Shinya Aoki submits Eddie Alverez at fields dynamite! MMA show

In one of the highlight matches of the DREAM/K-1 Fields Dynamite! New Years’ Eve megacard, Japanese submission machine Shinya Aoki used a heel hook to submit a top notch opponent in Eddie Alverez at 1:32 of the first round.  With the victory, Aoki sets up a rematch against reigning DREAM lightweight champion Joachim “Hellboy” Hansen and bolsters his claim as the best lightweight fighter in the world.

Alverez received an enthusiastic reaction from the fans in Tokyo’s Saitama Super Arena as he made his way to the ring on New Years’ Eve—his run to the DREAM lightweight finals and particularly the epic battle with Hansen has made him a highly respected and popular fighter in Japan.  The reaction he received was nothing like Aoki’s, however, who was cheered like a rock star as he bounced to the ring to his trademark theme song “Baka Survivor”.  While the fans stood and clapped along to the song, Alverez stood in the ring and shadow boxed—appearing somewhat like he didn’t know what he’d gotten himself into.

As the two fighters stood for referee instructions, it was striking how much taller and rangier Aoki was than his opponent.  Aoki is listed at 5’11”, Alverez at 5’8” but the visual difference suggests that there’s much more than a three inch height advantage in favor of Aoki.  The two men respectfully touched gloves and bowed slightly before heading back to their corner for the opening bell of what most anticipated would be a lengthy “chess match” between two of the best fighters at the weight.

For the first minute of the match, it appeared that a slow “feeling out” process was underway.  Alverez was the aggressor for most of the first minute, coming forward while using his jab as a “range finder”.  Aoki flashed a couple of leg kicks, but never connected with any.  Alverez landed the first blows of the contest, connecting with a nice three punch combination that displayed his lightning fast hands.  Aoki danced away, however, and wasn’t hurt by the attack. 

Shortly thereafter, Aoki’s unorthodox style began to cause problems for the Philly fighter.  Aoki went to shoot for a takedown, which Alverez stuffed.  Aoki ended up falling on his rear, but instead of hopping back up started to scoot around the ring on his butt while Alverez retreated not knowing what to think.  The first display of Aoki’s incredible athleticism came when he quickly bounced up from his seated position, landed a hard kick to Alverez’s midsection and immediately sat back down to resume his “sliding around the ring” tactic.  The crowd at this point was half laughing, half clapping at Aoki but the referee soon told him to cut it out and stood the fighters back up in the middle of the ring.

What happened next can only be described as “unbelievable”—the sequence started when Aoki grabbed Alverez’s ankle after a kick and appeared to go for what looked like a standing anklelock submission.  Alverez managed to extricate his ankle and seeing that Aoki was off balance took the opportunity to go for his own takedown with a move that looked more like a judo throw than a traditional wrestling move.  Against 99.9% of the other fighters in the world, Alverez would have ended up on top and started working in full or half guard.  In other words, it was a perfect strategic move for Alverez and in theory would lead to an opportunity to use his superior power and striking ability.

When Alverez landed, however, Aoki wasn’t there.  In one single, almost gravity defying motion he’d used the momentum from the takedown to shoot under Alverez and grab his leg.  Alverez struggled briefly, but Aoki quickly cinched in a painful heel hook.  Having prepared well for his opponent, Alverez went to counter by changing his body position and relieving the pressure but Aoki followed him move for move.  Eventually, Alverez maneuvered himself into an even worse position and with an audible shout of pain was forced to tap.  He got up slowly after the fight, but as of now there’s thankfully been no indication of a serious leg or joint injury.