Shinya Aoki vs Lyle Beerbohm set for Strikeforce on April 9th

Posted by Thomas Volkert (Staff Writer)

Mar 7

Shinya Aoki will make his return to the Strikeforce cage on April 9th as he signed on to face fellow lightweight Lyle “Fancy Pants” Beerbohm at Strikeforce: Diaz vs Daley in San Diego, California. MMA-Japan was first to report of the signing.

The DREAM Lightweight champion made his Strikeforce debut against Strikeforce Lightweight Champion Gilbert “El Nino” Melendez that resulted in a lop-sided unanimous decision lose. Aoki followed up the loss with Three straight wins, including a victory over Tatsuya Kawajiri, who will fight for the Strikeforce Lightweight Championship on the same night. Aoki is coming off a KO loss to Yuichiro ”Jienotsu” Nagashima in a special MMA/K-1 Rules match at Dynamite 2010.

Known for his outrageous pants that he wears to fight in Japan, Aoki was knocked out just four seconds into the second round of the more favorable MMA Rules, getting hit by a flying knee by Nagashima after attempting a takedown. Since the fight was considered an exhibition fight, the loss does not count against his record.

Lyle Beerbohm himself is coming off a loss on the most recent Strikeforce Challengers card, dropping a unanimous decision loss to veteran Pat “Bam Bam” Healy, the first of his career. Prior to the loss, Beerbohm had rattled off sixteen straight wins to start his MMA career with notable victories over “Shoalin” Ribeiro, Duane Ludwig and Rafaello Oliveira.

The Strikeforce April 9th will take place at the Valley View Casino Center in San Diego, California and will feature two title fights as Welterweight Champion Nick Diaz will take on Paul Daley and Lightweight Champion Gilbert Melendez looks to defend his title against Tatsuya Kawajiri. Gegard Mousasi and Mike Kyle will also be featured on the televised card in a Light Heavyweight showdown.

Photo Courtesy of Susumu Nagao