Shinya Aoki names match with Marat Gafurov as the best fight of his ONE Championship career

Shinya Aoki is one of the most decorated fighters in ONE Championship history and has had a handful of iconic bouts that have defined his career.

There is, however, one match that the Japanese legend regards as the best one he's had in the organization. That contest is his submission grappling match against Russian constrictor Marat Gafurov in January 2018 in Indonesia.

Aoki is one of the pioneers of ONE Championship and 2022 marks his 10th year with the promotion. As a tribute to a decade of excellence inside the circle, ‘Tobikan Judan’ was asked to look back on his remarkable career.

In an interview with ONE Championship, Aoki said that his victory over Gafurov at ONE: Kings of Courage brought back his confidence following a string of three straight losses:

“First one is the grappling fight against Marat Gafurov. Because I was losing in a row at the moment. [I] lost against [Eduard] Folayang, Garry Tonon, Ben Askren. Many people said, ‘Oh Aoki is bad. He’s done.’ Then I fought in Jakarta for that grappling match. It was a really close fight, then I won. I felt, ‘I still can do [it].' It was the first time seeing the light from the sky when I heard the winner called and my hand was raised. That was my most memorable moment.”

Aoki seemed to have his confidence pulled out of him after losing three straight matches before his fight against Gafurov. The submission specialist lost the ONE lightweight world title to Folayang, a submission grappling match against Tonon, and a mixed martial arts bout against Askren.

Nevertheless, Aoki found a way to bounce back by submitting Gafurov with a tight rear-naked choke. The Evolve MMA fighter eventually strung up a five-fight winning streak that culminated in a victory over his rival Folayang for the ONE lightweight world championship.

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Shinya Aoki throws his full support for ONE Championship’s submission grappling push

Shinya Aoki isn’t just a pioneer in the Asian MMA scene, he’s also regarded as one of the most influential figures when it comes to submission grappling.

The Japanese star is the only man in ONE Championship to have competed in three submission grappling matches. He's gone up against Tonon, Gafurov and, most recently, Kade Ruotolo.

In a previous interview with Sportskeeda MMA, Shinya Aoki said he’s proud to see submission grappling get pushed into the mainstream. With that, he’s fully supportive of ONE Championship’s continued development of the sport:

“Grappling is a discipline which not many organizations are successful with. I really like how ONE Championship is now focusing more on bringing world-class grappling to the global stage, and I’m willing to fully support this new challenge. Also, as a fighter, it makes me happy to see Chatri Sityodtong’s love for martial arts,” said Shinya Aoki.