American mixed martial arts superstar “Super” Sage Northcutt is as excited as anybody for “ONE Fight Night 14: Stamp vs. Ham.”
The star-studded card is set to go down at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on September 29, and it features a special rules striking bout between ONE women’s strawweight MMA world champion Xiong Jing Nan and multi-discipline sensation Nat “Wondergirl” Jaroonsak.
The ruleset for the exciting match permits hand strikes only, and it will be fought in four-ounce gloves, which Northcutt feels will make for a thrilling spectacle.
“Only striking with your hands in four-ounce gloves, I feel like someone’s getting knocked out. It’s got to be a knockout. There’s got to be a finish. That’s nuts. That’s going to be really exciting,” he said.
Xiong vs. Jaroonsak won’t be the first time ONE Championship has gotten creative with a new ruleset. At ONE X, in March 2022, reigning flyweight MMA king Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson defeated flyweight muay Thai titleholder Rodtang Jitmuangnon in a mixed rules bout that blended both superstars’ disciplines in rotating rounds.
The promotion’s innovative approach to its events makes it unique in the MMA-heavy combat sports market in the West, and in Northcutt’s view, the variety is one of the biggest reasons that millions of fans worldwide keep coming back for more.
“That’s the thing: I think ONE Championship already is so unique because you have essentially grappling, MMA, kickboxing, and muay Thai, but then doing stuff like this. Instead of having a muay Thai fight or kickboxing fight, having it be just strictly hands and boxing and putting four-ounce gloves on is absolutely insane. Like, the excitement is through the roof,” he said.
“I think that ONE Championship is super exciting, very unique, and I think that the fans, I don’t see how you can get tired with the creativity that ONE brings.”
