Aoki Wants Akiyama at Dynamite!!

Fighters.com’s ninth-ranked lightweight “Tobikan Judan” Shinya Aoki (15-3) has once again called out fifth-ranked middleweight Yoshihiro Akiyama (12-2).

Aoki told Fighting Talk of the Treasure House radio show Sunday that he wants to fight only Akiyama at Dynamite!! 31 December in Saitama.

“It seems to me that Mikey (Akiyama) is making fun of our event,” Aoki said.

“His demand [to fight WVR’s Hidehiko Yoshida (8-6-1)] is nothing but self-centered.  I won’t fight anybody except Mikey on New Year’s Eve.  I’ll defeat him without gaining any weight.”

Aoki added, “If he doesn’t take this offer, I will consider that he is afraid of fighting me, and runs away.”  (Translation by Suki from MMA Fighting.)

DREAM producer Keiichi Sasahara is working to make the fight happen.  He said, “We were thinking about Badr Hari (1-0) and [“Techno Goliath”] Hong Man Choi (0-2) as Aoki’s opponent, but now we are only negotiating with Akiyama.”