It took four years for Sage Northcutt to return to competition after he suffered a devastating injury in his ONE Championship debut. But now that he’s back, the American star is ready to take on new challenges. “Super” was triumphant in his comeback fight against Ahmed Mujtaba at ONE Fight Night 10 earlier this month. He needed just 39 seconds in their lightweight mixed martial arts battle to finish his foe by heel hook submission.

After giving a brief glimpse of his improved ground game, Northcutt has made it clear that he’d like to explore that facet of his skill set further.

Sage Northcutt revealed his intentions of a transition to submission grappling

In a recent appearance with the ‘Fistivities’ podcast on YouTube, he revealed that he wants to compete in a submission grappling after another MMA bout this year. “Absolutely, yeah. That’s my plan,” the 27-year-old said. “The next one that I’m in talks with ONE Championship is obviously going to be MMA. Trying to see whether the fight I had scheduled before is going to happen.”

“After that, maybe submission grappling. I’ve been really interested in that, I’ve been working my jiu-jitsu over all these years, and it was four years since my fight I just had and the fight I had before that, so I had a lot of time to work.”

Northcutt won multiple Karate World Titles in his youth and parlayed that knowledge into kickboxing before transitioning to MMA. He rose to prominence in North America thanks to his combination of skill, athleticism, and charisma, and in 2018, he made headlines when he joined ONE Championship.

READ MORE – Retracting on His “Retirement” Statement Demetrious Johnson Reveals the Plan of Seeking Advice From Khabib Nurmagomedov and Georges St-Pierre: “Those Guys Could Keep On..”

The Singapore-based promotion offers multiple martial arts disciplines across its platform, which enticed “Super.” And when it laid out plans to come to the United States, he felt driven to become part of the roster.

Sage Northcutt was drawn to the fact that ONE Championship promoted multiple martial arts

“When I was in talks with them, they were supposed to come to the US even sooner. So, I was like, ‘That’s awesome. The largest martial arts organization is coming to the U.S, and I believe they’re going to blow up.’ It kind of got postponed. They were supposed to do it, but COVID stuff happened. But now they’re in the U.S. The best martial arts organization, getting to fight in the US, and representing an organization that competes in different sports. And that kind of drove me to them.”

READ MORE – “The All Mighty Mouse”: Israel Adesanya Hails Demetrious Johnson as Ex-UFC Champ Seals Another Thumping Victory Against Adriano Moraes at ONE Fight Night 10

Now that ONE Championship has finally made its debut on U.S. soil and Northcutt has put his health concerns behind him, it may only be a matter of time before we see him showcase his skills in a new sport.