“I can be a world champion” - Sage Northcutt believes he needs to beat Shinya Aoki before challenging for ONE gold

The pursuit of being the best has young combat sports athletes aiming to defeat the legends of the past and for Sage Northcutt, he is putting his blinders on in his chase of greatness.

‘Super’ Sage will have a once-in-a-lifetime chance to fight a cornerstone of the combat sports world as he faces Japanese legend and two-time ONE lightweight MMA world champion in Shinya Aoki on Sunday, January 28 at ONE 165 at Ariake Arena.

Not every fighter will have such a chance since Aoki is among one of the undisputed greats in the sport who will not hesitate to go all out regardless of their place in the rankings.

Aoki may have dropped his last two bouts, but prior to that, he was on a four-fight winning streak featuring submission wins over Honorio Banario, James Nakashima, and longtime rival Eduard Folayang.

Northcutt cannot afford to take Aoki lightly at all and in his own chase for greatness, the Sacramento, California native believes he must defeat him to be considered for a future ONE lightweight MMA world championship match as he told ONE Championship:

“I really believe I can be a world champion at ONE and I’m fighting one of the longest-reigning [former] champs. This is a huge fight for me.”

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Sage Northcutt’s fans backing him heavily

The 27-year-old has no shortage of supporters all over the world after pulling off an awe-inspiring victory against Ahmed Mujtaba last May despite battling injury woes for the better part of the last four years.

Upon the announcement of the big fight with Aoki, they came out in droves to shower him with support and will have all the motivation he needs when he steps into the Ariake Arena for ONE 165.

Check your local listings or visit ONE Championship's official website on how to watch ONE 165 from your location.