“He’s always been that dude” - Fans know Shinya Aoki’s legacy is as indelible as anyone’s in MMA

ONE Championship has built a healthy stable of stars and household names thanks to their diverse combat sports offerings starring alongside MMA.

Chief among them is Japanese legend Shiyna Aoki who has had 21 fights under the promotion’s umbrella for the better part of the past 10 years and claimed the ONE lightweight MMA world championship several times.

“Tobikan Judan” will have another opportunity to add another win to his resume when he steps inside the ONE Circle against American star Sage Northcutt come January 28 at ONE 165 at Ariake Arena in Tokyo.

While the mere mention of his name strikes fear in the hearts of his foes, there are newer fans of the sport who may be unfamiliar with him, and ONE Championship decided to put together some of his best submission finishes after logging 30 of them throughout his entire career.

Fans shared some of their reactions to the compilation:

“He is Shinya Aoki. Best MMA grappler by far.”

“Grappling is deadly, very much so.”

“This guy still fighting at this level”

“Shiyna [has been] fighting for so many years too! What’s his record, 1000-20?”

“He’s always been that dude even in his Pride days, he just looks like glue once he sets in his submission especially if it’s a choke."

Sage Northcutt gets a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity

Though there is a ton of attention on Aoki for his great resume, Northcutt himself had been wanting to face Aoki for quite some time after their April 2021 bout was scrapped due to “Super” Sage feeling the lingering effects of COVID-19.

Northcutt previously spoke about having an MMA-submission grappling special rules crossover with Aoki, and while it will be full-on MMA for their January 28 clash, the Sacramento, California native knows he will need to pull out all the stops to get the win.