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Apart from the opportunity to battle one of the legends in martial arts, American fighter Sage Northcutt is excited for his latest trip to Japan for the other things he gets to do outside of competition. In particular, tasting the different food the Land of the Rising Sun has to offer.
The 27-year-old Texas native will be in Tokyo for ONE 165: Superlek vs. Takeru on Sunday, January 28. He will be going up against Japanese legend Shinya Aoki in a lightweight MMA showdown at the Ariake Arena.
While he is currently focused on the fight at hand, Sage Northcutt said he already has done some stuff away from competition in Japan and he wants to do more next.
He shared this in an interview with ESPN MMA, saying:
“Man, I've already got it, you’ve got to see my Instagram. I have like a whole list of everywhere I want to go eat. All the food I want to try, post-fight, of course. But, you know, when I visited just under a month ago, first night out, I got in, I was like I gotta find something good to eat. I needed some carbs, so I walked around the street, I was in Shibuya and I went and found a ramen restaurant and it was the most amazing ramen I've ever had in my life.”
He added:
“So definitely ramen, sushi, maybe some kind of Korean barbecue or something out there. I don't know. Something good. Also Japanese barbecue, Yakiniku, I think is the name of Japanese barbecue yeah.”
Watch the Sage Northcutt interview below:
At ONE 165, ‘Super’ Sage is looking to notch his second straight victory since making a successful return to competition in May last year following a four-year hiatus for various medical issues.
On his return, he made short work of submitting Pakistani Ahmed Mujtaba by heel hook, taking only 39 seconds to do it.
Shinya Aoki, meanwhile, is seeking a win in ONE Championship’s return to Japan after nearly five years.
ONE 165: Superlek vs. Takeru will air live on Sunday, January 28, via global pay-per-view on watch.onefc.com.
Sage Northcutt takes note of great opportunity at ONE 165
Sage Northcutt views his upcoming fight with a lot of significance, seeing how it can do so much in advancing his campaign in ONE Championship after being derailed by various medical issues for some time.
The Evolve MMA/Team Alpha Male affiliate will be seeking a second straight victory when he takes on hometown bet Shinya Aoki at ONE 165: Superlek vs. Takeru on January 28 in Tokyo in a featured lightweight MMA clash.
Sage Northcutt made a successful return to competition after four years in May last year with a 39-second submission win over Ahmed Mujtaba of Pakistan. He is now gunning for another win against a legend in Aoki as he continues with his rebooted campaign in the promotion.
In the same ESPN MMA interview, he said:
“Obviously, he’s a legend of the sport. He's had almost 60 pro fights and I think the thing that excites me a lot and the most is that he was a champion for ONE Championship and one of the longest champs for the league. So he’s a top-ranked opponent, so getting to fight him is huge and it's a big opportunity for me.”
The Shinya Aoki-Sage Northcutt match is part of an 11-fight offering at ONE 165, which is headlined by the title match in the ONE flyweight kickboxing division between reigning champion Superlek Kiatmoo9 and Japanese superstar Takeru Segawa.
