Sat on this one for a while – Arnaud’s mouth was taped shut, and a planned exclusive didn’t pan out.
But here it is; as many expected, Arnaud Lepont has managed to get himself a showdown with his “idol”, lightweight great Shinya Aoki.
Arnaud wont replace the infamous “TBA” on the Pride of a Nation fight poster, despite Aoki’s main-event fight being the only inconclusive piece of business regarding the Manila card, the rest of it finalised. But for the “Rise of Kings” event, to be held in Singapore in early October, “The Game” is set for a collision course with The Master of Flying Submissions, and all eyes in Asian fightsport will be watching when he does.
Hell, in JJ Ambrose, Ray Elbe and Isamu Himura, there will be three extremely interested parties on my own street, let alone the rest of Asia.
I’ll save the predictions; coming from me, there’s no point, be it Aoki vs Melendez II, vs Alvarez III, vs. Penn, vs. prime Gomi, vs. Sakurai III, the end result in my mind at 155lbs is AOKI via SUBMISSION.
Arnaud had best bring his “A” game, he’s coming up against one of the best players to ever do it.
Mr Elbe backed up his last 3 fights (arnauld, gracie, mamba) and not fight in last 3 years; Ambrose last wins are on Masakazu Taguchi 3-6 record, Robert Palacios who is 2-6, Gargiuer who is 6-6; and Himura Isamu is on a 3-7 record.
I don’t think that arnauld really care about these local fighters when he is fighting the best fighter in Asia in couple of weeks.