TOKYO, Mar 16 - The pall of uncertainty has fallen over the futures of both Shinya Aoki (Pictures) and Gesias Calvancante (Pictures) in the aftermath of Saturday's no-contest ruling in the Dream lightweight grand prix main event.
A troubled fight since its announcement for the year-ending Yarennoka card, the postponement of the Aoki-Calvancante just over a week prior to the event left many disappointed but eagerly looking forward to its promised arrival in March. While Aoki went on to fight judo silver medalist Jung Bu Kyung, Calvancante underwent surgery to repair his problematic left knee.
At around the three minute mark in Saturday's main event, three Calvancante elbows directed to the back of a shooting Aoki forced referee Yuji Shimada to step in and reprimand the Brazilian fighter. Aoki collapsed to the canvas, gripping the back of his head. Though elbows to the body are legal according to Dream rules, the final two strikes appeared to have missed their intended mark.
"I looked for his back -- the first one, I hit around the muscles, and the second one was light," Calvancante recalled in his post-fight interview. "I probably hit with the back of my arm, with the triceps. It was light to the neck, but it wasn't the elbow."
Though given time to recover, the "Baka Survivor" had seemingly met with an obstacle too overwhelming to endure as a joint decision between Aoki, his corner, and the ring doctor some minutes later deemed that he would be unable to continue, owing to apparent paralysis in his right arm.
After taking the elbows "all my energy seemed to go down, and I became paralyzed," said Aoki, his arm in a cloth sling. "If I could raise my arm, then I could continue the fight, and that's what the doctor said, but I could not raise my arm. That's why I could not continue the fight.
"As a fighter, I wanted to continue so I was requesting from my corner to let me continue. My chief cornerman -- my teacher Yuki Nakai (Pictures) -- and the doctor both said ‘no, it's impossible for you to continue.' As I trust my life to my corner and the doctor, I decided to abide by their judgment."
Forced to accept the no contest as consequence, a distressed Calvancante apologized to the 19,120 fans in attendance, in and out of the ring. While devastated at the unfortunate outcome, the two-time Hero's grand prix champion was vocal in his requests to rematch Aoki in the near future.
"I want to fight him again," JZ said. "I asked for the rematch, and I want to continue in the tournament. So, I hope they can do it and figure something out. That way I can say something for the fans, you know, to look out for the fans, because I know they're disappointed, and this is the second time."
Dream event producer Keiichi Sasahara expressed a similar desire to see the two top lightweights rematch, though he admitted that his would not be the only voice in determining if one were to come about.
"Personally, I want them to rematch, since they couldn't fight on New Year's Eve, and tonight's outcome was unfortunate. It's frustrating, which is why I want that rematch between them," said Sasahara.
"According to the tournament's official rules, in the event of a no-contest, the physically able fighter will proceed in the tournament. In this case, it is JZ. Though it was announced this evening that the bout ended in a no-contest, we are still considering a final judgment as the elbow landed on a very vague area of the body. Was it intentional, was accidental? We'll be bringing these questions to the tournament committee for a final decision."
That said, questions as to the possibility that Calvancante could be disqualified, allowing Aoki to advance, were immediately broached.
"As of today, we consider it a no-contest," Sasahara said Saturday evening. "But please await our final decision. The no-contest may turn into something else. If it's considered a disqualification for JZ, Aoki will proceed to the second round of the tournament."
Aoki is not a stranger to this sort of debate, having picked up two controversial disqualification wins in the past. In bouts with veteran Shigetoshi Iwase (Pictures) and TUF alumnus George Sotiropolous, Aoki was struck with low blows, and was deemed unable to continue, giving him the win. In both cases, Aoki was criticized by fans and fighters alike for his embellishing of the fouls' effects, and his perceived refusal to continue.
In light of these unsatisfying conclusions he has had in the past, when asked if he would like to pursue a rematch to put a satisfactory end to this bout, Aoki was brief, but succinct.
"In my current state, I cannot think about what I'm going to do in the future," he started. "In spite of mentioning my past no-contest fights, at the moment, I'm a blank slate, and I really cannot think of anything at the moment."
With the official outcome in Saturday's final tournament bout pending, the structure of the lightweight grand prix's second round is unclear, as only six fighters are currently advancing. Though there has been some speculation as to a second round seed, no definite candidates have been indicated.
This week's final decision on the Aoki-Calvancante result, as promised at Sunday's post-fight press conference by Sasahara, will most likely determine whether a bout seeded into the second round will take place.
If Dream has no second round seed in the works, the likeliest possibility would perhaps see the rematch set as a second round tournament bout on May 11's Dream card. Such a move would ultimately leave the lightweight tournament schedule unaltered, and would fulfill the current rematch wishes of Sasahara, Calvancante, and MMA fans.
However sound the tactic may be, the possibility that an Aoki-Calvancante rematch would stay a first round tournament bout still remains.
"This is just my personal opinion, but if they rematch, it will still be a first round tournament bout," Sasahara said. "As the second round is on May 11, time is limited. We would like to consider the many different ways to do this, as there are many different opinions we can take, from both the promoters' side and the TBS' side."
Whether many Western MMA fans realize it or not, Tokyo Broadcasting System will also likely have a large say in what happens in the tournament's immediate future. While history dictates that lightweight MMA -- and lightweight professional wrestling, as well -- has never been consistently successful on Japanese television, a main event gone awry is likely of no help to the fledgling promotion's television presence.
This is further compounded by Dream's apparent investment in Aoki as the promotion's marquee lightweight fighter, serving as the main event not only for Saturday's event, but Yarennoka as well. Perhaps as the most immediate and telling consequence of Saturday's debacle is that the Mirko Flipovic-Tatsuya Mizuno (Pictures) bout was made the main event on that evening's TBS telecast.
Given Aoki's past and his otherwise unproven record under the big lights, TBS is most likely waiting to see how much popular interest Aoki can sustain -- as reflected through the ratings of Saturday's telecast -- before presenting their weighty opinions to Dream.
Immediate reaction by Japanese MMA fans online had largely been critical of Calvancante in the hours after the event. However, Aoki has eventually come to garner a fair share of criticism of his own from Japanese fans in the days following, much of which appears to be predicated on Aoki's past DQ-win exploits.
With a number of the Japanese fighter's peers also rumored as being dissatisfied with his conduct Saturday evening, it brings into question the possibility of Dream actually disqualifying Calvancante.
Perhaps overshadowed by the main event's unfortunate end is the rumor of Calvancante re-injuring his left knee. Though Calvancante claimed to be 100 percent recovered in the pre-fight buildup, rumors indicating that "JZ" had re-injured himself during training.
If this was indeed the case Saturday evening, it certainly makes for a compelling set of circumstances, both given the outcome thus far and if Aoki and his camp will grant a rematch should Dream and TBS press for one.
While TBS and Dream may have plans of their own in the works, it is clear that the overwhelming popular sentiment is to have both fighters rematch. Given that Dream, the spiritual successor of Pride, is a promotion that self-proclaims itself in tune with the will of the fans, the chances are good that the rematch will indeed happen.
What remains to be seen however is what the rematch will mean to the lightweight tournament overall, and what Aoki's value will be to the future of a fledgling promotion in the troubled waters of Japanese television.