ONE Championship’s Sage Northcutt admits fighting Cosmo Alexandre was a ‘mistake’ after face fractured

‘Super’ Sage is moving down two divisions to featherweight following devastating KO on ONE debut

‘I made a mistake going to that weight class, and I made mistakes out there in the fight,’ says 24-year-old

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Cosmo Alexandre winds up an overhand against Sage Northcutt. Photo: ONE Championship

Published: 7:09pm, 10 Jun 2020Updated: 2:06pm, 12 Jun 2020

For over a year now, “Super” Sage Northcutt has had to sit back and listen to everyone say he shouldn’t have been in the ring with Cosmo Alexandre on his ONE Championship debut.

The American was poleaxed by the veteran Brazilian striker in just 29 seconds in May of 2019 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium, following a high-profile switch from the UFC. A brutal right hand from Alexandre left Northcutt with eight facial fractures, and in need of nine hours of surgery. He later revealed the nerves in his face were “almost sliced up” by the punch.

He has yet to be cleared to return to full training, but learned some valuable lessons from the fight as he eyes a move down not one but two weight divisions in the Asian martial arts promotion.

“My last fight was 185 pounds, obviously that weight class is not the right weight class for me, it’s way too big,” Northcutt told SCMP MMA’s Post Fight Podcast.

“Even for the hydration tests, I was drinking a gallon and a half, two gallons of water. A gallon weighs eight pounds and I was still under weight. So 155 is where I’m gonna go down to. In America it’s lightweight, but in ONE Championship it’s featherweight.

“I feel like I’m gonna be the most dominant at that weight class. I was 5-0 in the UFC in that weight class, so that will be the best fit for me.”