The four year absence does not appear to have had any impact on Sage Northcutt’s personality. He was his normal effusive self at the ONE Fight Night 10 press conference with the UFC veteran as enthusiastic as always.
If Northcutt is secretly feeling nervous or anxious ahead of his comeback then the 27 year old is a superb actor. He didn’t seem to be suffering from mixed emotions when he told ONE Championship ring announcer Dom Lau that,
“Man I am stoked, I so excited. It’s been way too long.”
Northcutt was asked whether his motivation had suffered during the extended absence. The American hasn’t competed since 2019 when he was brutally knocked out by Cosmo Alexandre suffering eight fractures to his face.
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Fight fan
But even if Northcutt hasn’t been appearing on ONE Championship cards himself he has certainly been watching them by the sounds of it. he says seeing the shows has been a source of inspiration for him,
“I think one of the biggest things is looking at all these guys, over the last four years getting to watch all these fights has pumped me up so much.”
While Northcutt might not have been fighting that doesn’t mean he hasn’t trained. So while we haven’t seen him compete since 2019 he has spent the past four years evolving and improving.
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Recent footage
Who knows how Northcutt’s style could have developed over the course of the last four years? Certainly not opponent Ahmed Mujtaba who doesn’t have any recent footage of the UFC veteran to go on.
Northcutt is confident that his game has evolved during this lengthy absence and says he won’t be wasting any time once the bell sounds in Broomfield on Friday night,
“I always like to be very explosive (and) I’m going out there to get after it. I’ve had four years to work on a lot of stuff so its going to be good.”
