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After ‘Super’ Sage Northcutt withdrew from his previously scheduled fight with Shinya Aoki at ONE 165, Kade Ruotolo was more than willing to step in against the Japanese MMA icon.
ONE Championship’s return to Tokyo delivered an entertaining night of high-stakes scrap, but one of the evening’s biggest controversies came when Northcutt withdrew from the bout after appearing in the opening ceremony. He later revealed that his incredibly late-notice withdrawal was due to visa issues related to his cornermen.
As the promotion mad scrambled to find a replacement opponent, ONE lightweight submission grappling world champion Kade Ruotolo revealed that he was chomping at the bit to step in and compete against Aoki despite already having a title fight lined up for the co-main event.
“I’d like to consider myself as a true martial artist, you know,” Ruotolo said in a post-fight interview. “I don’t think I’ve ever turned down a fight and I feel like I just love to fight. I feel like within jiu-jitsu, there’s so many rules and I have so many fights out of me, if that makes sense, you know. I’m just excited to show everything I have.”
John Lineker steps up and saves the day at ONE 165 against Shinya Aoki
In the end, it was former ONE bantamweight MMA world champion John Lineker who stepped up on short notice. ‘Hands of Stone,’ who had previously weighed in as a backup for the event, agreed to the fight on an hour’s notice. Shinya Aoki ended up winning the bout in the first round via a neck crank, snapping a four-fight losing streak.
Kade Ruotolo moved on to his co-main event rematch with Norwegian BJJ standout Tommy Langaker. He delivered another dominant performance, retaining his world title via unanimous decision.
Though he didn’t make his MMA debut that night, Ruotolo later told members of the media that he intends to compete in mixed martial arts within the next few months.
If you missed any of the action or want to relive an epic night in ONE Championship history, the ONE 165 replay can be watched on demand via watch.onefc.com.
