“I have the drive to be the champion” – Sage Northcutt breaks down his advantages over the iconic Shinya Aoki

American martial artist Sage Northcutt knows that he is up against a legend in Shinya Aoki in his upcoming fight. But, he believes that certain aspects go his way over his opponent, which he looks to capitalize on come fight night.

‘Super’ Sage battles ‘Tobikan Judan’ in a lightweight MMA showdown at ONE 165: Superlek vs. Takeru on January 28 in Tokyo, Japan. It will take place at the Ariake Arena and air via global pay-per-view on watch.onefc.com.

Northcutt, 27, is out to make it back-to-back victories at ONE 165 after his impressive 39-second submission of Ahmed Mujtaba of Pakistan in his last fight in May. That result marked his return to competition after a four-year hiatus because of various medical issues.

In a recent interview with The MMA Superfan, the Texas native broke down what he believes to be his advantages over Aoki in their scheduled fight. He said:

“I have the drive to want to be the champion and I want to go out there and win. I've been training very hard. I think just like my strengths, some of them are speed and explosion. Those attributes definitely stand out I believe.”

Watch the interview below:

Sage Northcutt has long wanted to face off with Aoki, seeing the Japanese star as an important stop for him in the ONE lightweight MMA division.

Meanwhile, Shinya Aoki is seeking to come away with the win as he defends home turf in ONE Championship’s return to Japan after nearly five years.

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Sage Northcutt not bothered by cold reception from Shinya Aoki in faceoff

Sage Northcutt was on the receiving end of a cold reception from veteran fighter Shinya Aoki when they first faced off. He said he was surprised by it but not necessarily bothered.

The two first met as their scheduled fight at ONE 165: Superlek vs. Takeru on January 28 in Japan was announced.

In the same interview with The MMA Superfan, ‘Super’ Sage shared what went down in their faceoff and how he handled it, saying:

“I went to shake his hand during the faceoff to announce the fight and obviously, he was pretty serious as you can tell, he didn't bother even looking or shaking my hand. However, it's not something that bothers me. It seems like that's how his personality is and kind of his character looking at other fights. So it didn't bother me at all, if anything, it just kind of fueled me up and I'm excited for it.”

Sage Northcutt is looking to pick up his ONE Championship journey after being sidetracked for some time by various medical issues, including multiple facial fractures in his promotional debut in May 2019.

He returned to competition in May last year and won over Pakistani Ahmed Mujtaba by submission (heel hook) in just 39 seconds.