“I’m still extremely young” - Sage Northcutt says he’s still just at the beginning of his career

While some fans may feel like Sage Northcutt has been around the sport forever, his best years may still be ahead of him.

He was only nineteen years old when he made his UFC debut, where he secured a vicious finish over Francisco Trevino. That was in October of 2015, six and a half years ago.

However, Northcutt, who is 11-3 in MMA is still quite young in the game. In a recent interview with ONE Championship, Northcutt reflected on where he stands in his MMA career:

"Being 26 years old right now, I’m still extremely young, so I’m looking forward to a long and successful career. I feel like I’m just getting started, and I’m still so young that I can have a lot of fights."

Northcutt is coming off a lengthy layoff after suffering a devastating injury due to a brutal knockout loss to Cosmo Alexandre in ONE Championship. After the loss, he spent the past few years of his twenties recovering in relative silence.

The length of rest will likely extend Sage’s career by several years, as he began fighting at the highest level far younger than most. His return opponent will be Pakistan’s Ahmed Mujtaba, a veteran of six fights in the ONE circle, amassing a 4-2 record.

It’ll be Sage Northcutt’s first fight in the United States since July 2018, at a UFC event in Boise, Idaho. Sage lives in Sacramento, California, training at Urijah Faber’s Team Alpha Male.

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Demetrious Johnson hoped for the return of Sage Northcutt for ONE’s US debut

Another American eager to see Sage Northcutt back in the circle is none other than the king of flyweight, Demetrious Johnson.

“Mighty Mouse” will cap off the night in Colorado with a world title fight with Adriano Moraes, the final fight of their trilogy. Speaking to the South China Morning Post before the fight announcement, the flyweight world champion voiced his desire to fight alongside a familiar face:

“I definitely want to see Sage Northcutt back out there. Get in some more American blood. I would like to see more American talent on the card."

The only two fights currently announced for ONE Fight Night 10 are the Demetrious Johnson-Adriano Moraes and Sage Northcutt-Ahmed Mujtaba fights.

However, there are plenty of top-tier American fighters that could add more excitement to the card and make it truly one of the books- there’s also strawweight world champion, Jarred Brooks, Garry Tonon, Thanh Le, James Nakashima, Troy Worthen, to name a few.

Among ONE’s other martial arts divisions, flyweight submission grappling world champion Mikey Musumeci and Danielle Kelly could make appearances as well.

Expect more fight announcements in the coming weeks for ONE Fight Night 10, which goes down on May 5 in Broomfield, Colorado. The event airs on Amazon Prime for subscribers in North America.