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The return of Sage Northcutt at ONE Fight Night 10 was a huge occasion but both the superstar and his set of fans knew that it was only the beginning of a new chapter.
He was finally able to put a difficult chapter of his life behind him with a win over Ahmed Mujtaba in May last year, where all of his resilience and determination to return to competition was rewarded with success inside the Circle.
However, this was only ever going to be where the challenges begin because Northcutt knew he would face even bigger hurdles still to come and that’s exactly why he’s pumped for his third fight under the ONE banner.
In his next fight, he will face MMA legend and pioneer Shinya Aoki at ONE 165 in a fight that he believes is the biggest moment of his career to date.
Northcutt told ESPN about how much significance he is putting on this fight:
“Absolutely. It's definitely the biggest fight of my career so far. It's a huge opportunity for me. I'm fighting someone that's a top-ranked opponent for ONE Championship, an ex-champion, one of the longest Champs in history and has a lot of experience. So definitely it’s the biggest fight in my career so far and I'm really excited for it.”
Watch the full interview below:
Sage Northcutt knew what he was getting himself into with Shinya Aoki
Sage Northcutt versus Shinya Aoki at ONE Championship’s return to Japan makes total sense as a fight to book for ONE 165.
It’s also a fight that both men have spoken about a lot in recent years, after they were scheduled to compete against each other during Northcutt’s long hiatus.
A bout with COVID-19 stopped the match-up from taking place. But once he returned, ‘Super’ Sage made it perfectly clear that there was unfinished business with Aoki to settle.
He wanted this fight because of all the reasons he mentioned to ESPN and is embracing the pressure of this contest being bigger than anything else from his past.
ONE 165 airs live on Sunday, January 28, via global pay-per-view on watch.onefc.com.
