Shinya Aoki To Face Antonio McKee At DREAM: "Fight For Japan"DREAM Lightweight Champion Shinya “Tobikan Judan” Aoki will face former MFC champ Antonio “Mandingo” McKee at DREAM: “Fight For Japan” on May 29th in Saitama, Japan. The non-title bout, which was first reported by Sherdog.com last week, was made official for the card on Sunday.

Aoki has not fought in Japan since New Year’s Eve, when he was knocked out in embarrassing fashion by Yuichiro “Jienotsu” Nagashima in a mixed rules kickboxing and MMA bout. McKee, like other recent MFC champions, vacated his title last month and will compete for DREAM for the first time.

Aoki (27-5-0, 1 NC) has not lost in MMA since an unsuccessful bid for the Strikeforce Lightweight Championship against Gilbert “El Niño” Melendez last April. Of his four wins since, three have come by way of submission, including a quick and impressive stoppage of Lyle “Fancy Pants” Beerbohm for Strikeforce on April 9th. The grappling ace sports 17 submission wins and will look to become the first man to finish McKee in exactly ten years.

McKee (25-4-2) is one of the top wrestlers in the lightweight division, but the 41-year-old has been the subject of criticism for a perceived lack of finishing ability that has led to 18 decision wins. However, both of McKee’s most recent victories have come by first-round stoppage. McKee made his UFC debut on New Year’s Day, but was cut from the promotion after suffering a Split Decision loss. He vacated his MFC title after the fight and will aim to rebound from his first loss in nearly eight years.

DREAM Japan Grand Prix: “Fight For Japan” takes place on May 29th at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. The event may air on HDNet in North America. Proceeds from the card will go towards disaster relief and reconstruction after the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan on March 11th.

 

DREAM: “Fight For Japan” Fight Card (subject to change):

– Shinya “Tobikan Judan” Aoki vs Antonio “Mandingo” McKee
– Katsunori Kikuno vs Daisuke Nakamura
– Caol “Uno Shoten” Uno vs “Wicky” Akiyo Nishiura
– “Lion” Takeshi Inoue vs Koichiro Matsumoto
– “The Endless Fighter” Mitsuhiro Ishida vs Joachim “Hellboy” Hansen
– Kenji Osawa vs Takafumi Otsuka (*)
– Masakazu “Ashikan Judan” Imanari vs Keisuke Fujiwara (*)
– Yoshiro Maeda vs Hideo Tokoro (*)
– Darren “BC” Uyenoyama vs Atsushi Yamamoto (*)
– Winner of Uyenoyama/Yamamoto vs Winner of Maeda/Tokoro (**)
– Winner of Imanari/Fujiwara vs Winner of Osawa/Otsuka (**)

*DREAM Japan Bantamweight Grand Prix Quarterfinal
**DREAM Japan Bantamweight Grand Prix Semi-Final

 

 

(Photo Credit: Sherdog.com)