I’ve been itching to get back – Sage Northcott

After almost four years away from action, “Super” Sage Northcutt is finally set to return to the ONE Championship Circle.

The 26-year-old will feature in the Singapore-based promotion’s inaugural U.S. event – ONE Fight Night 10: Johnson vs. Moraes III – on Friday, 5th May, at the 1stBank Center in Broomfield, Colorado, where he’ll meet in-form Pakistani star Ahmed Mujtaba in lightweight action.

Returning to active competition has been a goal the American star has been focusing on for some time.

Northcutt suffered a devastating first-round knockout at the hands of Cosmo Alexandre in his ONE debut in May 2019, and had to undergo multiple surgeries following the fight, which sidelined him.

The multiple-time Karate World Champion hoped to make a comeback last year, but a bout of COVID-19 delayed him further.

But now that he’s back in fighting form, “Super” is looking at the brighter side of things – namely, the opportunity that lies ahead of him.

“I’ll tell you what, it feels so good to be back. It’s been a while. I’ve been itching to get back. Not only that, getting the fight in the United States, the first U.S. card for ONE Championship, I couldn’t be more excited for that,” Northcutt said.

“You have an incredible fighter in Demetrious Johnson headlining the card, so the card’s going to be super exciting, especially for the first card in the U.S.. I’m so excited.”

Arriving in ONE Championship at 22 years old, the American star had plenty of hype surrounding his promotional bow.

Though it didn’t go his way, Northcutt feels that he has overcome it and the battles that followed, and he’s now ready to get his career back on track.

“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,” he opined.

“A lot of people will be thinking, ‘Hey, Sage might have some ring rust.’ It’s been three-and-a-half years. It’s a little bit of time. But I’ve been training. I’ve been staying sharp.”

Northcutt will have his hands full when meets Mujtaba, who is on a two-fight win streak inside the Circle, this May.

But he has a swathe of dangerous weapons in his arsenal, and at ONE Fight Night 10, “Super” plans to remind the world of that as he sets out to work his way up ONE’s stacked lightweight division.

“The goal is to be successful out there and show ONE Championship that I’m able to go out there and perform, to meet the expectations of what they want. I want to go out there and put on a great performance,” Northcutt said.

“Whether it’s a submission, ground-and-pound or a knockout, everybody wants a finish. That would be the ideal way to win, but you know I’m training for any aspect out there. So that way, I’m prepared.”