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Stephen Foote

Sage Northcutt learned plenty of lessons from his traumatic knockout defeat on his One Championship debut in May, the most crucial being he was competing at the wrong weight.
Billed as one of the UFC’s rising stars, Northcutt opted not to re-sign with the North American promotion in favour of a multi-fight deal with One late last year.
But the 23-year-old American received an inhospitable welcome from Brazilian kick-boxer Cosmo Alexandre in Singapore in May, falling victim to a vicious KO that left him requiring surgery for multiple facial fractures.
With the benefit of hindsight, Northcutt admitted he was out of his depth. He plans to make the move down to featherweight (which equates to lightweight in UFC terms) for his next fight, a division where he’s had plenty of success.


“I’m going to go back down to 155 pounds, where I was 5-0 in the UFC and undefeated,” Northcutt told the Post.
“I went up to 185 pounds for that weight class [against Alexandre]. I don’t even weigh 185 pounds, I weigh about 180. Really for my body frame, my size, my age, that weight class is too big for me.”
Sage Northcutt almost had nerves ‘sliced off’ in brutal One KO
Northcutt confessed he may have been slightly confounded by the weight discrepancy in One, where fighters compete closer to their natural weight, but still cut to a certain extent.
The extent of Northcutt’s horrific injuries spread like wildfire across social media, and prompted his former boss Dana White to recommend he retire from the sport.
The comments left Northcutt baffled, although he’s taking a glass-half-full perspective on them.

“People told me I could take it as a compliment – [White] saying I could retire because I don’t need to fight. I could go into engineering, that I was doing at school. I could possibly go into acting, maybe modelling. It’s nice of him to say I have the ability to do that.
“I think he was kind of upset about me not fighting for his organisation, but my passion is to fight and when the doctors give me the okay, I’m going to.”
The Texan – who trains out of Sacramento’s Team Alpha – is yet to be cleared by doctors to return to full training, but he’s set his sights on a return in 2020.

As traumatic as the experience has been, Northcutt – ever the optimist – has seen plenty of silver linings.
“That was probably the toughest thing I’ve been through in my entire life. Coming through adversity like that, having to stay strong, it makes you a stronger person,” he said.
“A lot of people are saying I’m going to be gun shy and not be able to take a punch. But I took a shot so hard it was able to break the parts of my face that broke, and I still wasn’t knocked unconscious. When I come back I’m gonna be stronger, more skilled, and smarter than ever.”’

Northcutt says he’s unlocked a more ruthless mentality and will return to his natural fighting style. Namely, unleash his diverse arsenal of “dangerous” kicks.
“I’ve never used them because I’ve won previous fights doing other things,” he said. “In training and sparring, I’ll be told not to throw certain kicks, certain spinning stuff, because you can hurt your training partners. But because I don’t throw them in practice, that correlates to the ring. When I go back out there I’m gonna do it differently.
“Everyone as a fighter has a killer instinct and I didn’t really get to tap into that. It’s locked in my mind now, and in my next fight I'm going to strike, hurt him and take him out as soon as possible.”


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ONE Championship

Sage Northcutt drops down to featherweight after savage KO on One Championship debut

Cosmo Alexandre winds up an overhand against Sage Northcutt that left the American with eight facial fractures. Photo: One Championship

Sage Northcutt was in Singapore for his sister Colbey Northcutt's One Championship debut against Putri Padmi.

Sage Northcutt almost had nerves ‘sliced off’ in brutal One Championship KO but is ‘super eager to come back’

Sage Northcutt hits the canvas during his fight against Brazilian veteran Cosmo Alexandre at One Championship in Singapore. Photo: One Championship

Cosmo Alexandre winds up an overhand against Sage Northcutt.

Sage Northcutt blasts UFC boss Dana White for saying he should retire – ‘I don’t understand his logic’

Cosmo Alexandre unleashes an overhand right against Sage Northcutt. Photo: One Championship

Former UFC star Ross Pearson brutally KO’d by ‘rolling thunder’ kick from Davy Gallon

Davy Gallon KOs Ross Pearson with a rolling thunder kick. Photo: Twitter/MTK MMA

Paige VanZant should ditch UFC and sign with One Championship – it’s a perfect match

Paige VanZant poses on Instagram, where she was more than 2 million followers, and from which she says she makes more money than fighting in the UFC. Photo: Instagram

=== PHOTO CAPTURED ONLINE=== Paige VanZant poses.

Angela Lee (left) and Xiong Jingnan.

Sport

Martial Arts

Mixed Martial Arts


‘Super’ Sage admits One’s welterweight class is ‘too big’ for his body frame, size, and age
Former UFC star promises a more ruthless mentality on return from injury after devastating punch from Cosmo Alexandre



Former UFC star Sage Northcutt admits One’s welterweight class ‘too big’ for his body frame, size, and age after needing surgery on eight facial fractures from Cosmo Alexandre punch.


Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

Dana White

Sage Northcutt drops down to featherweight after savage KO on One Championship debut

‘Super’ Sage admits One’s welterweight class is ‘too big’ for his body frame, size, and age Former UFC star promises a more ruthless mentality on return from injury after devastating punch from Cosmo Alexandre

‘Super’ Sage admits One’s welterweight class is ‘too big’ for his body frame, size, and age

Former UFC star promises a more ruthless mentality on return from injury after devastating punch from Cosmo Alexandre