EXCLUSIVE | Sage Northcutt Plotting Finish Over Shinya Aoki In ONE Championship Return
Mar 3, 2021
Making his first walk since May of 2019, Northcutt returns from a devastating first round knockout loss to heavy-hitter, kickboxing ace, Cosmo Alexandre in his ONE Championship debut. Dropped with a massive overhand shot inside thirty-seconds at ONE Championship: Enter the Dragon the Texan required plastic surgery to repair a whopping eight separate facial fractures suffered in his matchup against the Brazilian at a 185-pound welterweight limit.
In his second walk under the Chatri Sityodtong banner, Northcutt continues following his baptism of fire, drawing the decorated submission-specialist, former DEEP, Dream, and ONE Championship lightweight best, Aoki.
Whilst we have never seen the two lightweight icons stand-opposite each other, Alvarez isn’t necessarily feeling sombre about that fact, wishing the undefeated UFC lightweight champion the best with his retirement.
Submitting common-foe, Justin Gaethje at UFC 254 in Abu Dhabi, UAE last October, Khabib cited the sad passing of his father, Abdulmanap as his reasoning for announcing a somewhat shocking retirement immediately after successfully unifying the lightweight titles.
In the months since, UFC president, Dana White has consistently and transparently attempted to convince Khabib to make a retirement ‘u-turn’ in a bid for one final fight. Prior to UFC 257 in January, footage emerged of White openly floating potential pay-per-view numbers with Khabib if he were to return in a bad-blooded rematch with Conor McGregor prior to the Dubliner’s knockout loss to Dustin Poirier on ‘Fight Island’.
Rizin FF 2017 in Yokohoma: Sakura Preview and Predictions
“I want to bring world-class fighting back to Japan” Kyoji Horiguchi
That’s exactly what the top-five flyweight will be doing when he makes his much-anticipated debut at
Rizin 2017 in Yokohoma: Sakura on April 16.
The main event features Japanese MMA legend Tatsuya Kawajiri looking to defend his country’s honor against UFC veteran Anthony Birchak. Kawajiri makes his return to Rizin after a disappointing debut against highly skilled grappler Kron Gracie on last year’s New Year’s Eve event. Birchak is out to prove the UFC brass wrong the company cut him following a victory over Dileno Lopes at UFC Fight Night 90.
ONE Championship: Unbreakable Preview and Predictions
In M. Night Shyamalan’s 2000 film
Unbreakable, Bruce Willis portrays David Dunn, a character who survives a train crash that kills everyone on board. With some prompting from Samuel L. Jackson’s character, Elijah Price, Dunn comes to realize that he is essentially invincible, living up to the movie’s name.
The two combatants at the top of the bill for Friday’s
ONE Championship: Unbreakable card might not be gifted with Dunn’s supernatural traits, but they certainly managed to make their opponents look as brittle as Jackson’s “Mr. Glass.”
Alaverdi Ramazanov, the ONE bantamweight kickboxing titleholder, marched through Andrew Miller and Ognjen Topic with first-round finishes as he built an argument for a shot at gold. He achieved his goal when he decisioned Zhang Chenglong in December 2019 to claim the belt.
Shinya Aoki is no longer motivated by money or world titles. The Japanese MMA legend strives only to continue doing what he loves as long as possible.
Aoki, one of the most lethal submissions in MMA history, is set to return to action at ONE: Unbreakable next Friday in Singapore, where he’ll welcome former LFA welterweight champion James Nakashima to the lightweight division.
Over the course of his long and illustrious career, the 37-year-old submission ace has battled the likes of Joachim Hansen, Gesias Cavalcante, Caol Uno, Eddie Alvarez, Gilbert Melendez, Tatsuya Kawajiri, Kazushi Sakuraba, Ben Askren, Eduard Folayang and Christian Lee and beaten many of them.