5 Defining Moments: Sage Northcutt

It may feel like ages ago that Sage Northcutt made headlines as one of the youngest fighters in Ultimate Fighting Championship history, but at 27, his journey as a martial artist is far from complete.

Northcutt (11-3) will compete for the first time in nearly four years when he faces Ahmed Mujtaba in a lightweight (170-pound) mixed martial arts bout at One on Prime Video 10, in Broomfield, Colo., on May 5. The Katy, Texas, native has the opportunity not only to lace up the gloves once again, but to reclaim some of the shine he once bore as a karate child prodigy, a teenage UFC phenom and a prize free agent signing for One Championship. As “Super Sage” prepares for his clash with Mujtaba in the cradle of modern MMA, a look at five of the moments that have defined his career to date:

1. Hype Level: 9000

On Nov. 14, 2014, the 18-year-old karate prodigy made his professional mixed martial arts debut at Legacy Fighting Championship 27 in his hometown of Houston. He was hardly a new face to anyone who had been paying attention to traditional martial arts: a karate practitioner from the age of four, Northcutt had already made waves at age nine as the youngest person to appear on the cover of Sport Karate magazine, and at age 15 had become the youngest-ever inductee into the Black Belt magazine Hall of Fame. Coupled with a solid high school wrestling background and a five-fight win streak to close out his amateur MMA career, the stage was set for Northcutt to be one of the sport’s next big things. On that night in H-Town, Northcutt did nothing to dispel expectations, as he blew away fellow MMA debutant Tim Lashley in just 27 seconds. The train had officially left the station.

2. Big First Impression

Thanks to a career-opening 5-0 run in Legacy and Fury Fighting Championship, including a win on Dana White’s “Lookin’ for a Fight,” Northcutt got the call-up from the UFC. Easily the youngest fighter on roster at just over 19 years, seven months, his rookie appearance came at UFC 192 on Oct. 3, 2015, in Houston. Facing the 12-1 Francisco Trevino, Northcutt showed that there would be more to his game than roundhouse kicks, grounding Trevino with a huge double-leg takedown and blasting him with ground-and-pound in under a minute. The UFC realized it had a potential star on its hands.

3. “Bam” Goes the Dynamite

Coming into his welterweight main card showcase at UFC on Fox 18 on Jan. 30, 2016, in Newark, New Jersey, Northcutt was 7-0 and had finished all seven of his opponents inside of two rounds. Still a month shy of his 20th birthday, he appeared well on his way to becoming a contender as well as star, and short-notice opponent Bryan “Bam Bam” Barberena figured to be an appropriate test of Northcutt’s development. However, nobody had handed Barberena a copy of the script, and the nearly 3-to-1 underdog took Northcutt down off of an ill-advised spinning kick, then cinched up an arm-triangle choke for the tap at 3:06 of Round 2. The teenage phenom had taken his first setback as a professional.

4. ONE Rude Welcome

Northcutt bounced back from the Barberena loss to win four of his next five, compiling a 6-2 Octagon record by the summer of 2018. After parting ways with the UFC on a three-fight win streak, the free agent elected to sign with One Championship, raising the tantalizing possibility that he might compete under the ONE banner in kickboxing and muay thai as well as MMA. His promotional debut took place at One Championship “Enter the Dragon,” on May 17, 2019, at Singapore Indoor Stadium. Facing world-class kickboxer Cosmo Alexandre in ONE’s 185-pound welterweight division, it would not be a good night at the office for the 23-year-old Texan. In just 29 seconds, Alexandre caught Northcutt with a single punch that famously broke multiple bones in his face.

5. The Comeback Kid

Northcutt’s facial injuries required surgical repair, followed by a lengthy recuperation, before he could return to combat sports. That healing period overlapped the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving Northcutt on the mend and on the shelf in the States while One Championship resumed operations in Asia under safety protocols. It would be almost four years before Northcutt’s own return to action, but even now at age 27, his best years as a competitor may lie ahead of him. The road back to martial arts prominence begins against Mujtaba, next week in Colorado at ONE on Prime Video 10.