“Stoked for this fight” - Fans can’t hide their excitement for Shinya Aoki and Sage Northcutt’s Tokyo duel

The return of ONE Championship in Japan on January 28 for the loaded ONE 165 card has every combat sports fan hype as it features two world titles and incredible fights across MMA, submission grappling, kickboxing, and even a special rules fight.

Supelek Kiatmoo9’s ONE flyweight kickboxing world title defense against Japanese sensation Takeru Segawa headlines the event inside the sold-out crowd of the Ariake Arena in Tokyo. Aside from Takeru, there is another Japanese superstar competing on the card: former ONE lightweight MMA world champion Shinya Aoki.

Aoki is scheduled to meet American star ‘Super’ Sage Northcutt in a lightweight contest, and it will be his 22nd fight under the world’s largest martial arts organization. On the other hand, Northcutt is going to appear in his third bout in the promotion.

ONE Championship recently posted the poster of the fight between the two lightweight contenders and captioned the post with:

“ONE 165 is JUST around the corner 🤯 ONE’s historic return to Tokyo will feature an EPIC lightweight MMA showdown between Japanese legend Shinya Aoki and American star Sage Northcutt! 🤩⁠”

Because of this incredible matchmaking from ONE Championship, fans are looking forward to seeing this clash between Aoki and Northcutt, as they expressed their excitement through the comments they sent on the said post, as users @imightbethatbrianguy, @parkdale_sama, @zacctheracc, @lightupthisplace, @xyyzakki, and @allstars916 commented:

“Stoked for this fight!”

“War Baka Survivor!!!!”

“Good to see Northcutt back again :D gotta see him back on the action”

“Can’t wait!!!! Do they sell beer in the arena? 🍻”

“Both are my favorite fighters 😤😤🔥”

“Aoki is on a war path…don’t sleep on him”

Screenshot of fans' comments

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Sage Northcutt vows to finish Shinya Aoki and build off momentum from his last fight

After his first victory in ONE Championship in May 2023 at ONE Fight Night 10 against Ahmed Mujtaba, whom he submitted in just 39 seconds, Northcutt seeks another victory and vows to finish the Japanese legend in his third bout under the promotion.

In a recent interview with ONE Championship, the 27-year-old American, who proudly represents Evolve MMA and Team Alpha Male, stated that he wants to start the year off with a great performance that is Fight of the Night-worthy. ONE 165 is available on pay-per-view at watch.onefc.com.