Sage Northcutt has disputed ONE Championship’s claim that his recent fight withdrawal was due to “unforeseen circumstances with his cornermen,” stating that he had submitted necessary paperwork for his coaches’ visas well in advance and was not informed until hours before the match that two of them could not coach.
Sage Northcutt and ONE Championship aren’t exactly seeing eye-to-eye. It’s all about his recent fight withdrawal.
“Super Sage” was all set to face off against Shinya Aoki, a Japanese MMA legend. The fight was scheduled for a ONE event this past January. But, plot twist – on the day of the fight, Northcutt had to back out. The reason? “Unforeseen circumstances with his cornermen,” or so the broadcast claimed. Aoki ended up submitting John Lineker, who filled in for Northcutt at the eleventh hour.
Northcutt decided to air his grievances on social media last Thursday. He challenged ONE’s assertion that the issue was unavoidable.
In his words, “ONE Championship is implying that I pulled out of the Shinya fight for unforeseen circumstances. That’s a load of bull. I sent ONE Championship the necessary paperwork they required to get my coaches visas 48 days ahead of the event. They even assured me over the phone and by text that my main jiu-jitsu coach Fabio Prado didn’t need a visa. I’d paid for his airfare flights and trip, so he wasn’t classified as a working employee that needed a visa. They also said my other coach could get in as a tourist, so he didn’t need one either.”
He continued, “My coaches were there for almost a week, and I was not informed that two of them could not coach until hours before my match. I received a text from an unknown number that texted me for the first time that day. It was a ticket salesman asking me about getting my two coaches complimentary tickets to watch my fight in the audience. I personally believe that ONE Championship was not going to inform me that my coaches were not allowed to corner me until I arrived at the arena to fight if I did not hear from a ticket salesman hours earlier.”
The fight with Aoki was supposed to be Northcutt’s second appearance with ONE. The 27-year-old returned to action this past May, defeating Ahmed Mujtaba in just 39 seconds via heel hook submission.
Aoki was to be the most decorated challenge of Northcutt’s career, but not only did the opportunity fall through, the fighter claims that his coaches were in danger of facing legal action because of ONE’s mismanagement.
“We were also told hours before my match that if my coaches violated the visa requirements and were caught on camera, they could be arrested and there was a 99.8 percent conviction rate on all arrests,” Northcutt wrote. “I made it clear to ONE Championship that I was not flying from America to Japan if I didn’t have my three coaches. I was told before I left to Japan by an executive that I would not have to fight without my coaches. They knew before I left that I would not be able to have two of my coaches. They never told me my coaches could be thrown in prison for any visa violation.”
Northcutt went on to write that “there has been a lot of stuff going on behind the scenes with ONE Championship with what caused me to withdraw from my last fight as well as other things,” noting “drug testing,” “weight cutting/policies,” “active athletes/roster” and the promotion’s “stability.”
MMA Fighting has reached out to Northcutt’s team and ONE Championship public relations for further comment.
See Northcutt’s Instagram post below.