Tag: Sage Northcutt

ONE Fight Night 10 results: Sage Northcutt wins in 39 seconds after four-year hiatus

It took over four years for Sage Northcutt to get back into the MMA cage for a fight, but he needed only 39 seconds once he got there.

It took over four years for [autotag]Sage Northcutt[/autotag] to return to the MMA cage for a fight, but he needed only 39 seconds once he got there.

On Friday at ONE Fight Night 10, Northcutt (12-3) submitted [autotag]Ahmed Mujtaba[/autotag] (10-3) by heel hook in short order. The event marked the U.S. debut for One Championship, which took place at 1STBANK Center in Broomfield, Colo., right outside Denver.

The bout was action-packed for as long as it lasted and earned Northcutt a surprise $50,000 bonus from Chatri Sityodtong immediately afterward.

Initially clipped with a short jab by Mujtaba, Northcutt grabbed hold of a leg and twisted. Northcutt’s torque dragged Mujtaba to the canvas and the tap came nearly immediately afterward.

After the fight, Northcutt, who had battled health issues and injuries since a brutal knockout loss to Cosmo Alexandre during his previous fight in May 2019, expressed his hope to stay active. Northcutt, 27, moved to 4-1 in his most recent five outings.

Mujtaba, 30, has a two-fight winning streak snapped.

The up-to-the-minute ONE Fight Night 10 results include:

  • Sage Northcutt (12-3) def. Ahmed Mujtaba (10-3) via submission (heel hook) – Round 1, 0:39 – MMA
  • Aung La N Sang (30-13) def. Rong Fan (19-4) via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 2, 0:48 – MMA
  • Tye Ruotolo def. Reinier de Ridder via unanimous decision – grappling
  • Jackie Buntan def. Diandra Martin via TKO (punch) – Round 1, 2:34 – muay Thai
  • Kairat Akhmetov (30-2) def. Reece McLaren (16-9) via unanimous decision – MMA
  • Rae Yook Ok (17-4) def. Lowen Tynanes (11-1) via unanimous decision – MMA

ONE Championship VP Rich Franklin relates to ‘mental exercise’ Sage Northcutt faces in return from injury

Given one of the worst defeats of his UFC career, Rich Franklin has an idea of Sage Northcutt’s struggle before ONE Fight Night 10.

When [autotag]Sage Northcutt[/autotag] was in the hospital, [autotag]Rich Franklin[/autotag] made sure to visit him.

“It was a pretty devastating shot,” Franklin recently told MMA Junkie Radio. “The injuries were fairly severe. It wasn’t like he broke an arm and had to get casted, in and out. He spent some time there, so I stopped in.”

Northcutt needed surgery after he suffered multiple facial fractures in a devastating knockout loss to Cosmo Alexandre. That was the last time Northcutt fought, in his ONE Championship debut way back in May 2019.

Northcutt, a UFC veteran once highly touted as a prospect, finally makes his return to competition Friday at ONE Fight Night 10 in Broomfield, Colo. Northcutt takes on Ahmed Mujtaba in a lightweight bout (170 pounds under ONE Championship rules) in his first fight in nearly four years. The card streams on Amazon Prime Video.

Franklin, a former UFC middleweight champion and current ONE Championship VP, can only imagine what Northcutt, 27, has endured to get back to this point. In another sense, Franklin also feels like he can relate.

In 2006, Franklin was beat up badly by Anderson Silva, who claimed the UFC middleweight title with a vicious first-round knockout. Franklin remembers how “gun shy” he was in his next fight vs. Jason MacDonald and understands the nerves Northcutt might be feeling ahead of his return.

“I would imagine some of this is a bit of a mental exercise for him. After I lost my match to Anderson Silva, I was a little gun shy in that first match back,” Franklin said. “Until I got hit in the face one time, I was like, ‘Oh yeah, that’s what it feels like.’ Even though I had sparred and been hit a couple times sparring, but still, I can remember when I was slipping and overcompensating on my slips, slipping too far out of the way of the punch. … I can remember moving my head all over the place. Then finally like midway through that round I started settling in.”

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Franklin went on to beat MacDonald in that 2007 fight by second-round TKO when MacDonald’s corner threw in the towel.

Perhaps Northcutt (11-3), who left the UFC on a three-fight winning streak before signing with ONE, can return to similar success, but Franklin knows it won’t be easy.

