“I’ve just been thinking about that” – Sage Northcutt says postponed dates with Shinya Aoki still linger in his mind

American martial artist Sage Northcutt is still keen on facing off against Japanese legend Shinya Aoki. It is something he said he has always been thinking about, even when he was away from competition for four years.

‘Super Sage’ reiterated it once again now that he is back healthy and ready to make his ONE Championship journey humming further towards the next level.

The 27-year-old Team Alpha Male athlete told onefc.com in an interview:

“That’s a big one with all the media, it got brought up by someone out there saying, ‘How about you and Shinya?’ And it got brought up that it might possibly be the next thing. So since then, I’ve just been thinking about that.”

Sage Northcutt returned from his long hiatus because of various medical conditions back in May at ONE Fight Night 10 on Prime Video, which was the promotion’s first-ever live on-ground event in the United States.

There, he defeated Pakistani Ahmed Mujtaba by submission (heel hook) just 39 seconds into their featured fight. Making the win all the more memorable was he earned a $50,000 performance bonus from ONE Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong for it.

Prior to his last match, Sage Northcutt was last in action in his ONE debut in May 2019, where he sustained multiple facial fractures from a first-round knockout at the hands of Brazilian Cosmo Alexandre. The injury he suffered required surgery and a long recovery.

The Texas native planned to come back in 2021 against Aoki but he was hit by COVID-19.

Prior to joining ONE, Northcutt competed in Legacy FC and the UFC. He currently holds a 12-3 MMA record.

For his part, Aoki was recently in action, taking on ONE flyweight submission grappling world champion Mikey Musumeci in an openweight grappling showdown. He was, however, submitted by ‘Darth Rigatoni.’