Manager Shu Hirata Criticizes Shinya Aoki, Talks State of Japanese MMA

Shu Hirata is the manager for some of Japan's most successful MMA fighters. Takeya Mizugaki (pictured), Yoshiyuki Yoshida and many more Japanese fighters fight under Hirata's management. But since the demise of PRIDE FC in 2007, many have begun to question the level of Japanese MMA and Japanese fighters.

It is Hirata's job to bring Japanese fighters to the West and to help them be successful. He is better at his job than anyone else. In this MMAFighting.com exclusive interview, Hirata sheds light on the problems with Japanese MMA, the failure of Shinya Aoki and the future of the sport in Japan.

For many fans, Shinya Aoki's fight against Gilbert Melendez was being used as a measuring stick for Japanese MMA as he was the first Japanese champion to fight in America in his prime since PRIDE collapsed. What did you think of the fight and were you surprised by the outcome?


No I am not surprised at all. Remember, Aoki's fighting style is very risky to begin with and also, this is not to protect him or anything, but his strategy is not suitable for today's five-minute rounds and the 10-point must scoring system. His fight style is suitable for an unlimited time bout where judges score the entire bout (as in PRIDE or DREAM), not by rounds. His fight style is to look for that one or two opportunities to submit the opponent just like Royce Gracie did when he fought Kimo in the primitive era of MMA. In that fight Royce got beat up but yet won the fight with an armbar.


I mean, if you want to be really ultimate about it, Aoki's fight style is suitable for fighting in an open field with no judges. Fighters fight till one of them submits or gets knocked out kinda thing. He would be suitable for fighting in a place like Ganryu Island where Misashi Miyamoto faced Kojiro Sasaki. But we all know this is a modern era of MMA. So I am not surprised that Aoki got dominated because he has never really kept up with what has been taking place in the North America for the past ten years or so.


Aoki wasn't fighting under the same scoring system as everyone else here in the States. Not only the scoring system but he had never even fought in the cage. I mean, my god, Strikeforce doesn't even allow elbow shots to the head. If this was in the UFC, he may have ended up being very bloody. Its obvious fighters here in the States know that if the opponent pulls guard, then take him to the cage, close the distance and drop punches and elbows. Aoki never had to deal with that when he was fighting in a ring.


Also in today's MMA, striking skills, especially boxing skills, are an absolute must. I know Aoki has been training Muay Thai but he has almost no punching skills, and that is a big chunk out your game. Without having an effective striking it's almost impossible to close in on a fighter the caliber of Gilbert Melendez.

Aoki implied after the fight that because of his loss Japanese MMA is inferior to American MMA. Japan is now just a "MMA colony" of America. What did you think about that?



You know, I've had dinner with Aoki so I know him and I think he is a good guy but I am going to say something very critical because I like the guy. Who the hell do you think you are? Really, who said that you are the representative of Japan?

While he was taking a safe path, the guys like Yushin Okami, Ryo Chonan, Akihiro Gono, Yoshiro Maeda, Kuniyoshi Hironaka, Keitaro Nakamura, Dokonjonosuke Mishima, Mitsuhiro Miura, Yoshiyuki Yoshida, Kazuhiro Nakamura, Takeya Mizugaki and recently Takanori Gomi, and of course, many others, bravely stepped up and went to the real "Major League" called the UFC/WEC. Sure only few of them are still surviving in there but these guys are the fighters that carried the Japanese flag on their shoulders.

All Aoki did was, walked on a safe, glorious path created by DREAM and fought in Strikeforce, which is not necessarily the certified "Major League" of MMA. He is not walking on the tough road. Its like while Ichiro and Matusi are playing in the MLB, he was making a special appearance in some Canadian or Carribean baseball league. So for him to say Japan has become a MMA colony of the States just because he got beat by Melendez is a big insult to guys like Okami, Mizugaki and Yoshida who are still fighting and winning enough to stay in the big leagues.

So what needs to change about Japanese MMA to allow more Japanese fighters to survive in the West?


