Cosmo Alexandre delivered a devastating blow to Sage Northcutt during their fight at last weekend’s ONE Championship, winning the bout in 29 seconds and sending his opponent to the hospital. The result landed Northcutt in surgery for nine hours to fix eight fractures in his face. Alexandre would have plenty to gloat about if he so chose, but instead, the fighter has responded with class and compassion to news of the damage he dealt to Northcutt.
In an interview with MMA Fighting, Alexandre said that he knew something “serious” had happened when he was backstage after the fight and saw doctors bringing a stretcher for his opponent. ”The next day, I heard that he had a long surgery,” he said. “I hate that, man. I’m doing my job there: to go in there and win. I know we can get hurt, but nothing that serious. I was sad because that’s his job and I don’t wish that [on] anyone.”
Alexandre also stood up for Northcutt in the social media banter between fans that followed after the fight. “When I got back to the hotel, there were a lot of messages online — people talking trash at him. I honestly don’t know why. I can’t understand why people hate him so much. I don’t know if it’s because he’s good looking, like a model. I can’t understand, and I don’t like that. I asked people to stop tagging me [in] those messages.”
With all the trash-talking that goes on in MMA, it’s refreshing to see a fighter who doesn’t take pleasure in his opponents’ pain and just wants to see everyone go home happy and healthy.
