Former UFC lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez and former UFC rising star Sage Northcutt are doing their best to stand out in 2019.
As two of the newest members of ONE Championship, which signed a three-year broadcast deal with Turner Sports this past December, Alvarez and Northcutt made their TNT debuts last night (Fri., Mar. 8, 2019) on “Inside the NBA” alongside the likes of Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley.
Alvarez, who left behind UFC last year to sign an exclusive deal with ONE Championship, ended up holding pads for Shaq and felt the power of a true big man. “Underground King” even seemed to get knocked off balance a bit when the former NBA superstar launched heavy kicks.
Check out the action above courtesy of ONE Championship.
Also featured in the segment was Northcutt, who inked his own deal with ONE Championship last year in a surprising move to leave UFC. At just 23 years of age, “Super” has a really good chance of becoming one of the promotion’s biggest stars. It only makes sense that ONE Championship would have Northcutt at the forefront of a cross promotion with TNT and “Inside the NBA.”
Alvarez is expected to make his ONE Championship debut against Timofey Nastyukhin at ONE Championship: A New Era on Mar. 31 for what will be the promotion’s inaugural event in Japan. As for Northcutt, his debut is expected to take place against professional kickboxer Cosmo Alexandre on May 17.