Sage Northcutt
Sage Northcutt ONE Championship

KEY POINTS

  • Sage Northcutt signed with ONE Championship in 2018
  • Northcutt suffered a KO loss in his ONE Championship debut in 2019
  • Northcutt underwent facial surgery after the KO loss

After four years on the shelf, one of mixed martial arts' brightest up-and-comers will be making his long-awaited return to action.

ONE Championship announced on Monday, January 23 that American star Sage Northcutt will be making his return to action at ONE Fight Night 10, which takes place at the 1stBank Center in Broomfield, Colorado this coming May 5th.

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Northcutt (11-3), who last saw action back in May 2019, will be taking on Pakistani veteran Ahmed Mujtaba in a lightweight bout.

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Signed to ONE Championship back in 2018, Northcutt was among one of the promotion's major signings at the time alongside former UFC champions Demetrious Johnson and Eddie Alvarez.

Then just a 22-year-old rising star, Northcutt had just come off an impressive run in the UFC that saw him go 6-2, with victories over the likes of Zak Ottow, Thibault Gouti, Cody Pfister and Francisco Trevino.

Coming into ONE Championship with a combination of freakish athleticism, talent and power, Northcutt was expected to become an instant contender in the lightweight division.

In his long-awaited ONE Championship debut, Northcutt was matched up against Brazilian kickboxer Cosmo Alexandre.

It turned out to be a devastatingly bitter maiden appearance for the American, who found himself on the receiving end of a vicious 29-second knockout.

As if getting knocked out wasn't enough, it was revealed that Northcutt had suffered eight fractures in his face that required surgery.

In 2021, Northcutt was scheduled to make his return to action against Japanese legend Shinya Aoki in a lightweight bout at ONE on TNT 4, but he ultimately had to withdraw due to the lingering effects of COVID-19.

Ahmed Mujtaba
Ahmed Mujtaba ONE Championship

Welcoming Northcutt back inside the Circle will be Mujtaba (10-2).

Mujtaba began his ONE Championship career back in 2016 and has compiled a 4-2 record under the organization's banner

He owns victories over the likes of Benedict Ang, Li Kai Wen, Rahul Raju and Abraao Amorim.

ONE Fight Night 10 will be ONE Championship's debut event in the United States and will be headlined by a flyweight world title trilogy bout between Demetrious Johnson and Adriano Moraes.