Have you ever seen the Walt Disney produced film ‘Life-Sized’? If not, it was a cult classic film in the early 2000s that featured Tyra Banks as a pop star singing doll named Eve who could come to life. I already know what you are thinking; is this a hype piece to introduce an article for sequel Life Size 2 that recently released, or are we finally going to discuss some MMA here.
The honest truth is that MMA already has its very own Ken doll who has come to life. It just so happens that this Ken doll, known as Sage Northcutt, is a child prodigy who’s earned a third-degree black belt in both Kajukenbo and Taekwondo along with a black belt in Shuri-Ryu karate and a purple belt in Brazillian Jiu-Jitsu. Factor in that Sage is only 22 years old and one would believe that a kid so accomplished and marketable would be a priority asset at any major MMA promotion.
Eve became famous by singing her theme song with lyrics encouraging kids to “shine bright, shine far, don’t be shy, be a star.” Dana White seemed to have paid attention to these lyrics by choosing not to resign Sage to a new contract after his fight contract ran out. White stated that “Sage is young, and Sage needs some work. Let him get some work in some other organizations, and we will see where this kid ends up in a couple of years. Maybe we will pick him back up again.” Not too long after those uttered words, Sage was on a plane to Singapore and days later signed with rising promotion ONE Championship.
A post shared by Super Sage Northcutt (@supersagenorthcutt) on Dec 4, 2018 at 8:49am PST
Sage will now have his chance to shine bright, shine far and be a star at ONE. His polite personality, physique, youth, and skill/popularity attained in the UFC will make Sage a huge draw in Asian markets. Casual fans may not know the level of talent at ONE, or even how the weight classes work. At ONE, Sage will most likely be competing in the Welterweight division which is 185lbs (83.9kg.) In a blossoming division that currently has 11 total fighters, here are three fights that MMA fans can potentially become excited about.
#3: Sage Northcutt vs Yoshihiro Akiyama
Akiyama is a journeyman veteran who has spent time in popular promotions since as K-1, DREAM, and even the UFC. With his aggressive grappling and counter striking, “Sexyama” would be a great test to see how well Sage has evolved with composure and picking shots strategically. With two shocking losses via submission in the UFC to Bryan Barberena and Mickey Gall, Sage would have a chance at redemption to show that he can compete with grapple based fighters in a major promotion.
#2: Sage Northcutt vs Agilan Thani
Agilan is a young phenom himself with an 8-2 record competing at ONE Championship. At 23 years of age, Thani started his run at ONE with a 6-0 record and has also fought against a high-level competitor in recent UFC signee, Ben Askren. He is another ground wizard who has finished 5 of his 8 wins with submission victories in early rounds. ONE could use the start power of Sage to put him against Agilan and propel the winner to new heights.
#1: Sage Northcutt vs Zebaztian Kadestam
Zebaztian has an 11-4 record and is the current ONE Championship welterweight champion. With a 3-1 record at ONE, his only loss was when he challenged for the welterweight title versus Ben Askren. Since the departure of Askren to the UFC, Kadestam is now the owner of the championship that Askren dropped. Facing Zebaztian would be a tough test for Sage as he is a fighter known to apply pressure throughout the entirety of fights with vicious Muay Thai. Sage now has the experience and star power to draw a crowd and fight for a title now. ONE usually gives title shots to fighters who deserve them based on performance, but that could change with such a huge new name in the division.
Adding Sage to ONE was a great move by both parties. Sage can grow his popularity in the Asian markets, and ONE has a North American draw who will gain the interests of fans in America to watch him perform. Will Sage shine as bright as he should? With unlimited potential, only time will tell what he will accomplish in his MMA career. Maybe stringing together a row of impressive victories will gain back the attention of the UFC. All we can do for now is pay close attention to his career, and hope he shines as bright as Eve told us to.
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