3 Reasons to Catch ONE 165

Nobody does buffet-style martial arts quite like ONE Championship.

The Chatri Sityodtong-led promotion will offer up another smorgasbord of violence with ONE 165 on Sunday at Ariake Arena in Tokyo, as it returns to Japan for the first time in more than four years. The 11-bout lineup features matches in mixed martial arts, kickboxing and submission grappling, along with one special-rules contest, as it shines the spotlight on a number of talented and charismatic combat sports competitors. Showstopping fireworks are a virtual guarantee.

Here are three reasons to watch ONE 165:

1. Double Jeopardy

Two championship bouts top the bill, as Superlek Kiatmoo9 defends his flyweight kickboxing title against Takeru Segawa in the five-round headliner and Kade Ruotolo puts his lightweight submission grappling belt on the line against Tommy Langaker when their one-round, 12-minute rematch serves as the co-main event. Superlek, 28, owns a stellar 12-1 mark under the ONE banner and enters his latest test on the strength of a 10-fight winning streak. “The Kicking Machine last competed at ONE Friday Fights 34, where he took a unanimous decision from Rodtang Jitmuangnon on Sept. 22. On the other side of the equation, Segawa was a three-division champion in K-1 and holds a 43-3 record as a professional kickboxer. The 32-year-old draws widespread acclaim as one of the greatest kickboxers of all-time, having lost only once—compatriot Tenshin Nasukawa was the culprit—in the past 11-plus years. A gold medalist at the 2022 Abu Dhabi Combat Club Submission Fighting World Championships, Ruotolo has won all four of his matches as a member of the ONE roster. That includes his unanimous decision over Langaker at ONE on Prime Video 11 in June.

2. May-December Conflict

Generations collide when former Dream, ONE and Shooto champion Shinya Aoki toes the line against Sage Northcutt in an MMA lightweight showcase. A 13-year age difference exists between the two combatants. Aoki, who turns 41 in May, finds himself on the rebound following back-to-back losses. Clearly on the backside of his remarkable career, he has not suited up since he succumbed to first-round punches from Saygid Izagakhmaev at ONE 163 on Nov. 19, 2022. Aoki has secured 30 of his 47 pro victories by submission, his otherworldly ground skills having victimized a wide swath of his contemporaries. Northcutt, meanwhile, has rattled off four wins across his past five outings. The Team Alpha Male rep returned from a four-year sabbatical in May, when he needed just 39 seconds to tap Ahmed Mujtaba with a heel hook at ONE on Prime Video 10. Northcutt, who turns 28 on March 1, put together a 6-2 record in the Ultimate Fighting Championship between Oct. 3, 2015 and July 14, 2018.

3. Different Strokes

A special-rules battle pitting between former K-1 Hero’s light heavyweight grand prix winner Yoshihiro Akiyama and ex-Glory kickboxing champion Nieky Holzken at a 187¼-pound catchweight figures to get the cross-pollination juices flowing. Traditional boxing rules are set for the first round, followed by muay thai in the second and mixed martial arts in the third. Akiyama, 48, has not fought since he buried the aforementioned Aoki with punches in the second round of their ONE “X” pairing on March 26, 2022—nearly 700 days ago. On the other side of the ledger, Holzken sports a 94-18 record as a kickboxer, his resume anchored by 58 victories via knockout or technical knockout. The 40-year-old Dutchman last appeared on June 9, when he dropped a three-round unanimous decision to Arian Sadikovic at ONE on Prime Video 11.