D.P.

Nickname Tobikan Judan
Height 5 feet 11 inches
Weight 155 pounds
Born May 9, 1983
Team/Association Nippon Top Team, Paraestra Tokyo
Primary fighting style Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Judo

Wins 20
By knockout 1
By submission 12
Losses 4
Draws 0

MMA career

In August 2006, Aoki made his Pride Fighting Championships debut at Pride Bushido 12, submitting American Jason Black in under two minutes with a triangle choke. Following that win, Aoki was booked to face rising lightweight star Gilbert Melendez at the following Bushido card, Bushido 13. However, prior to the fight Melendez received an elbow injury (a burst bursa sac) in training and was forced to pull out of the fight. Aoki's opponent was changed to Clay French. Aoki submitted French in just under four minutes with a triangle choke. Afterwards, Melendez was shown in the crowd with a sling, and announced he would like to face Aoki at Pride Shockwave 2006 on New Year's Eve. Aoki agreed.

For unknown reasons, the proposed fight with Melendez did not take place. Instead, Aoki faced highly ranked lightweight fighter Joachim Hansen. Aoki submitted Hansen with a gogoplata — considered the first successful gogoplata in MMA competition.

After his win over Hansen, Aoki was set to rematch Kikuchi in Shooto, with Aoki's Shooto middleweight title (previously won from Kikuchi) on the line. Aoki successfully defended his title against Kikuchi, winning via split decision.

Following his victory, Aoki announced that he was to be the Shooto representative in the forthcoming Pride Lightweight Grand Prix tournament. Aoki's next fight was at Pride 34, where he faced little known Dutch fighter Brian Lo-A-Njoe. At the event Aoki submitted Lo-A-Njoe in the first round with an armbar. Following the fight, Aoki once again confirmed his participation in the Lightweight Grand Prix. With the purchase of Pride by the majority owners of Zuffa LLC, the Pride Lightweight Grand Prix was cancelled.

On November 21, 2007, Aoki's participation on the New Year's Eve MMA card Yarennoka! was announced. Originally, his opponent was to be two-time K-1 Hero's Middleweight Grand Prix champion Gesias "JZ Calvan" Calvancante. Rumors that Calvancante was injured surfaced only two weeks before the bout, though Calvancante denied them before eventually admitted the injury and withdrawing from the fight. Aoki defeated Korean Olympic Judo silver medalist Jung Bu-Kyung, Calvancante's replacement, via unanimous decision in what was Jung Bu-Kyung's mixed martial arts debut. Aoki had promised to use a never before seen submission in the match but was unable to finish the debut fighter.

Aoki finally faced Calvancante on March 15, 2008 at the opening round of the Dream Lightweight Grand Prix tournament. Early in the first round, the referee stopped the action when Calvancante apparently landed illegal elbow strikes to the back of Aoki's neck. The ringside doctor announced that Aoki was unable to continue due to the injury and Calvancante apologized for the incident. The fight resulted in a no contest. Elbow strikes to the neck and spine area are illegal under Dream rules. Aoki was later found to have sustained concussion of the cervical vertebra.

They had their rematch at Dream 2 on April 29, 2008. In that match, Aoki defeated Calvancante via unanimous decision, and shocked the Mixed Martial Arts and Jiu-Jitsu world with his use of the De La Riva guard to deliver multiple heel kicks to Calvancate's Head. He sustained a severely bruised rib and tore cartilage in his costal area during the match. At Dream 4, Aoki defeated Katsuhiko Nagata via a mounted gogoplata (possibly the first ever in professional competition) submission to advance to the semi-finals of the Dream Lightweight Grand Prix. At Dream 5, Aoki defeated Caol Uno by unanimous decision. Later that night, Eddie Alvarez was set to fight Aoki, but had to bow out due to injury from his previous match that evening. Joachim Hansen took his place and defeated Aoki by TKO at 4:19 round 1 to become the first Dream Lightweight Champion.

At Dynamite!! 2008 on New Years Eve, Aoki finally squared off against American Eddie Alvarez. Aoki started quickly, securing Alvarez's back after catching a kick, before being thrown to the canvas by the stronger American. In a scramble, Aoki latched onto the foot of Alvarez and applied a heel hook. Alvarez fought the hold, but tapped out shortly after Aoki adjusted his grip. Alvarez also suffered ligament damage in his knee. With the win, Aoki is now ranked as the number-one or number-two lightweight fighter in the world, arguably only behind BJ Penn. With his victory over Alvarez, Aoki became the very first WAMMA Undisputed World Lightweight Champion.

Dream has signed Aoki to compete in two events. First, Aoki defeated David Gardner at the March 8, 2009 featherweight-grand-prix card at Dream 7 at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. Aoki, who is still recognized by Shooto as its middleweight champion, also will move back to that weight to fight in Dream's upcoming welterweight grand prix at Dream 8 in 2009. His first match in the tournament will be a rematch with Hayato Sakurai. Aoki lost the fight in twenty-seven seconds via TKO due to punches and knees following an Aoki takedown.