Cosmo Alexandre Talks Sage Northcutt And His Return To The ONE Circle

It’s been just over one year since Sage Northcutt lost his ONE Championship debut, where he was knocked out after only 29 seconds by Cosmo Alexandre at ONE: Enter The Dragon.

The knockout resulted in nerve damage and eight facial fractures for Northcutt, which required a nine hour operation. Although ‘Super’ Sage is still awaiting medical clearance to fight again, he has stated that he will drop down two weight classes to featherweight, when he returns to the ONE Circle.

Speaking on the South China Morning Post‘s Post Fight Podcast however, his opponent Alexandre explained why this could potentially be a bad idea.

“Maybe it would be hard. I don’t know how he does that, how he cuts weight, but 70 kilos is 155 [pounds], I think he cannot do that, that’s too low. I know how I felt when I did 77 kilos, it was hard already, and he is not a skinny guy. He is strong with a lot of muscle. I don’t know how he can make 70 kilos. If he does 77 I think he’ll be OK, it will be good for him. He can be strong.”

Ahead of his ONE debut, Northcutt acted in the film Street Fighter: Genesis. And Alexandre believes that this could have had an impact on his performance.

“I never like to see that [Northcutt’s injuries], it’s just my job, I just wanna go there and win. I don’t wanna hurt nobody. The way it happened, I don’t know why he was fighting. He doesn’t need to fight – he was doing some movies already, working as an actor. I don’t know, it’s hard to say because if it is in his heart to be a fighter, I can’t say anything. But in his position I wouldn’t fight, I wouldn’t.”

The extent of Northcutt’s injuries even prompted UFC president Dana White to advise the former UFC fighter to retire. However, Alexandre understands why ‘Super Sage’ wants to continue fighting.

“I saw what Dana said. But it is hard. For me it’s easy to say that because I have 104 fights in just kickboxing and Muay Thai so I’m kinda tired – ‘Oh, I have to travel again, cut weight, train hard’. For me to say that, ‘Oh no, you just need to stop fighting’, it’s easy to say that. But he has like ten fights? Of course, he wants to fight more, that’s kinda normal. I wouldn’t fight if I had the opportunities he has, working in the movies, doing all this stuff.”

Despite his highlight-reel knockout over Northcutt, the Brazilian has vented his frustration that he hasn’t fought since. Last week however, Alexandre and ONE were able to agree on a new deal.

“For me it’s like Sage, he went to the company and was a big name already, everybody talked just about him when I fought him, but I don’t know why,” said the 38-year-old. “If you see his record it’s not that good. The guy has six, seven fights (14). I have more than 100.

“I am a three-time world Muay Thai champion, four-time kickboxing world champion. So why didn’t they promote me like him. Why? Because he has more followers on Instagram? It’s weird. I respect it but I don’t understand. It’s OK, this way is the way. It’s hard to explain. I have no idea why.”

After getting a new deal with ONE Championship, who do you think Cosmo Alexandre should face next?

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