UFC 200: Despite a loss, life is still 'awesome' for Sage Northcutt

Sage Northcutt wasn’t old enough to drive when Brock Lesnar annihilated Frank Mir at UFC 100 in 2009. Most kids that were Northcutt’s age were going through puberty and had no idea what the future held for them.

But not Sage Northcutt.

Unlike most 13-year-olds, Northcutt was already a highly decorated martial artist who had won multiple world championships while having stamps in his passport from Russia and Italy, among other countries.

Seven years later, the 20-year-old will be fighting Enrique Marin on a historic UFC card that will again feature Brock Lesnar. As we’ve come to expect from the young fighter, the sheer notion of this is nothing short “awesome.”

“Brock is awesome!” Northcutt told Yahoo Sports when asked what it is like to share a card with one of the most popular MMA figures of all-time. But in true Northcutt fashion, he had to spread the awesomeness around.

“Everybody who is fighting at UFC 200 is awesome! It’s going to be awesome to get to meet everybody. I’m excited.”

If you’re counting, that’s three awesomes in four sentences.

You see, Sage Northcutt is still very much a young man competing in an organization filled with grown men. He’s still not able to drink and peppers his conversation with “sir” and “ma’am” out of respect to his elders. He’s relentlessly positive to the point of nausea that makes you question whether or not the 20-year-old is real. Aside from his bulging biceps that make him look like an action figure, Northcutt is a physical specimen with a personality that is too incredible to be manufactured.

For the MMA community, his assertion of positivity has become a running joke to the point where people want to see him lose just so he can have a bleak outlook on something for a change.

And he did lose. A submission loss to Bryan Barberena in his last fight derailed the Northcutt hype train and widespread ridicule across social media was just as persistent as his insistence of amazingness. They mocked him, called him too “green,” questioned his heart and was labeled a “quitter.” The public shaming would have been enough for just about any other fighter to reconsider their career. But not Northcutt, he’s already over suffering his first Octagon loss and ready to continue his journey to be the youngest UFC champion of all-time.

“There are always going to be people who say negative things and try to push you down but there’s always the opposite out there too,” Northcutt said. “There are always people pushing you up and saying positive things to help promote you. I try not to pay any attention to the negative stuff.”

When asked if he would change anything about his last fight, Northcutt ponders for a minute before preceding his statement with an affirmative “Yes sir!” and offering his personal take on what went wrong.

“I guess I could have pulled out of the fight,” Northcutt said in one of his more contemplative moments. “I had a strep throat and if you’ve ever had a strep throat, you know the feeling where you don’t even want to get out of bed. I had a recurrence of it. Two days before the fight I had a relapse that was so bad the UFC took me to the emergency room. It was pretty bad.”

Some may say that nobody fights at 100 percent, so Northcutt’s excuse is moot. However, Northcutt breaks down the difference between being sick and being injured.

“Being sick is a different story than having an injury,” he said. “If you have a right arm injury you can still use the rest of your body. You still have the energy to perform. But when you are sick and can’t really get out of bed, or walk or even breathe, you’re not yourself. You don’t have the cardio, strength, speed or explosion.”

You would think that the harsh criticism would have some effect on Northcutt, but he seems completely unaffected by the words of others and looks to prove exactly why he’s been tabbed as having the potential to be one of the sport’s biggest stars. At UFC 200, Northcutt has no plans to “play it safe” just to get back in the win column.

“My style isn’t to go out there and get a decision,” he said about his plans for his opponent. “I’m out there trying to be the best I can be and put on a show. Look at my record: I have 4 knockouts and 3 submissions so I’m going out there to get the finish. That’s how it’s been and will always be.”

His voice is spilling with enthusiasm but he says that the concept of Octagon jitters doesn’t fit into his personality. He says that the jitters are for those that are nervous and that the butterflies he feels in his stomach are a reflection of how pumped he is to please the fans with an exhilarating performance.

Ultimately, there’s no pressure on him to succeed. He’s just here to have fun, impress the fans, possibly pocket some extra money with a Performance of the Night bonus and begin his march toward becoming a world champion before he turns 23 years and 8 months old. And the reason for the specific age that he wants to accomplish this by is for a good reason.

“I believe I can be the youngest champion ever in the UFC,” he said. “Jon Jones is awesome and won his first world title at 23 and 8 months. I believe I can do it before then.”

You have to remind yourself that he just turned 20-years-old. Despite the fact that he’s stacked with muscles that flex their own muscles, he’s still a long way from his prime years and that’s a scary thought for the rest of the UFC.

“What everybody has seen from me is very little compared to what I’m capable of doing … I’m still very young and still growing. I believe that I’m already one of the strongest, if not the strongest, in the division. I’m also the fastest and have the best movement and cardio. And I only plan on getting better.”