Northcutt will now face Japanese legend Aoki (46-9) at ONE on TNT 4, on April 29 in Singapore (April 28, US time), at 170 pounds in the promotion’s lightweight division.

“I was super excited,” Northcutt told ESPN’s Ariel Helwani, who first reported the match-up, of hearing he would be fighting former ONE, Dream and Shooto champ Aoki.

“First thing, I went and told my coaches and called my family, I was super pumped. He’s a legend, he’s an incredible fighter. Super skilled with the ground work, and he’s been around forever. I’m super stoked for it.”

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But he told Helwani fighting at lightweight in ONE – which uses a pre-fight hydration testing system to prevent weight-cutting by dehydration, with traditional weight classes higher than in other MMA promotions – will be a much better fit.

“Talking about it with my coaches and family, I feel 170, just being hydrated, is gonna be best for me,” Northcutt said. “My last fight was a weight class even above that, so I think going down to 170 will be great. I walk around just barely over that. You know I walk around really lean all the time.”

Northcutt will return to the Singapore Indoor Stadium, the scene of that stunning defeat, for his fight against Aoki, but he indicated to Helwani he is tired of dwelling on the past.

“It’s a sport, there’s always injuries that happen, so I was just healing up from it and getting better,” he said. “I don’t really like talking about it because it’s old news, but now I’m all healed up.

“If I could go back obviously I would change that [fighting at 185 pounds], anybody would pretty much change a loss. It’s a learning experience … that’s just a little bit too big of a weight class.”

“I didn’t really listen to that,” Northcutt told Helwani. “I’m no longer fighting for the UFC, so they can say whatever they want. Mr White can say something if he doesn’t think I should fight again, but that’s not the case, it was one fight.

“Everyone has an off day, or an off night, out there, even the top champions of the world,” he added. “There’s guys who lose in five seconds and you’re like, ‘What happened?’

“Not at all was I ever thinking, ‘Man, I don’t wanna get back out there’ or I’m afraid. Right off the bat, my coaches know I wanted to get back out there immediately and fight again.

“Health is most important and I’m healed up. Right afterwards, you can ask the owner of ONE, Chatri [Sityodtong] the boss, he came and checked on me and stuff as I was healing. I was like, ‘Man, I don’t like what happened, I wanna go back out there and prove myself’ because it was just an off night for me.

“You gotta look at the last fights before that. I was on a three-fight win streak. I had knocked out my last opponent in the UFC. It just happened to be one fight, I had an injury. Everyone gets injured.”

Northcutt admitted some of the criticism did get to him, but that he has stayed positive and mentally strong.

“Sometimes I’ll read stuff here or there, and I’m like, ‘OK, yeah’, sometimes people have good advice,” he said. “Sometimes people say something and it makes no sense.

“You can watch Jose Aldo go and get knocked out by Conor McGregor in five seconds [actually 13 seconds]. You can be like, ‘Oh, Jose Aldo, one of the best of all time, he should retire and never fight again’. You can say that about TJ Dillashaw or all these other people.

“Some of the best in the world have been beaten super quick. Me being younger, I had so much room to get better. For me, it didn’t make sense someone saying that.”