ONE Championship and Sage Northcutt part ways, Northcutt responds

Sage Northcutt | ONE Championship

Sage Northcutt and ONE Championship have parted ways.

On Friday, ONE Championship announced Northcutt and the promotion mutually agreed to his release from the organization. Per ONE’s statement on its website the promotion “wishes Northcutt the best in his future endeavors” but made no further comment on the release.

Northcutt also responded to his release on Friday, posting a positive message on social media looking ahead to 2025.

Excited for 2025 and looking forward to having some big fights! pic.twitter.com/cFMYGI94pQ

— Sage Northcutt (@sagenorthcutt) October 18, 2024

“Excited for 2025 and looking forward to having some big fights!”

Northcutt came to prominence in the UFC before signing with ONE Championship in 2019. However, Northcutt’s time with ONE has been tumultuous, fighting just twice in the promotion. Northcutt lost his debut in 2019 and then was scheduled to fight Shinya Aoki in 2021 before withdrawing due to COVID complications. He finally got back in the cage in 2023, submitting Ahmed Mujtaba with a first-round heel hook.

Most recently, Northcutt was against scheduled to face Aoki in January of this year at ONE 165, but withdrew from the bout on fight day as his cornermen were denied visas. This incident created some tension between Northcutt and ONE as both parties disputed exactly what happened.

Still just 28 years old, Northcutt could be a coveted individual on the free-agent market. His overall MMA record stands at 12-3.