Aoki vs Varner possible at Dream 17

http://mmaweekly.com/shinya-aoki-likely-to-face-antonio-mckee-at-dream-fight-for-japan

I'd love to see this. McKee gets a takedown and then gets twisted like a pretzel

Yeah thats a bad matchup for McKee. Hey Bobbit when is the next Caps game...............yup I just went there!

corydd7 wrote:

Yeah thats a bad matchup for McKee. Hey Bobbit when is the next Caps game...............yup I just went there!

I love this fight! I thought McKee would atleast get a few wins in the UFC but I was wrong. The guy is a boring fighter, but he is a gifted wrestler and grappler. I am going with Aoki. I know McKee will get many TD's but he won't keep the same pace as Gil and Aoki might get a sub in there. However McKee can pull a Shields vs Hendo and eek out a win. This fight should be a good ground fight with a few slams involved. Can't wait!

Jamie Varner is also a possibility apparently

http://www.sherdog.com/news/news/Source-Aoki-Varner-Targeted-for-Dream-17-32155

Looks like Varner is more likely

Aoki-Varner..interesting

We know Varner will lose though because he'll come to fight and Aoki will just come to grapple.

It depends on how well Varner can strike from the outside. He has power in his hands but he needs to stay the fuck away from Aoki if he wants to win this.

if Varner beats Aoki, Aoki will take a big drop

Birdofthad wrote:

if Varner beats Aoki, Aoki will take a big drop

I thoughy his stock dropped long ago especially last dec wen he lost to a guy who hadnt had in mma fight in 4 years in the mma portion of their fight

Aoki is going back to japan with a few extra limbs... all of which once belonged to Varner

throwdownfight1 wrote:

Birdofthad wrote:

if Varner beats Aoki, Aoki will take a big drop

I thoughy his stock dropped long ago especially last dec wen he lost to a guy who hadnt had in mma fight in 4 years in the mma portion of their fight

that hurt but it was technically not an MMA match so it did not effect his record or ranking in the division. Currently almost every ranking system that is respected has him #3 in the world or #4

I don't see how he can be ranked in the top 4 simply because Edgar, Maynard, Gil, and Jim Miller should be ahead of him in pretty much every ranking. Even our rankings have him just outside the top 5. New Years Eve's performance shouldn't technically drop him but the fact is we saw that he cannot handle complete fighters. From this point on he's going to need to keep fighting in America if he hopes to achieve a top 5 ranking because virtually all the top ten Lightweights in the world(except Crusher who may or may not keep fighting here as well) are in the states.

Aoki has a lot of question marks at this point. That was made clear when beating Lyle Beerbohm was considered a big moment and a needed win for him. He sounds like he's interested in making his way to the States here soon though. I like him to tap Varner

Already reported not likely, check maybe mmaweekly for it.

Birdofthad wrote:

throwdownfight1 wrote:

Birdofthad wrote:

if Varner beats Aoki, Aoki will take a big drop

I thoughy his stock dropped long ago especially last dec wen he lost to a guy who hadnt had in mma fight in 4 years in the mma portion of their fight

that hurt but it was technically not an MMA match so it did not effect his record or ranking in the division. Currently almost every ranking system that is respected has him #3 in the world or #4

Him ranked in the top 5 shows how mma over seas is kinda overated in a way and how once again the ufc lws are underated

http://mmajunkie.com/news/23621/visa-issues-force-antonio-mckee-out-of-dream-17-bout-with-shinya-aoki.mma
Antonio McKee (25-4-2 MMA, 0-0 DREAM) today told MMAjunkie.com
(www.mmajunkie.com) that his announced "DREAM.17: Fight for Japan" bout
with Shinya Aoki (27-5 MMA, 11-2 DREAM) has fallen through because he
was unable to obtain a visa.


HDNet first announced his withdrawal via Twitter, though the reason initially wasn't revealed.


However, a DREAM representative told MMAjunkie.com he isn't buying the fighter's excuse.

"There's a travel agent in L.A. since this morning ready to get all the
paperwork processed and have his visa processed by Thursday," said DREAM
rep Mike Kogan. "He would have had plenty of time. So if it's a visa
issue, he can get it done. If it's not, then his people need to come up
with a better excuse."

DREAM.17 takes place May 29 at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan,
and serves as a fundraiser following earthquakes and a tsunami that
recently ravaged the country. HDNet is expected to air the show in North
America.


It's not clear if Aoki will remain on the card; as of Monday, officials hadn't announced the loss of McKee.

Shane Nelson replaces Antonio McKee, faces Shinya Aoki at DREAM.17 http://bit.ly/l52acj

The NYE thing was a fighter getting caught. One who was way overanxious to get a striker to the ground(after aoki himself stalled through the striking portion of the fight). I don't put a ton of stock in that.

At 28, aoki already has a ton of good wins on his record. One dimensional, but in terms of pure grappling he is as dangerous as anyone. whether he is top 5 or top 10 is up for debate, but the dude is really darn good. If he entered the Beerbohm fight with question marks, he past that test with flying colors. Dude is proven.

Nelson is athletic and game but he's getting subbed in the first round

http://www.mmafighting.com/2011/05/17/rich-clementi-agrees-to-face-shinya-aoki/

Now Rich Clementi is the name at hand. Aoki first round sub