]

last time he putted Shalorus on his ass, and Shalorus is a wrestler.
I don't think Aoki has the best wrestling around, but sure is good even in that aspect of a fight.