The skill level of fighters, the training environment and even the respect MMA fighters get from the general public right now in North America is way ahead of Japan. I think overall effort is lacking. The promoter is not putting enough effort to promote shows. For example, there is not enough emphasis on getting sponsors and TV deals from overseas.

I think fighters and gyms are not putting in enough effort to learn new training methods. There should be more fighters going to the states for training, and more trainers should be coming to the States to see and learn what the other MMA fighters and trainers are doing. Also, Japanese fighters should also put in a little more effort to learn about training, dieting, nutrition and everything else necessary for MMA. I think fighters and gyms should be more keen on bringing in their own sponsors. All of these things would ultimately bring more business to the world of the Japanese MMA but I don't see that happening. It has been the same for the last ten years or so.


What do you think can bring about these changes needed in Japan ?


Unless going digital in 2012 makes a big difference in the Japanese TV market, Japanese MMA would never ever going to beat Zuffa because there is no such a thing as a big PPV market in Japan. People in Japan are not used to paying for television. It's not customary. It's not common.The only way to revive Japanese MMA, I believe, is to have a Japanese UFC or WEC champion.


Look at MLB. its very popular in Japan now because there are Japanese stars that are doing well - like Ichiro and Matsui. But in the UFC or WEC, we still haven't seen Ichiro or Matsui yet. Think of it this way: if GSP or Anderson Silva were Japanese, then they would be all over the Japanese TV by now and even an old lady in the deep woods of Yamagata prefecture would know what the UFC is. So fighters are the ones that can really change everything. Even only one Japanese champ might be able to change everything. We need Japanese Tiger Woods in the UFC then everything would fall into the places for the entire industry.

Is there anybody fighting now that you think could become this champion that Japan needs?

I honestly think Yushin Okami and Takeya Mizuagki still have a chance to became the first Japanese champion in the Octagon. Besides them, I think fighters like Ikuo Usuda and Nobuhiro Obiya could be very competitive if they are willing to cut to 145 lbs. I've always believed that Hatsu Hioki could compete at the world's top level at 145 lbs, as could Lion Takeshi.

However, because of Japanese MMA politics some of those fighters won't leave Japan and test their skill in the Octagon so I am actually already looking to the younger generation of athletes.

I am now doing a heavy scout on high school judo or wrestling champions that are willing to begin MMA training here in the States and start a pro MMA career here in the States. I have to convince their parents as well but so far I am not having any difficulty explaining to kid's parents that UFC / WEC is far better than fighting in Japanese MMA shows.

Yes, times have changed. I can not mention his name here yet, but I am close to signing a 17-year old national high school judo champ that is willing to skip Japan as soon as possible and do MMA here in the States. This kid and his father are huge UFC fans so it took me five minutes to convince them.

Guy sounds like he has a good head on his shoulders

thanks for the post.

how much do you reckon Dana is paying this guy?

lol chesty
I think he has a valid point

I think he is spot on about Aoki but to be fair to Aoki,he was ignorant towards MMA outside of Japan really and you could maybe forgive him for thinking that Japan was better since he had beat a few b level US guys and Alverez,and like any superstar in any country,it's easy to believe in your own hype when your walking through fighters in Dream (shit he and a good few Japanese fighters have been pulling the wool over alot of fans eyes for a while now about how good they are )but since he was schooled by a real top level LW,he has stepped up and admitted how wrong he was (I wonder if some fans will start to admit it too )and has now realised like Hirata has,that he and other top Japanese fighters need to be training with some of these American camps where the fighters are all on a higher level and have taken the science and nutrition of the sport to a whole new level to become a top of the food chain fighter and not like the old school ways that japanese fighters seem to stick with.

To echo Hirata's point, I'm a bit sick of the notion that Aoki is the presumed number one representative for Japanese MMA. Aoki's style is very tailored for the ring and Japanese rules, and even though Aoki has victories over both JZ and Alvarez, I like their chances of succeeding in the US a lot more than Aoki's. Kawajiri as well. Kawajiri had an extremely close fight with Melendez that the majority of fans thought he won. Had Kawajiri vs Aoki happened, then Kawajiri had fought Melendez, we could have had a completely different perspective of how Japanese MMA stacks up against American MMA, one that would have probably appeared a lot more competetive.

