The boy wonder known as Sage Northcutt gets a very winnable late replacement bout for UFC on Fox in New Jersey in a bout that will still have experts wondering if he’s for real.
Everyone’s favorite cast member from Saved by the Bell tries to avenge AC Slater’s decision to ruin his study date this January 30, 2016 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
The Match Up
Welterweight Sage Northcutt 7-0 vs. Bryan Barberena 10-3
The Odds
Welterweight Sage Northcutt -320 vs. Bryan Barberena +260
3 Things You Should Know
1. Sage’s bout with Cody Pfister shouldn’t make you a full blown Scully skeptic. But it should make you temper your expectations.
Sage Northcutt is a full fledged phenomenon at this point. With his Step by Step demeanor, and ivory smile, there’s little that could stop the hype train at this point. Except maybe, a string of bad performances that get in the way of his petroleum engineering degree.
The Pfister bout is a weird beast because it’s hard to tease out the nuance in people’s impressions. Pfister was and is a solid fighter. That fight could have very easily been a disaster for Sage; the proverbial case of too much, too soon. But he picked up the win in the second round. However, the manner in which he struggled is still pause for concern. I was kind of taken aback by how easily he was put on his back. It’s not so much that it happened. For me, it was a short circuit in my brain to see such a natural athlete display so little struggle in keeping the bout on the feet. Just how much does our young padawan have to learn, and what will Barberena tell us?
2. Barberena’s toughness could be cause for concern. For both fighters.
Barberena is still an unknown in this business. He projects to be a Chris Lytle type at best. Which isn’t that much of a dig at the man. He’s not just journeyman fodder, and anyone who thinks otherwise needs to rewatch that fight with the still underrated Chad Laprise.
3. It’s another stiff test for the 19 year old, but it’s political matchmaking at its finest.
The Laprise fight displays well what will be Bryan’s doom. Or his talk of the town. In that bout, Barberena took a ton of damage, especially early in the first. If he wasn’t blocking head kicks, he’d eat them outright. And if he wasn’t dodging punch combinations, he was eating those too. But despite being massively outgunned in the first round against an incredibly technical striker, he managed to battle back. His durability managed to take advantage of Chad’s decrease in output, and with it, Rogan’s hyperbole.
On the surface, Barberena is a strong man who sticks to sporadic shifts in stances. His punches are plodding, but stout. He’s able to land and put himself in position for strikes by being in position regardless of the heat thrown at him. Think a striking version of Big Nog, minus the world class ability part.
Northcutt should be able to take advantage of this with his quick chamber feet. Laprise, who isn’t even a deft kicker the way Sage is, managed to land his often. In addition, Sage’s superior speed will make it difficult for Barberena to do anything except start from behind. As good as Sage’s striking is from a speed and power point of view, it’s his grappling that looks posed to keep him relevant. It’s not that it’s good at this point in his career (Pfister could have taken better advantage of his chances). It’s that his ability to be dangerous without real education in that department will only get better with time.
Prediction
Like the Laprise fight, I see Sage pot shotting early. Enough of those strikes will land to get Barberena full tilt. From there, it’ll just be a matter of Northcutt capitalizing on Bryan’s mistakes. I wouldn’t at all be surprised to see Sage struggle. In a way, this fight is the striking version of his grappling struggles against Pfister. However, Sage will continue to get better. And this is another fight in which his limitations can remain as hermetically sealed as his culture meter. Sage Northcutt by TKO, round 2.