Update: 05/11/2018 – 12:20pm EST

We received the following comment from Chatri Sityodtong regarding Sage Northcutt:

“Sage Northcutt is a tremendously gifted superstar athlete who embodies the values and spirit of authentic martial arts.”

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ONE Championship have scooped up a number of high profile signings recently; could another soon be on the way?

Speaking via his Facebook last evening, ONE CEO Chatri Sityodtong revealed that a whole host of fighters will be in attendance at ONE: Heart of the Lion this Friday, including the likes of Demetrious Johnson and Eddie Alvarez who have just signed for he promotion. Interestingly, Sityodtong also revealed that free agent Sage Northcutt will also be in Singapore as a guest of ONE Championship. The 22-year-old fought out his UFC contract earlier this year when he defeated Zak Ottow at UFC Fight Night 133 in July. He has since been exploring options in free agency.

“I am happy to announce that Demetrious Johnson, Eddie Alvarez, Angela Lee, Renzo Gracie, Martin Nguyen, Aung La Nsang, Rich Franklin, Sage Northcutt, and many other superstars will be in attendance to witness ONE: Heart Of The Lion on November 9 in Singapore!

LET’S GOOOOO!!! #gratitude”

Whilst that might be good news for the fans, Sityodtong also delivered so bad news.

I am bummed to announce that our medical team has deemed Angela Lee unfit to compete in ONE: Heart Of The Lion for this… Publicerat av Chatri Sityodtong Söndag 4 november 2018

ONE atommeweight world champion Angela Lee was set to fight for a second world title this Friday, but Sityodtong revealed last evening that she’d suffered a major back injury and had been pulled from the card.

“I am bummed to announce that our medical team has deemed Angela Lee unfit to compete in ONE: Heart Of The Lion for this Friday November 9. As such, I have made the decision to pull Angela off the card, despite her adamance to compete still in the world title fight against Jingnan Xiong. We all know that Angela is a warrior with an unbreakable spirit. However, she suffered a serious back injury in training last week and badly herniated a spinal disc; she was unable to walk just a few days ago. Doctors suspect that the injury originally happened last year when Angela’s car flipped five times on the highway in her near-death accident. If it was up to her, she would still compete this week, even if it meant walking into the cage on crutches. In fact, she is still insisting on competing. However, safety is the #1 priority at ONE. On a personal level, I care deeply about the long-term health of our athletes, and would never put our athletes’ in any compromising situations. Please join me in wishing Angela a speedy recovery to full health!”

Thankfully, a replacement bout has been added to the card with Angela’s brother Christian stepping up to fight Kazuki Tokudome.