Sage Northcutt says he’ll be down to fight Shinya Aoki in Japan

American mixed martial artist Sage Northcutt is keen on revisiting his derailed showdown with legendary fighter Shinya Aoki, more so if it happens in Japan.

The two lightweight fighters were initially scheduled to collide in April 2021 in what was supposed to be the comeback of ‘Super Sage’ after multiple facial fractures he suffered in his ONE Championship debut two years prior sidelined him for some time.

Unfortunately, the showdown was scuttled after Sage Northcutt got COVID-19 a week before he was set to fly out from the United States to compete.

Push for the Northcutt-Aoki clash was recently revived after the Sacramento native called out the Japanese legend following his successful return to action after four years at ONE Fight Night 10 on Prime Video on May 5 in the United States.

It was further fanned by the expected return of ONE Championship in Japan sometime this year.

Speaking on Fistivities with KB & Renato Laranja, Sage Northcutt shared:

“It’ll be pretty cool to have that [Shinya Aoki] fight in Japan. I saw people on Twitter and Instagram saying things like ‘Oh, this would be so awesome in Japan’. I’d be down for that too.”

Watch the interview below:

ONE Fight Night 10 in Denver, Colorado, was Sage Northcutt’s first fight since May 2019. In hid debut, he suffered a facial injury following his first-round knockout loss to Brazilian Cosmo Alexandre.

In his return to competition, the Team Alpha Male standout greatly impressed, forcing Pakistani opponent Ahmed Mujtaba into submission (heel hook) just 39 seconds into the match. For the impressive victory, he earned a $50,000 performance bonus from ONE CEO and Chairman Chatri Sityodtong.

Now back in the pink of health, ‘Super Sage’ is looking to stay busy to make up for the time lost while he was away. Apart from the Aoki fight, he also wants to compete in other disciplines, including submission grappling.

Shinya Aoki, for his part, was last in action back in November against Russian Saygid Izagakhmaev in a mixed martial arts showdown.

ONE Fight Night 10 took place at a packed 1stBank Center in Denver. Its replay can be watched for free via Amazon Prime in North America.