Sage Northcutt recently revealed his recurring battle with strep throat was the root of his not-so-“Super” performance against Bryan Barberena at UFC on FOX 18, and why he tapped to a submission choke that most folks didn’t think warranted one.
It was a valid reason — one that UFC concurs with — but it didn’t take long for the critics to come out, yet again. Among them was “Bam Bam” himself, who told MMA on Sirius XM that he will gladly battle it out with Sage anytime, anywhere.
“Everybody goes into fights with something. Any given day, I don’t care, we can do it again.” – @bryan_barberena on Sage having strep throat
— MMA on SiriusXM (@MMAonSiriusXM) February 1, 2016
In another twist to the story, it seems it was Northcutt’s camp that “hand picked” Barberena.
@yay_yee @MMAFighting @shaunalshatti that’s because his camp asked for @bryan_barberena no way he was backing out after that
— Ibrahim Kawa (@Abraham_kawa) February 1, 2016
Interesting.
Sage will now look to start from scratch after suffering the first loss of his mixed martial arts (MMA) career. Of course, the 19-year-old prospect has nothing but time, so the future still looks bright for the young star. And all the criticism he’s received he will quickly learn, simply comes with the territory.
Excuses never look good on people. #youpickedme #BamBam
— BRYAN BARBERENA (@bryan_barberena) February 2, 2016