Sage Northcutt’s four-year hiatus is finally about to end.
The California resident’s first bout since 2019 will take place on Friday, May 5, when ONE Championship ventures to the United States for the very first time to host ONE Fight Night 10: Johnson vs. Moraes III at Colorado’s 1stBank Center.
Northcutt meets talented Pakistani Ahmed Mujtaba in a contest that will end the American’s lengthy road back to competition, as he looks to make his mark in ONE’s lightweight division.
Returning from such a lengthy layoff has brought many questions forward regarding his stature in mixed martial arts in 2023, and these are usually the questions posed to an aging fighter.
Northcutt has been a familiar name in the MMA world for some time, however. And at 26 years old, he is now approaching his athletic prime.
With his injuries healed and health back in order, the “Super” one is back to make a real run in ONE.
“I just had some time to take care of some personal things. It’s going to be exciting getting back in there,” Northcutt stated.
“I’ll only be 26 years old, having had 14 professional MMA fights, so I’m super excited. I feel like I’m just getting started, and I’m still so young that I can have a lot of fights. I’m excited to fight for ONE Championship for the first U.S. card. I think that’s really cool.”
When he steps back inside the Circle next month, there will be no warm-up bout or easy welcoming back to competition. Instead, Northcutt will meet one of the lightweight division’s most formidable names in Mujtaba.
Mujtaba currently rides a two-bout winning streak with both victories coming inside the first frame. “Wolverine’s” most recent outing at ONE 163 last November saw him submit Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Abraao Amorim in a performance that set him apart from the rest of the division.
Despite the momentum the Pakistani has built, Northcutt believes his training at California’s elite Team Alpha Male facility has prepared him for whatever his rival plans to throw at him.
As always, the American remains as humble as ever in preparation, but says he will ready stamp his arrival at ONE Fight Night 10 this May.
“I’ve never made predictions for a fight. That’s not just me, not my kind of personality,” Northcutt said. “But wherever the fight leads versus Ahmed, wherever the fight goes, I’m training hard for any section of the fight that might be so.”