Shinya Aoki vs. Sage Northcutt rebooked for ONE Championship 165 in January

Shinya Aoki and Sage Northcutt is scheduled to happen in 2024.

The promotion announced on Wednesday that Aoki and Northcutt will meet at ONE Championship 165, which takes place Jan. 28 at Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan. The matchup was originally scheduled to take place at ONE on TNT 4 in April 2021, but Northcutt was forced to withdraw due to lingering effects from COVID-19.

Aoki will compete in an mixed martial arts bout for the first time since suffering a knockout loss to Saygid Izagakhmaev at ONE Championship 163 in November 2022, and seeks his first win in nearly three years. The PRIDE and Strikeforce veteran has been finished in two straight.

Northcutt has only competed twice since parting ways with the UFC in 2018. “Super” made his ONE debut in May 2019 and was brutally knocked out by Cosmo Alexandre. After a four-year layoff, the 27-year-old returned with a 39-second submission win over Ahmed Mujtaba at ONE Fight Night 10 in May.