It’s looking like the month of April could be an exciting month for One Championship. Early on in the month, Demetrious Johnson will be taking on Adriano Moraes for the One Championship flyweight title. That bout takes place on April 7th.
Today, we learned that there is another intriguing matchup that has been booked by One Championship. ESPN’s Ariel Helwani reported today that Sage Northcutt (11-3) will be taking on Shinya Aoki (46-9, 1 NC).
This matchup will take place in the lightweight division for One, however, it’s worth noting that lightweight is actually 170 pounds. So, for the traditional fans, the fight will take place at welterweight.
The fight will be just the second appearance in One Championship for Sage Northcutt. Northcutt rose to fame after being the first main fighter from Dana White’s Looking For a Fight to earn himself a UFC contract.
“Super” Sage Northcutt was only 19 years old when he earned himself that contract. The UFC was building him up as the next big thing, however, it just never panned out. While Northcutt had some highlights in the UFC, he never quite could get into that elite tier.
Following a three-fight win streak, the UFC decided not to renew Northcutt’s contract. Northcutt signed a deal with One Championship and made his debut back in 2019. He was knocked out by Cosmo Alexandre. Northcutt suffered multiple bone breaks in his face and hasn’t fought since.
One Championship’s Interesting Matchmaking
Standing across from Northcutt on April 28th will be an MMA legend in Shinya Aoki. Aoki is a legend when it comes to MMA in Asia. Outside of Pride, Aoki has held a world championship in every major organization.
He’s become a world champion in One Championship, Dream, and Shooto. Aoki is known his great ground game which he has shown off throughout his career. Out of his 46 professional victories, 29 of them have come via submission.
Currently, Aoki is riding a three-fight win streak in One Championship. He normally competes at 155 pounds, but he will be moving up to take this fight against Sage Northcutt. In all honesty, I really don’t know what to expect from this matchup. It’s fascinating on paper, but I’m not sure how this will go down.