Former UFC prospect Sage Northcutt is set to make a comeback at ONE FC on Prime Video 10 when he faces surging Pakistani contender Ahmed Mujtaba. This will be Northcutt’s return to mixed martial arts competition after a 4-year layoff following his knockout loss back in 2019. The fight was first reported by the official Twitter handle of ONE Championship.
The Roller Coaster Journey of Sage Northcutt
We all remember when 19-year-old Sage Northcutt was featured in the debut episode of Dana White’s Looking for a Fight and impressed the UFC boss with his Karate styled striking and latching up a submission in the fight. After his stoppage victory, the Texas native got some pretty big news in front of his home fans as he had secured a UFC contract and was about to make his promotional debut in UFC 192.
Northcutt got a promotional push from the company as the UFC found him to be a marketable athlete. His first two fights inside the promotion went as per his plans as he got a TKO victory in the first one and secured a submission via guillotine choke in the second. His 3rd fight was his welterweight debut which came up against longtime veteran Bryan Barbarena, and to the surprise of not many, Northcutt lost the bout via arm-triangle choke. The hype on Northcutt was finally derailed when he lost via submission against fellow UFC newcomer Mickey Gall. Although Northcutt managed to pick up three straight victories after the loss to Gall and was 6-2 with the promotion, UFC decided not to renew his contract.
In November 2018. Northcutt managed to sign a contract with Asia’s biggest mixed martial arts promotion, ONE Championship. A bout with renowned kickboxer and 7-time Muay Thai world champion turned mixed martial artist Cosmo Alexandre was set up, and the fight was supposed to take place at 185 lbs. This was a huge jump in weight class for Northcutt, as he had previously fought in 155 and 170 lbs, respectively. As many expected, the fight didn’t end well for him, with the veteran kickboxer putting the Texas native out cold in the very 1st round. The knockout blow resulted in eight facial fractures, which required surgical repairing.
The Rise of Ahmed Mujtaba
Mujtaba is perhaps the biggest mixed martial arts prospect in his country, Pakistan. In a country which is predominantly known for worshipping the sport of cricket, the fighter nicknamed ‘Wolverine‘ had made a huge name for himself due to his highly effective and exciting style of finishing fights. Mujtaba is 4-2 inside the ONE FC promotion and is currently on a 2-fight winning streak with a KO over Indian prospect Rahul Raju and a submission victory over a 3rd degree Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu blackbelt and a two-time IBJJF world champion in Abraao Amorin. A win over Northcutt might be a highly accelerating factor in Mujtaba’s star status, considering the American fighter’s marketability and existing stardom.
ONE Fight Night 10 will take place on May 5, 2023, at 1stBank Center in Broomfield, Colorado. The main event for the above-mentioned card is supposed to be the trilogy fight between Demetrious Johnson and Adriano Moraes.
Featured image credits to ONE Championship
