Aoki is in a very good mood and talks about his fight, his future plans and who he thinks is the best in his weight class.

Shinya Aoki: (Entering) I'm in a good mood so let's get this thing going!

Shinya Aoki

Your thoughts about the fight?
My opponent was scary and tough. I thought I would be killed. But then I thought if I'm gonna get killed anyway, I might as well give it my all.

Many consider Alvarez the top fighter in your class. Do you think that now you are number one?
I think B.J. Penn is the best fighter in the world. As a fighter [not a DREAM fighter], I really respect B.J. Penn and I'd like to fight him. I felt that I showed the world what Japanese fighting should be.

You and your peers tend to go for leg locks against foreign opponents. Do you think they lack proper leg defense?
We are focused on MMA-style grappling. I was trying for an outside to inside heel hold. I learned that if you change an outside heel hold to an inside heel hold it makes it so much easier to get the hold.

Why did you choose the entrance song "Baka Survivor"?
I just wanted to have some fun.

It was reported that you went to Thailand to learn neck wrestling, but you didn't use it at all. Will you do more of this kind of training?
I'm a grappler, but I like kickboxing. Kickboxing attacks are a big part of my MMA technique.

BJP vs. GSP. Who wins?
B.J. Penn has a lot of technique and George St. Pierre's wrestling is also very high-level. I would really like to see what happens.

Shinya Aoki

Your goal for next year?
As a fighter, I'm setting my sights on fighting the world's best. It's not that I want to fight in UFC. Not at all. I just want to fight against B.J. Penn. Everyone says they want to fight against B.J. Penn, but no fighter in Japan wants to fight him more than me.