ONE Championship and Sage Northcutt ‘mutually agree’ to part ways

ONE Championship and “Super” Sage Northcutt have “mutually agreed” to his release from the organisation, according to a statement released on Saturday morning.
“ONE wishes Northcutt the best in his future endeavours,” read the brief statement, which was posted on the Asia-based martial arts promotion’s website. 
Former UFC star Northcutt later said he is “looking forward to some big fights in 2025” in a post on social media.
The 28-year-old American, who has a professional MMA record of 12-3, signed for ONE in early 2019 but fought just twice. 
An extensive eight-hour facial surgery after his debut loss – a 29-second KO by Cosmo Alexandre up at welterweight in May 2019 – kept him out of full training for over a year. 
Issues with long-term Covid-19 complications, including blood clots, ruled him out of a planned return at lightweight against Shinya Aoki in May 2021.
He came back finally to submit Ahmed Mujtaba in 39 seconds in May 2023 in Denver, when ONE made its on-ground US debut.
A rescheduled fight against Japan’s Aoki at ONE 165 inside Tokyo’s Ariake Arena in January was pulled just hours before the card started, because of visa issues with his cornermen. 
Northcutt released a statement days later blaming ONE for the issue, and has not fought since.
“ONE Championship empathises with Sage Northcutt in regards to the situation he faced at ONE 165, where two of his coaches were not allowed to corner him, leading to his withdrawal from the event,” ONE responded in its own statement in February.
“Due to a change in external guidance from a third-party visa consultancy on Certificate of Eligibility (COE) requirements for all cornermen at ONE 165, there were work visa processing issues leading up to the event, which unfortunately impacted multiple athletes.
“The ONE team communicated the ongoing issues to our athletes and their management, but there was clearly a misunderstanding with the options presented to Sage and his team.
“Despite his recent comments, ONE values Sage’s partnership on a personal and professional level, and we hope that we can resolve this situation amicably.
“We also hope our athletes understand that we were acting in their best interest in being 100 per cent compliant with local laws, and that this was an isolated incident given our track record of successfully flying in athletes and their cornermen for hundreds of global events.”