Sage Northcutt is on the verge of a return to MMA after being out of competition for nearly four years.
The former UFC star and now One Championship fighter has been scheduled to face Ahmed Mujtaba on May 5 at ONE Fight Night 10. The bout will be Northcutt’s first fight since May 2019.
It has been a long road back for Northcutt (11-3). A series of health issues, including multiple facial fractures suffered in his debut KO loss to Cosmo Alexandre, kept Northcutt out of commission.
“Coming out of my last fight, obviously, there was some frustration because taking a loss and how it happened, of course you’re frustrated,” Northcutt told Morning Kombat. “And like you said, time to heal up. I think it was a little bit over a year of me just healing up, making sure that I’m 100 percent feeling better.
“And then I got back into training super hard. I was actually scheduled to fight vs. Shinya Aoki, and I believe two weeks before I was supposed to fly out overseas for the fight, I caught COVID, unfortunately. I tried to train through it. I tried to train around it because I really wanted that fight, but I ran myself down. I got super sick. I got a blood clot because after getting super sick, I had to sit around doing nothing.
“And I think for me being so active and just sitting around for several days and not doing anything whatsoever, laying in bed, it really, really got me. After that, it was like six months of me getting checked up, blood work to make sure everything is all good. It was a little bit of time.”
Even with a lengthy layoff, Northcutt is still only 26 years old. He’s been fighting professionally since his late teens, so he’s still got youth on his side. Northcutt is excited to finally be able to return and resume his fighting career.
“I signed with One Championship and unfortunately the first fight wasn’t what I would’ve liked,” Northcutt said. “I’m really itching to show what I’m capable of and all the improvements that I’ve made. That’s what I’m looking forward to.”
