Shinya Aoki defeated Katsuhiko Nagata by first-round submission today at the Dream.4 event in Japan, and watching the way Aoki finished Nagata has me thinking Aoki might be the best submission artist in MMA right now.Aoki's submission took advantage of his extreme flexibility to go from a full mount position to get his shin up toward Nagata's neck. It was so unique that no one is quite sure what to call it -- Jim Murphy at the Savage Science calls it an omoplata shoulderlock from the top mount, while Sherdog lists Aoki as having won with a gogoplata. Bas Rutten, calling the fight for HDNet, said he had never seen Aoki's submission before. When you've got a submission move that Rutten has never seen, you're doing something special.
I think Aoki is the favorite to win the Dream Lightweight Grand Prix, and after that I'd love to see him come to America. B.J. Penn might be the best lightweight in the world, but we won't know for sure until we see Aoki in UFC.
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