Do Japanese people really pay to watch this garbage? Seriously, the card was headlined by Aoki getting yet another light touch in Japan by fighting Rob McCullough. Yes, the same McCullough that couldn't even make it to Bellator's tournament semi finals. Yes, the same McCullough that has lost 5 of his last 9 with the 4 wins coming against fighters you wouldn't know. And if that's not bad enough, the card also featured bouts involving Caol Uno and Sakuraba, which I guess would have some merit if it was 2001. Shockingly both were easily stopped. Aoki is the one I find hilarious. Fans want to keep his name among the best or at least the top 10 in the division. But with back to back fights against Rich Clementi and Rob McCullough, he did nothing to help distance himself from 50 other lightweights that aren't good enough to be considered among the division's elite. You have to go all the way back to 2008, when Aoki beat Alvarez, to find a win on Shinya's resume involving an opponent potentially among the top 10 in the world. And oddly, since that win, Aoki has fought an amazing 12 times. Unfortunately, with the exception of the one-sided beatdown by Melendez, the other 11 opponents have all been from the bottom of the same recycled, mediocre pickle barrel. Some were even lower in the barrel than others. Joachim Hansen was on the card as well. He was choked out by Tatsuya Kawajiri who is yet another Dream fighter that couldn't hang with Gilbert Melendez. Since Hansen seems to be slipping further, I guess Aoki-Hellboy 17 is probably already in the works for Dream 18.
Well, actually Cope was before the current 9 fight streak by McCullough that I referenced. That being said, there are MMA fans that know guys like Marcus Hicks and Corey Hill, but not the casual fan. I apologize for not being more specific, but the point stands that McCullough is crap at this stage of his career and shouldn't be headlining a local cub fight.
