ONE Championship’s Sage Northcutt takes inspiration from Cody Garbrandt comeback KO at UFC 250
- ‘Super’ Sage thinks Alpha Male teammate Garbrandt ‘absolutely’ can win back the UFC bantamweight belt after stunning knockout
- ‘Everybody loses a fight some time – one step back temporarily, that’s nothing,’ says Northcutt, who looks to bounce back from debut ONE defeat
A lot of people had given up on Cody Garbrandt.
“I went from top of world, 11-0, world champ at 25 years old – to a three-fight skid. I wanna thank everyone for sticking with me,” the former UFC bantamweight champion said after securing a devastating KO against Raphael Assuncao at UFC 250 to officially stop the rot.
Sage Northcutt knows the feeling. The 24-year-old was once one of the UFC’s hottest young prospects. A high-profile switch to Asia’s ONE Championship was meant to herald big things for the American, but he was knocked out in 29 seconds on his debut – conspicuously, at 185 pounds – by Cosmo Alexandre, with his face fractured in eight places.
But training with Garbrandt (12-3) out of Team Alpha Male in California, Northcutt is using “No Love” as his inspiration as he plots a comeback of his own, two divisions down at featherweight where he feels he is most natural.
“Oh man, Cody’s so talented, he’s awesome,” Northcutt told SCMP MMA’s Post Fight Podcast. “He’s really, really incredible. That was a crazy knockout, right at the buzzer.