One of MMA's all-time greatest submission artists returns to grappling as a Japanese icon on December 6th will face Cole Abate in a submission grappling contest at the upcoming ONE show in Singapore, the company announced Tuesday.
Aoki last entered the ONE cage in January and tapped out in a last-minute open weight bout after the Brazilian was substituted .
“Tobikan Judan” previously lost four times in a row, twice in MMA – knockouts against Saygid Izagakhmaev and – twice under grappling rules, to the young jiu-jitsu stars Kade Ruotolo and Mikey Musumeci.
Abate, 22 years younger than Aoki, holds a black belt under Guilherme Lemos. He won the ADCC East Coast Trials in 2021 at the age of 16 – and as a blue belt – and recently won the 2024 IBJJF Pan Championship No-Gi.
The “ONE fight Night 26” card will air live on Amazon Prime and will feature an MMA title fight in between and Alibeg Rasulov in the main event.
