shit just got real
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Aoki: "If I lose, Japan becomes a US MMA Colony"
"I love Japan and it is certain that if I lose, Japan will become a colony of US MMA. Some maniacs say that USA's MMA is the best but I do not worship US MMA so this is a big war to me, just like my fight against [Sengoku champion] Hirota [on New Year's Eve]."
Being so sure of his position at the top of the Japanese food chain, Aoki is surely taking a risk with this April 17th fight against Melendez. If he loses, he leaves himself open to detractors saying that he could not cut it in the US, that Japan's MMA scene is a small, local affair and that he was in effect nothing but a large fish in a small pond.
"Yes, this is a high risk, high return proposition. If I get the return, I give it to DREAM because I am a son of DREAM. The same as in the New Year's Eve fight I am thinking 'OK, I'll kill you!' The relationship between me and the DREAM staff is real. They know my mind in this fight - Japan's lightweight division is world class, and of the same standard as the US lightweight talent pool. Shinya Aoki is an icon of the Japanese lightweights division and so this fight becomes a mega match," Aoki says.