The man known as “Tobikan Judan” is, quite simply, one of the greatest grapplers the sport of MMA has ever seen.
Shinya Aoki is nearing 18 years as a professional MMA competitor, and during that time, the 37-year-old Japanese legend has secured an incredible 30 wins via submission.
A black belt in both judo and Brazilian jiu-jitsu, Aoki is a former ONE Championship, DREAM and Shooto Japan titleholder. He was also the lone lightweight champion for the ill-fated World Alliance of Mixed Martial Arts, a title he won following a 2008 submission win over Eddie Alvarez via heel hook.
With career wins via rarely-seen techniques such as the flying triangle choke, gogoplata and twister to go along with dozens of the more traditional variety, Aoki is unquestionably one of the most accomplished submission artists in the sport today.
Aoki returns to action at this week’s ONE on TNT IV, which airs Wednesday in the U.S. on TNT from Singapore Indoor Stadium, where he takes on Eduard Folayang (22-10) in a trilogy bout with the fellow former champ. Ahead of that clash, take a look at some of Aoki’s best work under the ONE Championship banner, which includes submission wins over the likes of Folayang, Honorio Banario, Kotetsu Boku, James Nakashima, Kamal Shalorus and more.