“Super” Sage Northcutt has addressed the last minute cancellation of his ONE 165 fight against Shinya Aoki — and in doing so, has placed the blame solely on the shoulders of ONE Championship.
The usually soft-spoken Northcutt had plenty to say on Thursday as he took to social media to address the situation, which arose because a number of his corners did not have the proper visas to work in Japan.
Northcutt’s full statement is below. It does not paint ONE in a good light to say the least.
One Championship is implying that I pulled out of the Shinya fight for unforeseen circumstances. That is completely inaccurate.. I sent One Championship the necessary paperwork they required to get my coaches visas 48 days ahead of the event. I was told by them over the phone and by text my main jujitsu coach Fabio Prado did not need a visa since I paid for his airfare flights and trip so he was not classified as a working employee that needed a visa and that my other coach could get in as a tourist so he didn’t need one either. 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 that 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. 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% conviction rate on all arrests. 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. 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 that I will talk about at a later time on Facebook, Instagram, and with media outlets.
• drug testing
• weight cutting/ policies
• active athletes/ roster
• One’s stability… etc
Sage Northcutt’s place in the fight was taken by John Lineker, who was submitted by Aoki in an openweight bout. The fight falling through leaves Northcutt with just one fight since 2019, a win over Ahmed Mujtaba.
Now 27, Northcutt has fought just twice since signing with ONE Championship after leaving the UFC in 2018. From 2015 to his exit from the company on a three-fight win streak, he had been considered one of the promotion’s blue chip prospects, and a budding star with the potential to cross over to the mainstream market.
However, after signing with ONE Championship, Northcutt suffered facial fractures in his promotional debut Cosmo Alexandre, leading to surgery and an extended layoff.
