WATCH: Japanese legend Shinya Aoki shows off lethal grappling in two submission wins over rival Eduard Folayang

ONE Championship has played host to a ton of big-name fighters throughout its decade-plus history however, there are those whom their fellow fighters have grown to fear because of the sheer aura that they possess.

The best example of such a fighter is that of renowned Japanese combat sports legend and former ONE lightweight MMA world champion Shinya Aoki.

“Tobikan Judan” has had 21 fights in his ONE Championship career and has faced a laundry list of elite-level talent, and amongst those names, his rivalry and eventual trilogy saga with Filipino MMA cornerstone Eduard Folayang stands out the most.

Ahead of their first matchup in 2016, Aoki was heavily seen as the favorite as he had never seen the loss column in over four years at that point and Folayang was seen as the unproven commodity.

“The Landslide” instead pulled an inspirational upset of Aoki via third-round TKO, and it had fans immediately clamoring for a rematch.

Despite Folayang’s best efforts in the succeeding bouts in 2019 and 2021, Aoki may have been feeling irked about the first matchup and opted to intensify his grappling efforts to force a submission victory over the Filipino hero - both times happening in the first round

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Shinya Aoki set to fight in late January

Though the 40-year-old Japanese star has nothing left to prove to the combat sports world, he will step inside the ONE Circle once again come January 28 at ONE 165 against Sage Northcutt at Ariake Arena in Tokyo.

“Super” Sage has been wanting to fight Aoki for quite some time, especially after their 2021 bout was scrapped due to the former feeling the lingering effects of COVID-19.

Despite Northcutt’s talent, Aoki surely has no plans of being beaten so easily after having been through so many wars in his illustrious career.