“I was healing up” – Sage Northcutt laments about the years he lost while recuperating from injuries and illness

While he is happy to be competing once again, American martial artist Sage Northcutt still cannot help but rue the time lost during his long recuperation from injury and various illnesses.

‘Super Sage’ made a successful return to competition after four years on the sidelines at ONE Fight Night 10 on Prime Video in May in the United States. He defeated Pakistani fighter Ahmed Mujtaba by submission (heel kook) just 39 seconds into their lightweight mixed martial arts contest.

It was his first action since his ONE debut in May 2019, when he absorbed a first-round knockout loss from Brazilian Cosmo Alexandre. Making the defeat more stinging was he suffered multiple facial fractures in the aftermath, which required surgery and a long recovery.

He also had to deal with blood clots as well as lingering effects of COVID-19.

In an interview with The MMA Superfan, Sage Northcutt relayed it was lamentable that he had to be out for a long period of time, which he could have used to build up his standing in the promotion. He said:

“So I might have had some years [lost] where I was healing up from my injury and the time that I was kind of getting back into training and having to heal.”

Watch the interview below:

But now that he is back in the pink of health, Sage Northcutt is now looking to move past that tough stretch in his career and resume further his ONE journey.

After his impressive victory over Mujtaba, he is now looking to take on other notable fighters in the division, in particular, Japanese legend Shinya Aoki, who he has been eyeing for sometime now.

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Sage Northcutt keen on competing in other disciplines, winning titles

Now back into the swing of things, Sage Northcutt is aiming to propel his mixed martial arts career further while also dipping his hands in different combat sports and winning titles.

He shared this in an interview with ESPN MMA earlier this year, saying:

“My goals haven’t changed. Just like most fighters I want to be the world champ. I also want to do it in multiple different sports. I had a kickboxing background growing up and a karate background. I feel like kickboxing would be great for me to compete in in the future.”

Watch the interview below:

‘Super Sage’ made a successful return to competition in May in the United States after a four-year layoff because of injury and illnesses. He defeated Ahmed Mujtaba by submission (heel hook) just 39 seconds into the match.

For the impressive win, he earned a $50,000 performance bonus from ONE Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong.