“He was stone-cold serious” – Sage Northcutt takes no offense from Shinya Aoki’s refusal to shake his hand

ONE lightweight MMA superstar Sage Northcutt carries no hard feelings for Shinya Aoki after their tense encounter at the ONE 165 press conference.

Following several postponements due to COVID-19 and injuries, the pair of mighty warriors will finally lock horns in the Circle in the promotion’s return to Japan on January 28 at Ariake Arena.

Back in December 2023, Northcutt and Aoki shared the stage in a press conference held in Japan to promote the stacked card.

After entertaining questions from the media, the combatants figured in a customary photo-op and stood face-to-face along with ONE Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong.

Ever the gentleman, Northcutt was seen extending his hand to the legendary Japanese star, hoping for a handshake.

‘Tobikan Judan’ refused and didn’t even bother looking his American counterpart in the eye.

Here’s the incident in question, as shared by ONE online:

In a recent interview with the promotion, Northcutt addressed the affair and said he didn’t take Aoki’s snub personally.

“I went to shake his hand during the press conference, and he was pretty stone-cold serious, but it seems like that’s just his personality from his previous fights and stuff."

---

Sage Northcutt wants to enter lightweight MMA top 5 by beating former champ Shinya Aoki

After almost four years on the sidelines, Sage Northcutt dusted off the cobwebs at ONE Fight Night 10 last March in the most convincing way possible.

‘Super’ Sage needed less than a minute to secure his comeback victory by submitting Ahmed Mujtaba with a vicious heel hook.

Now, the 27-year-old wants to showcase the improvements he made by taking out the legendary Japanese star on his home turf.

ONE 165: Superlek vs. Takeru will air live on Sunday, January 28, via global pay-per-view on watch.onefc.com.