“Some of that will be a bit of a mental exercise for him. This is not an easy matchup, much like the Jason Macdonald matchup was not an easy matchup (for me) either. That guy was a killer,” Franklin said. “And so (Sage) is coming back, and this Mujtaba (guy) that he’s competing against, he’s legit as well. This is gonna be a fun one to watch.

“Sage obviously is an amazing athlete. You see what he can do acrobatically and everything. If he performs the way that he can and should and gets his head moving and puts his combinations together, this will be a good match to watch. Because Mujtaba is a tough, tough guy.”

Sage Northcutt not discouraged by health setbacks ahead of return, still aims at ONE Championship title

Sage Northcutt is still determined to become champion at ONE Championship.

[autotag]Sage Northcutt[/autotag] sure is a positive man, and he’s using that gift to its fullest while he steps out of a down period of his fighting career.

The former UFC prospect finally makes his return to competition May 5 at ONE Fight Night 10 in Broomfield, Colo. Northcutt takes on Ahmed Mujtaba in a lightweight bout (170 pounds under ONE Championship rules) in his first fight in nearly four years.

Multiple facial fractures in his KO loss to Cosmo Alexandre in 2019, the halt of the sports world due to the pandemic and complications from COVID-19 have kept Northcutt away from the cage for longer than he wished for.

It’s been a frustrating period for him, but not one that has affected his goals or outlook on the sport.

“Like everybody, I think most people in ONE Championship or in this sport, they want to be the champ, so that hasn’t changed for me,” Northcutt told MMA Junkie. “Some of the best fighters out there, they have off nights. You look at Georges St-Pierre, he had off nights and lost fights. On the odds and on paper, he wasn’t going to lose, but sometimes the best fighters and best people out there have their nights.

“So for me, I want to be very active and have a great career with ONE Championship.”

That much time away from the sport could bring pressure to many looking to dive back in. However, Northcutt is excited beyond everything else. The 27-year-old can’t wait to get in the cage.

“It’s been a little bit of time, but I’ve been keeping watch on the fighters and watching how the game is kind of evolving over the last four years,” Northcutt said. “For me, it’s kind of excitement, not nervousness. I think that every fighter when they go out there, they all get those butterflies in the stomach, and you’re anxious to get out there, so I think I will probably have that. It’s going to be exciting to see how I’m feeling the day of the fight.”

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With return booked, Sage Northcutt explains issues that caused four-year absence from MMA

Sage Northcutt explains issues that kept him out of the cage for four years.

[autotag]Sage Northcutt[/autotag] is on the verge of a return to MMA after being out of competition for nearly four years.

The former UFC star and now One Championship fighter has been scheduled to face Ahmed Mujtaba on May 5 at ONE Fight Night 10. The bout will be Northcutt’s first fight since May 2019.

It has been a long road back for Northcutt (11-3). A series of health issues, including multiple facial fractures suffered in his debut KO loss to Cosmo Alexandre, kept Northcutt out of commission.

“Coming out of my last fight, obviously, there was some frustration because taking a loss and how it happened, of course you’re frustrated,” Northcutt told Morning Kombat. “And like you said, time to heal up. I think it was a little bit over a year of me just healing up, making sure that I’m 100 percent feeling better.

“And then I got back into training super hard. I was actually scheduled to fight vs. Shinya Aoki, and I believe two weeks before I was supposed to fly out overseas for the fight, I caught COVID, unfortunately. I tried to train through it. I tried to train around it because I really wanted that fight, but I ran myself down. I got super sick. I got a blood clot because after getting super sick, I had to sit around doing nothing.

“And I think for me being so active and just sitting around for several days and not doing anything whatsoever, laying in bed, it really, really got me. After that, it was like six months of me getting checked up, blood work to make sure everything is all good. It was a little bit of time.”

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Even with a lengthy layoff, Northcutt is still only 26 years old. He’s been fighting professionally since his late teens, so he’s still got youth on his side. Northcutt is excited to finally be able to return and resume his fighting career.

“I signed with One Championship and unfortunately the first fight wasn’t what I would’ve liked,” Northcutt said. “I’m really itching to show what I’m capable of and all the improvements that I’ve made. That’s what I’m looking forward to.”

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Sage Northcutt books ONE Championship return after nearly four years

For the first time in what will be nearly four years, Sage Northcutt will step into the cage for a fight.

For the first time in what will be nearly four years, [autotag]Sage Northcutt[/autotag] will step into the cage for a fight.

Northcutt (11-3) has been booked for a welterweight bout against [autotag]Ahmed Mujtaba[/autotag] (10-2) at ONE Championship Fight Night 10 in May. Promotion officials announced the matchup Monday on the heels of an initial report from Sports Illustrated.

ONE Fight Night 10 will be the promotion’s debut in the U.S. The card takes place May 5 at 1STBANK Center in Broomfield, Colo., near Denver, and streams on Amazon Prime Video. In the main event, bantamweight champion Demetrious Johnson puts his title on the line in a trilogy rematch with Adriano Moraes.

Northcutt, from Houston, made a splash early in his career with Legacy FC, when he was scouted as part of the debut episode of “Dana White: Lookin’ for a Fight.” He signed to the UFC at 5-0 and won his first two fights with a TKO and submission.

Then he hit a slump with submission losses to Bryan Barberena and Mickey Gall in two of his next three. But he went on a three-fight run over eight months in 2017-2018. Although he was 6-2 in the UFC and on a streak, the UFC chose to let him go when his contract was up. Northcutt signed with ONE Championship in a high-profile move.

He made his ONE debut in May 2019, up a weight class at 185 pounds. But things ended quickly in Singapore for Northcutt. Cosmo Alexandre knocked him out with one punch in 29 seconds. A planned return in April 2021 against former champion Shinya Aoki didn’t happen for Northcutt due to his COVID-19 after-effects, and he’s remained out of action since then.

Mujtaba has fought for ONE since 2016 and is 4-2 for the promotion, including back-to-back first-round finishes. He knocked out Raahul Raju in 56 seconds nearly two years ago. Then, after a lengthy layoff, he submitted Abraao Amorim this past November.

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Can we talk about Sage Northcutt looking completely jacked now?

It’ll be interesting to see which division Sage Northcutt chooses when he finally makes his return to ONE Championship.

Ever since he burst onto the UFC scene as a 19-year-old in 2015, we’ve always known [autotag]Sage Northcutt[/autotag] to be, uh, health conscious.

Who are we kidding? The kid already was shredded back then with an eight pack most of us can only dream about. Here, take a look:

Sage Northcutt after winning his UFC debut in 2015. (Troy Taormina, USA TODAY Sports)

A lot has changed since then. For starters, Northcutt is no longer with the UFC after signing with ONE Championship in November 2018. As you might imagine given he was just 19 when he started, he’s also grown – which has caused him to fluctuate between lightweight and welterweight during the majority of his 14-fight career. For his ONE debut, Northcutt moved up to middleweight and was knocked out in just 29 seconds by Cosmo Alexandre.

That was the last time we saw Northcutt in the cage, more than two years ago in May 2019. Recovery from facial fractures caused by the knockout combined with the COVID-19 pandemic shutting down ONE combined with Northcutt himself testing positive for COVID-19 have kept him out of action since then.

Northcutt had been slated to move back down to 170 pounds for a fight with Shinya Aoyoki this past April at ONE on TNT IV, but he was forced to withdraw because of lingering COVID effects. So clearly, it would seem, he learned a lesson about fighting too heavy after the brutal Alexandre knockout.

But then again, maybe not.

Because if you follow Northcutt on Instagram, you would see that he’s put on some weight and a lot of muscle – a lot of muscle.

Check out this evolution since March 2:

Sage Northcutt withdraws from ONE on TNT IV bout vs. Shinya Aoki; Eduard Folayang steps in

Sage Northcutt has withdrawn from ONE on TNT IV due to lingering effects from COVID-19.

[autotag]Sage Northcutt[/autotag]’s highly anticipated return to ONE Championship has been delayed.

Northcutt (11-3) is out of his April 28 welterweight fight vs. [autotag]Shinya Aoki[/autotag] (46-9) at ONE on TNT IV due to lingering effects from COVID-19, officials announced on Monday morning after an initial report from ESPN.

Northcutt, who tested positive for COVID-19 in January, hasn’t competed since May 2019 when he suffered a 29-second knockout to kickboxer Cosmo Alexandre at ONE Championship 96. The damage sustained in the knockout loss to Alexandre was heavy, forcing Northcutt to undergo surgery to repair eight facial fractures.

Stepping in for Northcutt to face Aoki will be [autotag]Eduard Folayang[/autotag] (22-10), who was scheduled to fight Yoshihiro Akiyama on the same card, but Akiyama was forced out due to injury.

