It turns out that Sage Northcutt’s update on his condition following a 29-second knockout loss to Cosmo Alexandre at One Championship “Enter the Dragon” only scratched the surface regarding the nature of the injury he suffered.
Northcutt initially revealed that he was in surgery for nine hours to repair eight fractures in his face suffered as a result of the knockout punch from Alexandre. Team Alpha Male coach Urijah Faber went into a little more detail during a recent interview with TMZ Sports.
“It’s kinda crazy actually,” Faber said. “He got his face blasted. We said eight fractures [on his face], but literally 30 different pieces. His cheek shattered like an egg shell.
“The whole ride back back in the ambulance Sage is talking to me and his dad and he’s telling us, ‘I’m telling you I broke my arm in three places and this is 40 times worse than any pain I’ve ever felt. It feels like something is pushing into my face.’ He was right.”
The bout was Northcutt’s One Championship debut following a 6-2 stint with the UFC. Faber says the 23-year-old Katy, Texas, native is doing well following surgery.
“He’s in good spirits,” Faber said. “His face is reconstructed. They cut through his hairline. They went through four different places, they went through his mouth, through his eye. Cut his hairline and peeled it back over his face. If anybody wants to doubt the toughness of Sage Northcutt, look no further.”
Faber says he gets the impression that Northcutt will be ready to return to action once he is fully healed. “The California Kid” also revealed that “Super” Sage was battling a number of injuries leading up to his fight.
“A lot of people don’t know leading up to that [fight in] camp he was fighting injuries the whole time. I don’t know if he was able to finish a full practice in months,” Faber said.
Because of those issues, Faber advised Northcutt not to compete last Friday, but the fighter insisted on facing Alexandre.
“We voiced that and had some conversations about it,” Faber said. “But at the end of the day Sage really believes in himself and the people around him really believe in him and he felt like he would be good.”