ONE 165: Sage Northcutt vows to hit Shinya Aoki "harder than he’s ever been hit in his life"

‘Super’ Sage Northcutt plans on punishing Shinya Aoki in the MMA icon’s home country.

On Sunday, Jan. 28, Northcutt will return to the Circle for the first time since his sensational 39-second heel hook submission against former Pakistani MMA champion Ahmed Mujtaba at ONE Fight Night 10 on Prime Video.

This time, ‘Super’ will head to Japan for a battle with one of the country’s most beloved combat sports stars, Aoki.

Undeterred by heading into enemy territory, Northcutt will look to make a statement inside Tokyo’s Ariake Arena at ONE 165. In a recent interview with ONE Championship, Northcutt said:

“I don’t want to give away what my strategy is, but I’m planning on going out there to try to hit Shinya harder than he’s ever been hit in his life".

Northcutt rides into The Land of the Rising Sun with a solid 12-3 record and a load of momentum following his impressive return to the Circle last year.

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Shinya Aoki is in desperate need of a win against Sage Northcutt

While Sage Northcutt is looking for his second straight win, Shinya Aoki will be desperately seeking his first victory since a first-round submission against Eduard Folayang at ONE on TNT IV in 2021.

‘Tobikan Judan’ has lost four in a row going into ONE 165, suffering back-to-back knockouts in MMA in addition to two losses in submission grappling bouts with Kade Ruotolo and Mikey Musumeci.

Perhaps competing in front of a hometown crowd will give Aoki the boost he needs to earn a much-needed W, but he’ll certainly have his work cut out for him as he faces one of the top prospects in all of mixed martial arts.

Will Sage Northcutt secure his second career win under the ONE banner, or will Shinya Aoki give his countryman something to celebrate?

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