“Every fight starts standing up” – Sage Northcutt says Shinya Aoki’s grappling dominance possible only if he gets taken down

Ahead of his return to action at ONE 165, Sage Northcutt is well aware of the dangers that await him at the Ariake Arena in Japan.

His submission win over Ahmed Mujtaba at ONE Fight Night 10 last time out was an incredible statement to make on his return. That being said, Northcutt is still always going to be thought of as predominantly a striker thanks to his background in karate.

His next opponent will certainly look to put that to the test because, when it comes to highly regarded grapplers, it’s hard to find many that sit above Japanese legend Shinya Aoki.

Northcutt knows that his opponent will try to take the fight to the floor, but he is excited to showcase his evolving skillset. ‘Super’ Sage also told ONE Championship that, at the end of the day, each round will begin in his preferred range:

“Every fight starts standing up, so he’s gotta be able to get me on the ground if he wants to go on the ground.”

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Sage Northcutt is excited to showcase more of his game that fans are still yet to see

Given his four-year hiatus, fans would have expected to see some developments in the game of Sage Northcutt upon his return at ONE Fight Night 10.

His submission win over Ahmed Mujtaba in under a minute came out of nowhere and gave his supporters just a small glimpse of what he has been working on through all of that time away.

Testing himself against a grappler like Aoki is a big step up for his second fight back but it’s the kind of sink-or-swim test that Northcutt walked into last May.

In what you could call a traditional striker vs grappler matchup, we still have some questions for ‘Super’ Sage to answer in his return to the circle.

ONE 165 airs live on Sunday, January 28, via global pay-per-view on watch.onefc.com.