Shinya Aoki brings his magic grappling pants to Strikeforce

A couple of weeks back Japanese star Shinya Aoki talked about pitting his magic grappling pants against UFC lightweight champ BJ Penn. Well, now it seems the DREAM lightweight champ has set his sites significantly lower – on the Strikeforce lightweight division, in fact. The promotion’s CEO, Scott Coker, has confirmed to Sherdog that Aoki could make his Strikeforce debut in early 2010, possibly against lightweight champ Josh Thompson or interim champ Gilbert Melendez. Or maybe they could award Aoki a whole new lightweight title, like the magic grappling pants interim lightweight belt.

Aoki won the DREAM belt at October’s Dream 11 with a second-round armbar against Joachim Hansen. He’s also slated to face Tatsuya Kawajiri at K-1 Dynamite on New Year’s Eve in Saitama, Japan.

Strikeforce and DREAM have a talent-sharing arrangement. Last week it was announced that DREAM welterweight champion Marius Zaromskis had signed with Strikeforce and could bring his headhunting to December 19’s Strikeforce: Evolution event.