Shinya Aoki will put a professional wrestling championship on the line 11 days before he returns to MMA against Mikuru Asakura.
Aoki and Junta Miyawaki won the KO-D Tag Team Championship at DDT Pro-Wrestling’s Wrestle Peter Pan on August 11 at Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo. Miyawaki pinned HARASHIMA with the Sunshine Clutch at 12:21 to take the belts off Chris Brookes and HARASHIMA (c).
The new champions did not get long to enjoy them. Jun Akiyama and Rukiya challenged for the titles immediately afterward, and the match was booked for DDT’s August 30 show at Korakuen Hall.
That puts a title defense on Aoki’s calendar 11 days before he meets Asakura at Super RIZIN 5 on September 10 at Kyocera Dome Osaka.
Aoki, 43, holds a 49-12 MMA record and has worked DDT dates alongside his fighting career since 2018. Asakura, 34, is 19-6 and has not fought since December 31, when Razhabali Shaydullaev stopped him by TKO at RIZIN’s New Year’s Eve card.
The two have history that predates the booking. Speaking at a ONE Championship press conference in 2022, Aoki accepted a fight with Saygid Izagakhmaev and used Asakura as the punchline: “If I was Mikuru Asakura, I would not have accepted the fight offer.”
Miyawaki already has a plan for the belts. Backstage at DDT’s August 5 show in Shinjuku, he said he wanted to beat HARASHIMA for the titles and then walk down the RIZIN entrance aisle alongside Aoki carrying them.
