Sage Northcutt says fighting at 185-pounds in ONE debut was the wrong move for him

Sage Northcutt thinks he fought in the wrong weight class for his ONE Championship debut.

Before joining ONE, Northcutt fought at lightweight and welterweight in the UFC, with most of his success at 155 pounds. In May 2015, ‘Super’ made his ONE debut against Muay Thai specialist Cosmo Alexandre at welterweight, which is more like middleweight due to hydration testing.

Northcutt had a disastrous first appearance in the Circle, losing by a vicious knockout in 29 seconds. During an interview with The MMA Superfan, ‘Super’ had this to say about the decision to fight Alexandre being a mistake:

“You know it was like trial and error. I came into ONE Championship and it was my first time doing a hydration test. So even though it was called welterweight in the U.S., that would be middleweight. It was 185 pounds, which is massive. Because in the UFC it’s like me going from featherweight to lightweight, all the way to middleweight so it’s like moving up three weight classes which is, yeah that was a very large weight class for me at 185 pounds.”

Sage Northcutt suffered multiple facial fractures against Alexandre that led to a long recovery process. Once he recovered, the American superstar battled a severe case of COVID, extending his layoff to four years. On May 5, ‘Super’ returns to action inside the sold-out 1stBank Center in Colorado.

The 27-year-old will take on Ahmed Mujtaba, who’s coming off back-to-back first-round finishes at ONE Fight Night 10 on Prime Video, the promotion’s first event on North American soil. The highly-anticipated event can be seen live and for free by North American Prime Video subscribers.

Check out the ONE Fight Night 10 fight card featuring Sage Northcutt vs. Ahmed Mujtaba below: