Sage Northcutt is excited to be back after ONE Championship announced his return for ONE Fight Night 10 in Broomfield, Colorado, on May 5. After nearly four years out of action, the Team Alpha Male representative will return to the Circle against Ahmed Mujtaba. Having a contract signed and an opponent to train for has Northcutt excited to be back.
“Oh man, I’ll tell you what, it feels so good to be back. It’s been a while. I’ve been itching to get back. Not only that, getting the fight in the United States, the first U.S. card for ONE Championship, I couldn’t be more excited for that. You have an incredible fighter, Demetrious Johnson, headlining the card, so the card’s gonna be super exciting, especially for the first card in the U.S. I’m so excited,” Northcutt told ONE.
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Northcutt’s match joins the previously announced ONE Flyweight World Championship trilogy bout between champion Demetrious Johnson and Adriano Moraes. Northcutt is the second addition to the card and brings more American flavor to ONE’s first foray into the U.S. market. The Sacramento resident feels ready to show the fans he is better than ever when he steps inside the Circle.
When the bell rings, it will have been nearly four years since he was last seen in competition. “Super” Sage’s last battle was a swift 29-second knockout to Cosmo Alexandre that put him on the shelf. After recovering from injuries, Northcutt then had to battle COVID-19. But now he is healthy and ready to get back to his natural lightweight weight class.
“Being 26 years old right now, I’m still extremely young, so I’m looking forward to a long and successful career. I feel like I’m just getting started, and I’m still so young that I can have a lot of fights. A lot of people will be thinking, ‘Hey, Sage might have some ring rust.’ It’s been three-and-a-half years. It’s a little bit of time. But I’ve been training, I’ve been staying sharp. I feel like I’ve improved in a lot of different areas. I’m looking forward to showing it,” said the 26-year-old.
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The Texas-born athlete is preparing to finish the match and make an explosive return on May 5. However, he is not making any firm predictions. Northcutt wants to have an exciting outing to show ONE that he is ready to make a splash in the division and was well worth the wait as he overcame obstacles on his road back to the Circle.
“Obviously [the goal is to] be successful out there and show ONE Championship that I’m able to go out there and perform, to meet the expectations of what they want, I want to go out there and put on a great performance. Whether it’s a submission, whether it’s ground-and-pound, or it’s a knockout, whatever it is, everybody wants a finish. That would be the ideal way to win, but you know I’m training for any aspect out there, so that way I’m prepared,” said Northcutt.
With an exciting style and incredible athletic ability, Northcutt understands he has plenty of time to realize his potential. That is precisely why the American star wants to be active in 2023. After ONE Fight Night 10, he plans to have a quick turnaround and continue his push to be one of 2023’s brightest stars.
“If I get the opportunity I would love to have a couple more fights this year. I would love to be super active. I wanna knock out a couple of fights this year with ONE Championship and have great performances. That’s what I’m shooting for.”
ONE Fight Night 10 takes place on Friday, May 5, from the 1stBank Center in Broomfield, Colorado. Tickets are on sale now for ONE’s U.S. debut and can be purchased from Axs.com.
