Dream 15 Preview: Tatsuya Kawajiri vs Shinya Aoki
In a fight long-rumoured to take place, this Saturday will see mixed martial artists Shinya Aoki and Tatsuya “Crusher” Kawajiri face off in the main event of Dream 15: Opposing Forces, put on by Dream Fighting Championships. The fight will see Aoki defending his 155-pound lightweight championship.
In other action, the co-main event will be other lightweight stars Katsukori Kikuno and Gesias “JZ” Cavalcante.
Determining the best Japanese lightweight
In Japan, both Aoki and Kawajiri are stars, and their fight in front of the crowd at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, will draw a lot of attention.
Aoki was seen as being the second-best lightweight in the world before he fought Gilbert Melendez in his American début for the Strikeforce promotion. Aoki was beaten solidly for five rounds by Melendez after having nearly caught him in a triangle choke early in the fight.
On the face of it, Aoki could be in deep trouble with this fight. Aoki’s stand-up has always been very rudimentary, and he occasionally has lacked powerful wrestling to take his opponents to the mat. If Kawajiri chooses to remain on the feet, it may be a long-night for Aoki as he’ll get battered.
Kawajiri comes into this fight off of four straight wins, although its been against lesser competition than what Aoki has faced. He most recently fought on New Year’s Eve at Dream’s Dynamite! event, where he scored a unanimous decision over Kazunori Yokota.
Kawajiri though earned his nickname of “Crusher” from his willingness to take fighters down and ground-and-pound them, raining punches from the top. He’ll look to sit in Aoki’s guard and pummel his opponent’s weaker chin until he knocks him out or breaks his will.
But in doing so, he’ll be exposing himself to Aoki’s spectacular grappling game. Aoki is easily one of the best Brazilian jiu-jitsu artists in the lightweight division, and is known to use rarely-seen submissions such as gogoplatas and hammerlocks to defeat his opponents.
A Karate star vs a lightweight on a slump
In the co-main event, Kikuno will be representing the traditional martial arts in a way few other fighters do. From a Kyokushin Karate background, Kikuno is known to do kata in his corner before combat, and uses a crescent kick rarely seen in MMA to occasionally devastating effect, driving the wind out of his opponents’ lungs and stomach by digging his toes under their rib cage.
That’s how he finished his last opponent, Kuniyoshi Hironaka, and he nearly defeated heavy favourite Eddie Alvarez in their last fight after catching him in a standing crucifix and punishing his body with kicks.
Cavalcante comes into this fight having once been one of the most promising lightweight stars in the sport, but his star has faded somewhat as he’s lost two consecutive fights, to both of the main event stars of the evening, first to Aoki and then to Kawajiri.
Cavalcante should have the advantage cleanly in the grappling department, as Kikuno has never displayed a high-level Brazilian jiu-jitsu or wrestling background. If he can take him to the mat, Kikuno will be in big trouble, and on the feet Cavalcante’s brawling style may not be as technical as Kikuno’s pin-point striking, but it should be enough for him to find the win one way or another. Cavalcante is coming in as the betting favourite for this fight, and rightfully so.
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