Shinya
Aoki will square off against Yoshihiro
Akiyama in a matchup of Japanese MMA legends at One
Championship “X.”
A promotion official confirmed the 170-pound pairing with
Sherdog.com on Wednesday. One “X” takes place at Singapore Indoor
Stadium in Kallang, Singapore on March 26 and will see ex-UFC
champion Demetrious
Johnson face muay Thai king Rodtang
Jitmuangnon in a bout featuring both MMA and muay Thai rule
sets. Additionally, Angela Lee
will meet Nong Stamp
in a strawweight title clash, while Adriano
Moraes will take on Yuya
Wakamatsu in a bantamweight championship tilt.
A former One lightweight title holder, Aoki is currently on a
four-bout winning streak that includes three triumphs within the
Singapore-based promotion. Most recently, the 38-year-old submitted
Eduard
Folayang 4:20 into the opening round of their clash at One on
TNT 4 last April.
After a seven-bout stint in the UFC from 2009 to 2015, Akiyama has
gone 1-1 under the One Championship banner. He dropped a unanimous
verdict to Agilan
Thani in his debut at One “Legendary Quest” in June 2019 before
defeating Sherif
Mohamed via first-round KO at One “King of the Jungle” in
February 2020.