On the whole though, I agree entirely about Japanese MMA being behind in terms of training and promotion. For example, a lot of fight cards only get finalised a week or two before the event. It wasn't uncommon for fighters in Pride to only find out their opponent days before they were due to fight them, same thing goes on in Dream and other organisations, which is madness when you consider how essential opponent specific game plans are today.

Also, although the tournament format is incredibly entertaining, I really don't think it gives fighters a chance to fight to their fullest ability. I think a lot of losses happen in tournaments that might not have happened had the participants met in other circumstances.

Yoshida lost to Guymon recently, I doubt he is a good representive of Japanese MMA. Not anymore anyway.

Okami has more potentiol because he trains right and cuts a good amount of weight for every fight but he isn't well rounded enough. Despite being a decent wrestler he has no answer for good wrestlers like Shields or Sonnen. His striking isn't great either is it, the better strikers in the division will KO him so he doesn't excel in one aspect of MMA. He would have a good chance of beating some one like Palhares/Maia because he is a better striker and an equal or better wrestler, obviously with a lesser ground game. But against the likes of Belfort, Nate, Sonnen, Shields ect. Not likely. Plus he is pretty boring to watch. No way could he be a champion in the UFC.

Im not sure what to think of Crusher TBH, his record against the better fighters are mixed.

Aoki though still suffers from a lack of well rounded skills, you can't be a top fighter for a sustained period without at least solid standup skills. Really thats nothing to do with ring/no ring, Japan/US or Cambodia. His standup is very poor and he has a bad chin, so really he should have trained a long time ago. Considering his body type, I think he would be decent at Muay Thai and he should learn to dodge attacks as well, like Silva does but obviously not to that level.

I think someone like Minowa could do decent in SF/UFC but would he ever consider fighting there. He needs to get away from the freakshow fights but overall he is decently well rounded and IMO the most improved fighter of 2009. He was losing to guys Min So Kim a few years ago, now he has beat some ehh... well not good fighters but good considering there size.

Who would people pick in an Okami vs Minowa fight?

What a fight that would be!! When you look at how Minowa copes with Decent oposition thought Im not hopefull! He Struggled with Baroni back in the day so even I have to admit id fancy Okami to win. Though Minowa is on exceptional form and is bigger than ever.... Be an interesting fight to watch. Minowas leg submissions are great cause he has slapped them on some big fighters, Id love to see it.

Shame no word on Minowas next fight. Im really holding out hope for him being in this Lhw tournament.

You know as much as I hate him for constantly failing to capitilise on his potentiol, Sokudju can atleast be considered decent opposition. He isn't a top fighter yet, or possibly ever but he can be considered a decent opponent. Great judo, solid standup, crazy power, big overall dude. There fight was shit and Minowa wasn't dominating but he did KO him. He hasn't really shown KO power before, it could be an indication of how much he is improved. I really want to see him against better fighters, I'd love for him to fight Ninja or Lombard. Ninja won't happen but Lombard could, Bellator allowed Alvarez to fight in Dream.

I never saw the Baroni fights but everyone and there mothers know Baroni is the most dangerous fighter in MMA...for the first minute. Either way Minowa has come along way since then, I have to give him a lot of credit. He could have just stayed the same and been a shit fighter or even quit, but he really has improved massivley. Never going to be a threat to A Silva but he does deserve a lot of credit IMO.

I would root for him against Okami and I don't think its that unlikely that Minowa could win. If Minowa can get the takedowns he would have a real shot, standing up he could hold his own. Its not like size is a problem!

MATE!!

you need to see the Minowa/Baroni fights. PRIDE Bushido 7 & 9. two brutal wars + the emergence of bald Minowa.

Baroni and Minowa must have a rubber match before mma is over.

Oryt thanks for the recomondation, I'll definitley watch both matches now.

yeah the end of the first one is brutal