Sage Northcutt will make his ONE Championship debut in Singapore on February 22nd. It will almost certainly be a welterweight MMA fight but the 22 year old has already set his sights on multiple prizes.
First of all he wants to challenge for the ONE welterweight title. But the UFC veteran doesn’t plan to simply stop there,
“What I’m excited about is that not only do I get to fight mixed martial arts but Mr. Chatri (Sityodtong) said I could also fight Muay Thai and kickboxing,” he said.
Rollercoaster ride
Given the rollercoaster ride Northcutt has been on during his MMA career it’s worth reminding people that he is still only 22. Most fighters have yet to make their pro debut at this age and the former UFC poster boy believes he has yet to reach his full potential,
“Basically, I’ve had about one year of solid training since taking a break from school and getting to train full time at Team Alpha Male. I’m only like a year into full time training, and I’m only 22 years old. I keep improving so fast. Imagine another year down the line, and then another year…”
He’s currently riding a streak of three UFC wins and he thinks this recent run of form proves the previous point,
“It’s only been one year and in each one of my fights, I’ve been improving. In my last fight, I got the knockout, and since then I’ve just been improving.”
Big impression
Zebaztian Kadestam recently became the third man to hold the ONE Championship welterweight title. It’s a prize Northcutt already has his sights on and he’s hoping to make a big impression at ONE: ‘Call to Greatness’.
“I’m going to go out there and perform my very best in my first fight, but I believe I can be champion very soon. I believe that I can be the best in ONE Championship.”
Northcutt won numerous titles and tournaments in Karate before transitioning to MMA. It’s possible he might return to his stand up fighting roots but this is a young man in a hurry, he wants to wear the gold and he doesn’t want to wait.
That means any plans to compete in kickboxing or Muay Thai are probably on hold for the time being. Right now Northcutt has only one thing on his mind,
“I want to be the champion as soon as possible.”
