Shinya Aoki set for grappling match at ONE event in December

One of the all-time best submission artist in MMA is returning to grappling on Dec. 6, as Japanese icon Shinya Aoki faces Cole Abate in a submission grappling contest at ONE’s upcoming show in Singapore, the company announced Tuesday.

Aoki last entered the ONE cage in January, tapping out John Lineker in a last-minute openweight bout, after the Brazilian replaced Sage Northcutt.

“Tobikan Judan” lost four in a row prior to that, twice in MMA — knockouts to Saygid Izagakhmaev and Yoshihiro Akiyama —, and twice under grappling rules, to young jiu-jitsu stars Kade Ruotolo and Mikey Musumeci.

Abate, 22 years younger than Aoki, is a black belt under Guilherme Lemos. He won the ADCC East Coast Trials in 2021 at age 16 — and as a blue belt —, and recently won the 2024 IBJJF Pan Championship No-Gi.

ONE Fight Night 26 card will air live on Amazon Prime and feature a MMA title bout between Christian Lee and Alibeg Rasulov in the main event.