[autotag]Sage Northcutt[/autotag]’s ONE Championship debut didn’t go according to plan, but he’ll be making some changes.
Northcutt (11-3) suffered a devastating first-round knockout at the hands of Cosmo Alexandre last May. His cheekbone was shattered, and he’s been on the road to recovery ever since. The bout was contested at welterweight, which in ONE is at 185 pounds. That’s 30 pounds more than several fights Northcutt was part of during his UFC tenure, which is 155 pounds, where he is yet to be defeated.
“I’m not really thinking about any opponents right now, just thinking how I’m going to go down two weight classes,” Northcutt said. “So my previous organization I was in, I was 5-0 at 155 pounds, so I’m going to go back down to featherweight.”
Featherweight being 155 pounds in ONE, as Northcutt believes he was the smaller fighter, trying to put on weight to physically grow into the 185-pound frame.
“I fought up at 185 pounds, so I was eating and drinking a lot to be able to get on some weight because I’m only 23, and I’m trying to put on some muscle, so now I’m going to go back down,” Northcutt said. “I learned my lesson about fighting a weight class too big, going back down to 155, and it’ll be better for me.”
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Northcutt is currently waiting for full clearance from doctors, but in the meantime is staying in shape, hopeful to return sometime early next year.
And he’s confident that the move back down to 155 pounds will produce results, as he still believes he can make an impact in ONE’s featherweight division.
“I’m expecting to be a smarter version of myself,” he said. “I’ve been doing a lot of, I guess, studying up of what happened in my previous fight, watching so many fights and stuff. So smarter me, a faster version of me, because I’m going back down two weight classes and a more dominant version, because I was undefeated at that weight class. I still am, and I believe I’ll be dominant there.”
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