Why has Aoki not made it to UFC

[IloveTHIS]

Even though his striking is almost non existent I would think UFC would be dying to sign this guy for potential highlight real subs. What gives?

 

[autolycus]

Makes too much money in Japan. Wouldn't be able to hang in the UFC anyway.

 

[astrallite]

All his hype crashed after the Menendez fight.

 

[eatthisjerry]

Money + he'd rather stay in Japan being a living hero than going to UFC to be smashed by wrestlers.

 

[TSK]

He doesn't want to leave Japan.

And this won't be popular with the JMMA diehards but he would have struggled a lot if he came over. The boxer/wrestler hybrids who cut weight would give him absolute fits. He wouldn't be able to get them down and they would beat him badly on the feet.

 

[GrantB13]

Wasn't there a thread about this yesterday or something?

 

[Arkridge]

What everyone else has said. He makes enough money in Japan to not worry about that shit, and he knows he would get neutralized in the UFC.

 

[ligthandshadow]

The Melendez fight did lower his stock in America.

And as was pointed out:
1) Money (he does well for where he is at)

2) Train year round and go 2-2 in the UFC against very dangerous opposition is tough on people.

145 pounds will be an interesting division for him though, curious how he does.

 

[GrindingANARCHY]

He'd get cut like Palhares.

 

[Kalmah]

Who cares, he's not even ranked.

 

[Rob_M.]

Yeah, he makes a good living in Japan. And he wouldn't do well in the UFC.

 

[Da Speeit]

Why fight for 50K+50k in the UFC when he's probably making around 5 times that a fight in Asia?

It's not that he's not good enough or not entertaining enough, he's both, he's just not dependent on the UFC. He's one of the rare fighters who has made a name for himself and made more money without Zuffa than he would with.

 

[Zodiac**]

I think he would rather handpick fights for the most part. I really don't think he could do much in the UFC either. He has beaten solid guys through his career but if he can't get you down he is toast. The McKee fight was one of the weirdest things I have seen.

 

[Abalone]

He doesn't want to leave Japan.

And this won't be popular with the JMMA diehards but he would have struggled a lot if he came over. The boxer/wrestler hybrids who cut weight would give him absolute fits. He wouldn't be able to get them down and they would beat him badly on the feet.

He's had an unusual amount of success for being primarily a jiu jitsu guy. I think consistency would be something he would struggle with in the UFC. He's so good at what he does that he might be able to catch some of the top guys but then go and lose against someone much worse.

I think everyone is pretty much spot on with the money thing. I don't think the UFC would pay him nearly as much as some of these other promotions are.

 

[BROWNPRIDE]

think he makes way more cash in japan than the ufc will pay for his subs

 

[JayMachiavelli]

blah blah blah, Japan, blah blah blah, the competition is easier blah blah blah

All his hype crashed after the Menendez fight.

Why is that, because it is the only televised fight of his that you seen or because he lost to 1 of the top LW in the world.

 

[genki sugoi]

This is something I'll miss about Strikeforce. They were willing to co promote and exchange fighters with other orgs to put on interesting fights that fans wanted to see.

 

[Free_MMAson]

Can't seem to put the finger on it

 

[Da Speeit]

All his hype crashed after the Menendez fight.

You mean when he went on to sub Kawajiri in one round?

 

[nfp]

look what happened to sexyama as an example