Longtime mixed martial arts (MMA) veteran Shinya Aoki reluctantly returned his DREAM lightweight belt recently as, with the Japanese promotion's future looking bleak, he had elected to sign an exclusive contract with the new force in Asian MMA, ONE FC.
That means the Japanese submission wizard is without a title for the first time since 2008, when there was a brief gap between him giving up his Shooto welterweight belt and winning the DREAM lightweight strap.
It leaves a space in the 29 year old's trophy cabinet which he is in a hurry to fill and he already has a replacement belt in his sights.
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