Sengoku is calling for Shinya Aoki be punished for his behavior following his New Year's Eve win at Dynamite!! 2009 in Saitama, Japan.World Victory Road, the parent company of the Sengoku Raiden Championship, and the Japan Association of Athletics Federations urged DREAM Thursday at a press conference to prevent such unsportsmanlike conduct to happen in the future by taking disciplinary action against the DREAM lightweight champion.
Aoki easily dispatched of Sengoku's lightweight champ Mizuto Hirota at one minute and 17 seconds in the final matchup of the evening to clinch DREAM the victory over Sengoku 4-3. Aoki put an exclamation point on his win when Hirota refused to tap to a hammerlock and Aoki was forced to break Hirota's humerus bone in his right arm. But instead of checking on his injured opponent, Aoki stood over Hirota, gave him the middle finger and ran around the ring taunting him.
After, Aoki gave a pseudo-apology and reasoned that he acted with such intensity at the order of DREAM event producer Keiichi Sasahara.
"After my fight, I was excited, and so I did something rude that I should apologize for," Aoki explained. "But that showed just how excited I was over that fight."
The Japan Association of Athletics Federations, which believes Aoki's actions is detrimental to the organization's efforts to make MMA an Olympic sport, believed Aoki lacked remorse for his actions and his apology was not heartfelt.
If Aoki faces a fine and/or suspension, he won't be the first high profile Japanese fighter to be punished for brutally poor sportsmanship. In 2002, Norifumi "KID" Yamamoto was suspended for three months by Shooto for ground and pounding Tetsuo Katsuta even after the fight was stopped and his opponent had already been rendered unconscious by punches.
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