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Former ONE Lightweight World Champion, Shinya “Tobikan Judan” Aoki has revealed that he harbors many fears, especially when he competes.
Aoki previously mentioned that one of his greatest fears is the fear of failure. But knowing he has fans who look up to him, he puts on his game face every time he competes.
“I get nervous in front of people,” Aoki said.
“I find it hard because I need to show people that I’m tough.”
Aoki becomes a different man every time he enters the cage, he zones out and is focused solely on his opponent for the duration of the match.
“Everyone knows you have to change when you fight,” Aoki said.
“It would be too tiring if you are the same person in real life as you are in the cage. I can only stay the way I am in a match for 15 or 20 minutes.”
Being a former World Champion, all eyes seem to fall on Aoki each time he performs. The thought of disappointing his fans is another fear that he overcomes.
“I don’t feel good or bad before a match. I just feel nervous,” Aoki said.
“I have to switch personalities just before I enter the ring or cage, so that I will be able to perform.”
Aoki is deep in preparations for perhaps the biggest match of his career, to help him gain the focus and courage reclaim what he lost.
“I have to go through a number of routines every day to forget the fear,” Aoki said.
“I’ve been always like this. I push myself to do it because I have to.”
Aoki is set for a highly-anticipated rematch with the Philippines’ Eduard “Landslide” Folayang for the ONE Lightweight World Title on 31 March in Tokyo. The two figure in the main event of the stacked ONE: A NEW ERA card, the first ever live ONE Championship event in Japan.
With less than a month to go, Aoki is confident in giving the best performance of his career. He fully expects to emerge victorious in front of his hometown crowd.
“Athletes usually start a match thinking they are going to win,” Aoki concluded.
“But for me, I know I can either win or lose. That is why I am so happy when I win.”
