While the UFC keeps serving up wretched PPV events featuring over the hill fighters, #2 promotion Strikeforce continues their impressive run of quality shows.  Their next live event on CBS will feature a main event title bout between former UFC standout Dan Henderson and current Strikeforce middleweight champion Jake Shields.  Rising superstar Muhammad ‘King Mo’ Lawal will face the unenviable task of facing light heavyweight champion Gegard Mousasi.  For hardcore MMA fans, however, the most exciting announcement about the next Strikeforece event was the lightweight title matchup between current champion Gilbert Melendez and DREAM lightweight champion Shinya Aoki.

Aoki is arguably the most popular native MMA fighter in Japan (notwithstanding Kazushi Sakuraba, who long ago had ‘legend’ status conferred upon him) but this is the first time he’s ever fought in the United States.  In addition to being an exceptional fighter, Aoki is one of the most entertaining personalities in the sport.   A former police officer trainee, Aoki is famous for his often inscrutable behavior, his stylish horn rimmed glasses and his trademark multicolor ring tights.  Seriously, Aoki is a riot–he once called a press conference so Japanese MMA journalists could watch him meditate in preparation for his second fight with Gesias ‘JZ Calvan’ Calvancante.  After meditating for awhile, Aoki announced he was feeling ‘good energy’ and proceeded to run around the park in which the press conference was being held.

Aoki has no shortage of personality, but that shouldn’t overshadow the fact that he’s an absolute terror as a fighter.  Physically, he’s a tough matchup for many lightweights due to his 5’11″ height–especially tall for the weight class.  His lanky frame and long reach allows him to work outside the reach of shorter opponents, many who rely on standup and striking.  Aoki’s striking itself is suspect, though improving.  His overwhelming strength, however, his his ground game and submission skills.  Aoki may very well be the best submission fighter in the sport and is certainly the most innovative–he often seems to be making up submissions as he goes along which has resulted in such curiosities as a top mount gogoplata against Katsuhiko Nagata.    He’s got a unassailable technical background in martial arts, with black belts in both judo and jiu jitsu but his MMA style is very unorthodox and downright unpredictable.  That makes him a very difficult opponent to prepare for since he can submit you in so many different ways and you have no clue how he’ll set them up.

Gilbert Melendez will be a tough matchup for Aoki and the fight is definitely a contrast in styles.  While Melendez currently trains with Cesar Gracie on a team with BJJ monsters like Jake Shields and Nick Diaz, his strength is his standup game and workrate.  Melendez likes to push the tempo and bang with his opponents, and there’s no way Aoki will play along with a slugfest.  The danger for Melendez is getting overly aggressive–a mistake made against Aoki by another power puncher, Eddie Alverez.  Alverez tried to power Aoki to the canvas with a takedown early in their matchup only to have his opponent fly underneath him and catch him in a fight ending heel hook.  Melendez will probably not make the mistake of trying to go for a takedown as more often than not if Aoki gets the fight to the ground its just a matter of time before he wins it.

Here’s Aoki’s video intro and ring entrance from the December 2007 Yarennoka show in Tokyo.  The video preview gives you a good compilation of Aoki highlights and his ring entrance is always one of the best in the sport. And, no, I have no clue why they’re using a sample from 10CC’s 1970′s hit ‘I’m Not In Love’ nor do I have any clue what the cartoon mouse signifies: