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At yesterday’s DREAM.11 post-fight press conference, Dream producer Keiichi Sasahara, announced that Shinya Aoki would defend his shiny new DREAM lightweight belt against Tatsuya Kawajiri on FEG’s NYE Dynamite card. Sasahara must have forgot to ask Aoki if he was cool with that first though, because Aoki didn’t sound too keen on fighting Kawajiri in his post-fight comments. Instead, he said he wants to fight BJ Penn.

“I don’t even want to say anything about (New Year’s Eve). I’ve been fighting one bout after another, so I’m exhausted. I was thinking this was my last fight. I just want to rest. After that, then maybe I can decide on something. I’d like to fight B.J. Penn.”

“I want to fight the best in the world, like B.J. Penn and Kenny Florian — strong guys like that,” he said. “I want to take them out and prove that Japanese are truly strong. I was told by someone that ‘you got the belt, now you’re number one in the world,’ but I don’t think so. Being top of the world isn’t something so trivial. If I could become like B.J. Penn, I could die (happy).”

This isn’t the first time Aoki has made such statements. It sounds great in theory, but unless Aoki is willing to completely sever his ties with DREAM for a year or so, which he hasn’t given any indication of doing, it’s never going to happen, so why do you keep bringing it up, Aoki? No one likes the guy who isn’t willing to put his money where his mouth is.

DREAM has really stepped it up with their YouTube channel lately posting pre-fight interviews, promos, video of the weigh-ins, etc. All the post-fight interviews for DREAM.11 are now posted as well. I’ve included all the ones with English speaking participants here, but YouTube also has a really cool subtitle feature you can use for the Japanese interviews.

MDS has a detailed recap of presser over at Fanhouse. Here’s the short version.

• Bibiano Fernandes’ first featherweight title defense will come against Hiroyuki Takaya, the fighter he narrowly beat at DREAM.11 to win it.
• Shinya Aoki will defend his lightweight title against Tatsuya Kawajiri at Dynamite on NYE.
• DREAM wants Sakuraba to fight at DREAM.12. Can’t he just go out with a win?
• Boxer Ruben Williams had no idea getting kicked in the leg would actually hurt.
• DREAM expects good ratings thanks to the Super Hulk Tournament. Minowaman’s win over HMC got the biggest reaction from the live audience that I heard, though I had to watch it in pieces on the internet.
• Joe Warren is upset the ref stopped his fight because he didn’t tap out. He has a case.
• Bob Sapp is upset the ref stopped his fight while he was being pelted in the face and did nothing but cover up. He doesn’t have a case.

The DREAM.11 fight videos are in the playlist above. Results and recap after the jump.

DREAM.11, featuring the final rounds of the 2009 Featherweight Grand Prix, takes place early tomorrow morning at the Yokohama Arena in Yokohama, Japan.

All fighters made weight. Weigh-in results below courtesy of MMA Junkie.

• Joachim Hansen (150.3 lb/68.2 kg) vs. Shinya Aoki (153.8 lb/69.8 kg)
• Tatsuya Kawajiri (154.1 lb/69.9 kg) vs. Melchor “Barracuda” Manibusan (152.5 lb/69.2 kg)
• Kazushi Sakuraba (184.0 lb/83.5 kg) vs. Rubin Williams (181.8 lb/82.5 kg)
• Bibiano Fernandes (138.2 kg/62.7 kg) vs. Joe Warren (138.2 lb/62.7 kg)
• Hiroyuki Takaya (138.8 lb/63 kg) vs. Hideo Tokoro (138.4 lb/62.8 kg)
• Kazuyuki Miyata (138.4 lb/62.8 kg) vs. Daiki “DJ.taiki” Hata (138.4 lb/62.8 kg)
• Hong Man Choi (319.6 lb/145 kg) vs. Ikuhisa Minowa (192.9 lb/87.5 kg)
• Bob Sapp (341.7 lb/155 kg) vs. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou (220.4 lb/100 kg)

The event will air in the US on HDNet at 7AM ET.

More Images at DREAM Official

Video of the weigh-ins after the jump.

More DREAM.11 pre-fight interviews on DREAM’s YouTube channel.

Bob Sapp is a busy man. After taking on Sokoudjou at DREAM.11, he fights the very next day in a kickboxing match in Hong Kong. He says his schedule for the next five months is just as hectic.

Sokoudjou takes on Bob Sapp in the semi-finals of the Super Hulk Tournament at DREAM.11, while Joe Warren looks to become the DREAM Featherweight Grand Prix Champion.

Joachim Hansen puts his DREAM Lightweight Championship up for grabs in a rubber match with Shinya Aoki on Oct. 6 at DREAM.11.

So at least two of the remaining competitors in DREAM’s Super Hulk Tournament are training for it. That shouldn’t come as a surprise to me, but in an weird way it kinda does. I guess I could just never picture it in my head without seeing it for my own eyes first.

Anyways, CagePotato found this video of Bob Sapp training for his fight against Sokoudjou next week. He actually does look like a beast when he’s throwing leg kicks against a stationary target, well at least through about 10 of them at which point he looks like he’s going to collapse from exhaustion.

My favorite of the two is Minowaman’s though. There’s something not right when you have to hit the pads at a 75° angle above your head. The best part comes at the end when Minowaman poses for media pictures with a life-size cardboard cutout of his opponent, Hong Man Choi. Only in Japan.