Aoki and Folayang have already competed against each other twice, splitting their two appearances. Folayang captured the ONE lightweight title from Aoki in November 2016 when he scored a third-round TKO win. But Aoki exacted his revenge less than three years later when he took his title back by submitting Folayang in the first round at ONE Championship 92 in March 2019.

Aoki would go on to lose his title to Christian Lee, but has since won three straight, most recently submitting James Nakashima in the first round in January. Meanwhile, Folayang dropped four of his past five, including stoppage losses to Aoki and former UFC lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez.

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Shinya Aoki vs. Sage Northcutt booked for ONE on TNT IV

ONE Championship is pitting the past, present and future into one fight.

ONE Championship is pitting the past, present and future into one fight.

Japanese mixed martial arts pioneer [autotag]Shinya Aoki[/autotag] and former UFC hot prospect [autotag]Sage Northcutt[/autotag] will square off in a welterweight fight at ONE on TNT IV in Singapore. The event will be tape-delayed and air April 28 on TNT.

ESPN was the first to report the news Wednesday.

Despite his lengthy tenure in the MMA spotlight, Northcutt (11-3) is still just 24 years old. Following an eight-fight stint with the UFC, in which he compiled a 6-2 record, Northcut departed the promotion and signed with ONE Championship in late 2018.

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Northcutt made his promotional debut in May 2019 at ONE Championship 96, suffering a 29-second knockout to kickboxer Cosmo Alexandre. The knockout was brutal in nature, and Northcutt required surgery to repair facial fractures as a result. On top of the physical damage, the loss snapped a three-fight winning streak for Northcutt.

Aoki (46-9) is still winning far more than he’s losing. Over the span of his past eight outings, Aoki has gone 7-1 with six finishes, including last month’s submission win over James Nakashima for the 30th submission of his career. In November, Aoki will hit the 18th anniversary of his professional debut. Aoki, 37, made stops in Shooto, PRIDE, DREAM, Strikeforce, and Bellator leading up to his extended stay under the ONE Championship banner.

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Sage Northcutt: Why 155 pounds will ‘fit me the best’ upon ONE Championship return

Sage Northcutt intends to return to 155 pounds after he sustained brutal injuries in his ONE Championship debut at 185.

[autotag]Sage Northcutt[/autotag] intends to return to 155 pounds for his next fight after he sustained brutal injuries from a bigger man in his ONE Championship debut.

Northcutt (11-3) hasn’t fought since May 2019 after a 29-second knockout loss to Cosmo Alexandre caused serious facial injuries. Northcutt underwent extensive reconstructive surgery, and even a year later has not received clearance to resume competition.

One of the unique aspects to ONE Championship is it does not conform to normal weight class standards. Fighters are expected to compete at a “natural” weight, and Northcutt’s bout against Alexander was contested at 185 pounds. The result was devastating, and Northcutt has no intention to do it again.

“That weight class fits my body, my body’s style, the weight that I am, naturally when I’m training and doing all my cardio and conditioning and full-contact sparring, that 155-pound weight class,” Northcutt told MMA Junkie. “It’s featherweight for ONE Championship – that’s the weight class that fits me the best. It’s not that I have hopes of fighting any specific person or have a target. It’s just that that’s the weight class that’s gonna fit me the best, I think.”

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Northcutt, 24, was 5-0 in the UFC as a lightweight. His two losses inside the octagon, to Bryan Barberena and Mickey Gall, both occurred at welterweight.

Now with ONE Championship, Northcutt will not simply be allowed to cut weight down to 155 pounds like he would’ve when he competed for the UFC. ONE Championship instituted hydration tests that can help determine to what extent an athlete has compromised his body, so additional steps must be taken.

According to Northcutt, he is already taking that into consideration. He said his typical training will do most of the work for him, but he knows everything must be on point if he’s to compete in that division upon his eventual return.

“The ONE Championship people have a thing where you’re fighting at your natural weight,” Northcutt said. “So they do the hydration test. For me, it’s just getting back out there, being able to train full contact, being able to spar hard, train harder than ever. Just train like I normally do with my cardio and just kill it harder than ever in my training.

“It’s not a thing about cutting weight. It’s just my natural weight. Instead of trying to eat to gain weight or focus anything to get bigger, I’m just walking around my natural weight.”