Back in 2015, Sage Northcutt burst onto the UFC scene and immediately began to turn heads. At the time, Northcutt was thought of as the next big superstar in the sport. He had grown up doing martial arts and was a very talented fighter. His looks and personality began to draw the attention of the fans and the UFC quickly jumped on the bandwagon. Northcutt was promoted heavily during his early UFC days and at first, he rose to the challenge. In 2018 he decided not to renew his contract with the UFC and sought free agency. After signing with ONE Championship, he was injured and has not fought since 2019. Now Northcutt is healed up and ready to make his return to the cage.
He will be making his return fight at ONE Fight Night 10 where he will face Ahmed Mujtaba on May 5.
Sage Northcutt details his time away from fighting and why he has chosen to return now
Northcutt was such a popular fighter when he signed the deal with ONE Championship that it was strange to see him take so much time away. He was a guest on The MMA Hour and explained just what he has been up to since 2019.
Northcutt’s first and only fight in ONE Champion was a KO loss to Cosmo Alexandre. During that fight, he broke several bones in his face and that recovery was very lengthy. He said that it took a year to fully recover from those injuries and he was ready to return in 2021 in a lightweight bout against Shinya Aoki, unfortunately, three weeks before he was set to make that return he was diagnosed with COVID-19. Northcutt said his battle with COVID was long and he experienced many side effects that he needed to get under control in order to get back to health.
Now it is 2023 and he is set to finally get back in the cage. Northcutt said he was waiting for the U.S. card and now it is here. This is the first United States-based fight card for ONE Championship and it will be held in Colorado. The event is headlined by another American, Demetrious Johnson who will be taking on Adriano Moraes. Northcutt confirmed that he will be training for this fight in California at Team Alpha Male.
