ONE Championship has responded to Sage Northcutt’s criticism over his coaches not being allowed to corner him at ONE 165, attributing the issue to a misunderstanding due to changes in third-party visa processing and expressing a desire to resolve the situation amicably.
ONE Championship is on a mission. They’re trying to smooth things over with Sage Northcutt.
Northcutt pulled out of a much-anticipated fight with Shinya Aoki at ONE 165. It happened in January, and the reason? “Unforeseen circumstances with his cornermen,” said the broadcast team. But Northcutt had a different story. He took to social media, calling the explanation “inaccurate.”
Northcutt’s version? He wasn’t told that two of his coaches wouldn’t be allowed to corner him. Not until it was almost time for his match. He blamed ONE for not keeping him in the loop about his cornermen’s status.
ONE has since responded. They issued a statement, calling the whole thing a “misunderstanding.” They blamed the confusion on changes to third-party visa handling.
The officials wrote, “Due to a change in external guidance from a third-party visa consultancy on Certificate of Eligibility (COE) requirements for all cornermen at ONE 165, there were work visa processing issues leading up to the event, which unfortunately impacted multiple athletes.” They added, “The ONE team communicated the ongoing issues to our athletes and their management, but there was clearly a misunderstanding with the options presented to Sage and his team.”
Northcutt had more to say. He claimed his coaches were at risk of legal action due to the mishandling of the situation. He hinted that his withdrawal was due to “a lot of stuff going on behind the scenes.” He vaguely pointed to ONE’s drug-testing and weight-cutting policies, and the promotion’s “stability.”
ONE didn’t specifically address that part of Northcutt’s comments. They simply stated they hope to “resolve this situation amicably.”
Here’s ONE’s full statement:
“ONE Championship empathizes with Sage Northcutt in regards to the situation he faced at ONE 165, where two of his coaches were not allowed to corner him, leading to his withdrawal from the event. Due to a change in external guidance from a third-party visa consultancy on Certificate of Eligibility (COE) requirements for all cornermen at ONE 165, there were work visa processing issues leading up to the event, which unfortunately impacted multiple athletes. The ONE team communicated the ongoing issues to our athletes and their management, but there was clearly a misunderstanding with the options presented to Sage and his team. Despite his recent comments, ONE values Sage’s partnership on a personal and professional level, and we hope that we can resolve this situation amicably. We also hope our athletes understand that we were acting in their best interest in being 100% compliant with local laws, and that this was an isolated incident given our track record of successfully flying in athletes and their cornermen for hundreds of global events.”