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Sage Northcutt can’t comprehend why UFC president Dana White wants him to retire.
UFC president Dana White was a big supporter of Sage Northcutt and the latter does not get why that has changed.
White has publicly recommended Northcutt retire. Northcutt was surprised by White’s lack of faith in a new interview with MMA Fighting.
“For him to say something like that, after that injury, I don’t understand the exact logic of why he would say something like that,” Northcutt said. “Before, he was wishing me to do great in everything I happened to do in the future, and (to) say something like that is totally different.”
Northcutt, 23, lost his ONE Championship debut via first-round knockout in 29-seconds at the hands of Cosmo Alexandre. “Super” Sage subsequently underwent a nine-hour surgery to fix eight fractures in his face and was unable to train for six months.
“I would really like to see Sage Northcutt retire,” White later told TSN. “I hope he does. Good looking, charismatic kid, smart. He was (going to) college to be an engineer. He’s got a lot going on in his life. This isn’t the sport for him… I don’t want to sound like I’m shitting all over the guy, because I really like the kid a lot. But this isn’t the sport for him. I would love to see him retire before he seriously gets hurt.”
Northcutt was coming off of three consecutive UFC wins prior to his loss to Alexandre.