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Aoki’s Grand Prix Bout Postponed
Instead of replacing Shinya
Aoki (Pictures) in the Dream lightweight grand
prix, the promotion announced Monday that Aoki's quarterfinal bout
against Katsuhiko
Nagata (Pictures), scheduled for May 11, has been
postponed until June 15.
The delay is due to the numerous injuries Aoki sustained in his two recent bouts against Gesias Calvancante (Pictures). According to Aoki's family doctor, the 24-year-old grappling prodigy suffered a concussion of the cervical vertebra in his March 15 meeting with the Brazilian and picked up a severely bruised rib in the second battle on April 29.
"Because of the seriousness of his injuries, I have recommended Aoki not to fight again in the next 40 days," the doctor said. "He has torn some cartilage in his costal area, which prevents him from breathing properly. Aoki has to take two weeks off to fully heal up and as a result cannot compete on May 11."
The Japanese judoka, who is famous for wearing colorful spandex pants in his fights, apologized to fans.
"I'm sorry that I won't be able to fight on May 11, but I can promise that I will be back with a vengeance June 15," Aoki said. "I will be 100 percent motivated when I step into the ring and I will make good for cancelling the May fight."
Dream event producer Keiichi Sasahara discussed how the postponement would affect the tournament: "Originally we were aiming to have three straight shows for each grand prix: the round of the last sixteen, the quarterfinals, and the semifinals and finals in one event. With the many backlog fights, this format has unfortunately been broken up, but we prefer to stick with the original participants instead of giving out to many sponsor nominations."
Sasahara also stated Monday that he wants to keep Hayato Sakurai (Pictures) as one of the challengers for the newly created Dream welterweight championship to be fought out this summer, even though "Mach" suffered a first-round submission loss Saturday in Shooto at the hands of Frenchman David Baron (Pictures).
The delay is due to the numerous injuries Aoki sustained in his two recent bouts against Gesias Calvancante (Pictures). According to Aoki's family doctor, the 24-year-old grappling prodigy suffered a concussion of the cervical vertebra in his March 15 meeting with the Brazilian and picked up a severely bruised rib in the second battle on April 29.
"Because of the seriousness of his injuries, I have recommended Aoki not to fight again in the next 40 days," the doctor said. "He has torn some cartilage in his costal area, which prevents him from breathing properly. Aoki has to take two weeks off to fully heal up and as a result cannot compete on May 11."
The Japanese judoka, who is famous for wearing colorful spandex pants in his fights, apologized to fans.
"I'm sorry that I won't be able to fight on May 11, but I can promise that I will be back with a vengeance June 15," Aoki said. "I will be 100 percent motivated when I step into the ring and I will make good for cancelling the May fight."
Dream event producer Keiichi Sasahara discussed how the postponement would affect the tournament: "Originally we were aiming to have three straight shows for each grand prix: the round of the last sixteen, the quarterfinals, and the semifinals and finals in one event. With the many backlog fights, this format has unfortunately been broken up, but we prefer to stick with the original participants instead of giving out to many sponsor nominations."
Sasahara also stated Monday that he wants to keep Hayato Sakurai (Pictures) as one of the challengers for the newly created Dream welterweight championship to be fought out this summer, even though "Mach" suffered a first-round submission loss Saturday in Shooto at the hands of Frenchman David Baron (Pictures).
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