Japanese ONE fighter Shinya Aoki spoke out after winning his fight against Brazilian John Lineker about the possible end of his professional career.
Aoki was quoted as saying by ONE Press Service:
To compete at this level, I had to train every day, so hard, and I was very strict with myself as I was preparing to fight Sage Northcutt, who really is one of the top fighters. Being 40 years old, I honestly don’t know how long I can keep this up. But I’d still like to keep competing, but not at this top level.
The fight between Aoki and Lineker took place on January 28 as part of the ONE 165 tournament in Tokyo. This fight, which was stopped in the first round, ended in favor of Shinya with a submission. John has 37 wins and 11 losses on his record.