A decade later, Shinya Aoki returns to RIZIN looking for full closure

Shinya Aoki headlined the first RIZIN card back in 2015, running through legendary Japanese star Kazushi Sakuraba in six minutes. A decade later, “Tobikan Judan” walks to that ring again for a return he never really expected to happen.

Aoki signed with ONE after his sole appearance in RIZIN, where he became lightweight champion. At 43 years of age, and booked to face local superstar Mikuru Asakura in the co-main event of Thursday’s Super RIZIN 5 card in Osaka, Aoki sees it as a chance for closure after MMA promotion DREAM failed to fill the gap left with the end of PRIDE.

“For me, being known to the younger fans is not too important,” Aoki told MMA Fighting through an interpreter. “What I’m more focused on is when you look back at the history of Japanese MMA, there was PRIDE, and then PRIDE was bought out by the UFC. And then DREAM came along, but DREAM kind of faded out without a full closure. It just kind of ended, and everybody was kept in limbo. The fans were kept in limbo. And for me, the main reason for 2026 is to fight and to make a full closure of what DREAM was supposed to do. So that is my No. 1 priority in my return.”

DREAM was founded by former PRIDE executives in 2008 and put on 24 events in a span of four years, featuring stars like Gegard Mousasi, Eddie Alvarez, Ronaldo Souza, Alistair Overeem, Jason Miller, and Kazushi Sakuraba. When DREAM came to an end, ex-PRIDE chief Nobuyuki Sakakibara created RIZIN.

“When I was discussing about fighting in RIZIN [in 2026], I wasn’t quite sure how the fans would react to my return,” Aoki said. “A month and a half in and just going through this process, I was actually very surprised that the fans accepted my return. Obviously a lot of stuff happened during the time, obviously, but I’m very surprised how welcoming the RIZIN fans were. And for me, I kind of felt that I would never fight in Japan again. With that said, I’m very grateful that I was given this opportunity to fight on such a big prestigious event. Right now, I’m nothing but grateful.”

Aoki said he has noticed a big difference between current MMA audience now compared to a decade ago, and wondered if “current fans even knew my existence.” Aoki’s last three fights in ONE took place in Japan, when he submitted John Lineker and Eduard Folayang before losing to Hiroyuki Tetsuka, but those were under the ONE banner, a company that “really doesn’t have the greatest presence over here in Japan.”

“Obviously ONE is an international brand headed and they create their content towards the international audience,” Aoki said. “What I meant by never fighting in Japan is that I was talking about Japanese combat sports, you know? Obviously, Japanese combat sports, Japanese MMA has the rich history of coming from the UWF days. There’s a rich history that created what Japanese MMA is today. So when I meant not fighting in Japan, yes, for ONE I was fighting in Japan, but I wasn’t fighting in Japan, if that makes any sense. I was fighting for an international company making content towards internationally. I wasn’t fighting in a Japanese historical company targeted for the Japanese audience.”

Aoki admits he was “kind of surprised” when RIZIN offered him a deal to return, and feels it’s a much bigger deal considering how long it took for him to return. Aoki is very much looking forward to entering the Kyosera Dome Osaka arena to perform again for a Japanese promotion, but doesn’t quite expect the same PRIDE vibe from the 2000’s.

“I would have to say that the current product that RIZIN brings is a completely different thing than what PRIDE had,” Aoki said. “The biggest difference is that what RIZIN is doing right now is a sport. It’s a sport called MMA. And that’s the main biggest difference back from the PRIDE days. Coming back to this new Japanese MMA scene, is it good or bad? I look at it as I have no choice. This is what I’m coming back to, you know, and this is what I have to do. It is what it is.”

“I’ve thought a few times, man, maybe I should have made my comeback earlier to Japanese MMA,” he added. “I’ve thought about that a few times. But when you take a different approach in a chain of mind of thought, when you take a different angle, because of ONE’s direction in MMA and Japanese MMA’s direction has kind of separated, I think there’s a highly anticipated reason why I’m back. I’ve kind of learned to take it this way. The past 10, 13 years, this entire time has been the greatest time to build the anticipation for my return into the Japanese MMA scene. That’s how I look at it.”

“Already in transition” to prepare for retirement life, Aoki still has goals in mind. That includes competing for MVP MMA, a new MMA promotion that recently merged with RIZIN’s partner PFL. Aoki has “no desire to put myself in the title contention” in 2026, instead chasing other interesting match-ups available.

A dream fight with B.J. Penn is “almost impossible,” but other plans can still be made.

“I only have a limited amount of time left in my career, I know that, so I’m not about to use that time to try to go after a belt,” Aoki said. “If I were to fight abroad, I would want to fight somewhere where I haven’t fought before. So Brazil, for instance, and then Russia. And I’m not quite sure if I’m going to get the call or not, but it would be interesting if I got the call for the MVP in like the legend fight slot. That would be something that might be fun.”

The next target is Asakura, a 34-year-old striker who holds a record of 13-5 in RIZIN after coming up short in a title clash with Razhabali Shaydullaev in his most recent bout in September of 2025.. Asakura was only 9 when Aoki made his MMA debut in 2003 and holds a win over current RIZIN champion Luiz Gustavo, plus victories over former titleholders Kleber Koike and Chihiro Suzuki.

“That reflects pretty well because a lot of the current fighters have a dad my age,” Aoki said. “That thought itself is pretty crazy. I mean, I fought Antonio McKee, and his son is AJ McKee and he’s fighting on the same card. That itself kind of explains how time passes. I haven’t really felt like I’ve aged that much, but when you look at it that way, when you look at it from perspective, yes, it seems like I’ve just became this veteran before I even knew it.”