The legendary Shinya Aoki will compete for the final time in One Championship at One Championships 165, where he faces UFC veteran Sage Northcutt.
The promotion announced the news today on X:
IT'S ON ???? Japanese legend Shinya Aoki faces off with American superstar Sage Northcutt on January 28 in Tokyo! ???????? @a_ok_i @sagenorthcutt #ONE165 | January 28 at 6PM JST
— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) November 30, 2023
????️ Tickets ???? https://t.co/9BTfk5i7f8
???? Global broadcast details coming soon pic.twitter.com/l71TsJVwRn
Aoki (47-11-0-1NC) enters the contest riding a two fight losing streak, dropping bouts to Yoshihiro Akiyama and Saygid Izagakhmaev. Aoki hasn’t picked up a victory in over two years, with his last win coming over Eduard Folayang at One On TNT 4 in April of 2021. Aoki has competed in a plethora of promotions around the world, including PRIDE, Strikeforce, Dream, One Championship and Rizin.
Northcutt (12-3-0) has competed just once in the last four years, which was a first round submission win over Ahmed Mujtaba at One On Prime 10 in May of this year. Northcutt won six of eight under the UFC banner, with notable wins coming over Cody Pfister, Thibault Gouti and Zak Ottow. Northcutt has competed 15 times as a professional MMA fighter and just three of those bouts went the distance.
One Championship 165 takes place on Sunday, January 28 from the Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan with Rodtang Jitmuangnon and Takeru Segawa headlining. PWInsiderXtra is providing live coverage of the event, while broadcast plans have yet to be revealed.