While we’ve been impressed with the 180 degree turnaround that HD Net has made in the quality of their DREAM coverage (particularly the announcing of Kenny Rice and Bas Rutten which has been stellar in their recent efforts) we miss the great prefight videos done by Daisuke Sato. HDNet can’t show these for copyright reasons, and while we understand this they sure add a lot to the whole experience of watching Japanese MMA.

Of course using the terms “Shinya Aoki” and “great” in the same sentence is completely redundant, but here’s the great prefight video from Aoki’s 2nd round lightweight GP matchup at DREAM.4. First half is Aoki, with a lot of footage of Aoki’s dad and childhood. 2nd half is his opponent, Katsuhiko Nagata, being interviewed in the New Japan Pro Wrestling dojo presumably saying “Aoki is going to tap me out with some sick submission that shouldn’t be humanly possible”.

Enjoy the greatness of Sato’s video work and the even greater greatness of the incomparable Shinya Aoki: