Sage Northcutt is back.
ONE Championship announced today (Mon., Jan. 23, 2023) that Northcutt (11-3) will take on Ahmed Mujtaba (10-2) at ONE Fight Night 10 on May 5, 2023, in a 170-pound Lightweight affair. The event will mark ONE’s first time in the United States with the action taking place in Denver, Colorado.
Northcutt, 26, made his promotional debut for ONE in May 2019 when matched with a lethal kickboxer, Cosmo Alexandre, at 185 pounds. Brazil’s Alexandre only needed 29 seconds to put away “Super” with a bone-shattering hook to the dome. Northcutt suffered eight facial fractures from the punch and required a nine-hour surgery to fix.
Legendary Lightweight competitor, Shinya Aoki, was tasked to be Northcutt’s sophomore opponent in April 2021, but the bout fell apart Northcutt continued to battle the lingering effects of COVID-19. This bout with Mujtaba will be only his second since departing Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) on a three-fight winning streak.
Pakistan’s Mujtaba, 29, is no stranger to the ONE circle, having fought his last six fights dating back to 2016 under the banner. “Wolverine” most recently picked up a Nov. 2023 first-round triangle choke submission win over Abraão Amorim at ONE 163.
The Lightweight clash is only the second fight officially added to ONE’s U.S. debut, but Marcus “Buchecha” Almeida is also expected to be in action. Headlining the event will be a Flyweight title trilogy between the champion, Demetrious Johnson, and former titleholder, Adriano Moraes.