ONE Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong was pleased of Sage Northcutt in his return battle last week, especially after seeing what the American mixed martial arts star had to go through in the wake of a disastrous promotional debut. Sage Northcutt’s first fight was a disaster, and ONE Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong saw it all.
At ONE Championship’s first live on-ground tournament in the United States, which took place on May 5 in Denver, Colorado, ‘Super Sage’ enjoyed a successful return to competition after an almost four-year absence from the sport.
In just 39 seconds into their mixed martial arts competition, the fighter from Team Alpha Male and Evolve MMA won the match against their Pakistani opponent Ahmed Mujtaba by forcing him to submit with a heel hook.
Even though there were reservations about how Sage Northcutt would appear after a lengthy layoff, he did not waste any time answering the questions that were placed over him by quickly and easily defeating Ahmed Mujtaba.
The phrase “Super Sage” was interrupted by a sharp jab. After momentarily scuffling it out on the ground, the Sacramento native, now 27 years old, seized hold of Mujtaba’s leg and twisted it. After a few moments, I heard the tap.
The victory marked a complete turnaround from his ONE Championship Series debut in May 2019, when he was defeated. Sage Northcutt was knocked out in the first round by Brazilian Cosmo Alexandre. The knockout happened 29 seconds into the first round. To make matters even worse, he sustained many fractures to the face, which necessitated surgery and a protracted period of recovery.
Sityodtong described his chats with Sage Northcutt and his family after what he had to go through during the post-event press conference for ONE Fight Night 10. The purpose of this was to emphasise how significant it was that he had won after being sidelined for so long.
The ONE executive commented as follows:
“Fans did not get the opportunity to witness what he actually endured. I went to the hospital after he was knocked unconscious, and while I was there, I thought to myself, “man, this is going to take a long time.” After a while, he gave me a call and told me, “Chatri, I’m going to hang it up.” When he attempted to return, he still possessed the nerve to do so. I confronted Mark, his father, while I was in a state of extreme emotion. I mean, Sage had plenty of opportunities to give up.”
Take a look at the press conference that was just held:
Sage Northcutt was awarded a performance bonus of fifty thousand dollars due to the significance of his triumph.
The replay of ONE Fight Night 10, which was held at the 1stBank Centre in Denver in front of a sold-out crowd, is currently available to view for free on Amazon Prime in North America.
