Is Sage Northcutt Ready to Be the Next Big Thing?

Sage Northcutt is set to take on Cody Pfister (1-1 UFC) this Saturday at UFC fight night 80 as the co main event on what many mma fans have dubbed the Paige and Sage show. A bit much for a kid who has had one fight in the UFC but is being hailed possibly the next GSP? Even before he made it to the UFC he’s had a bit of hype around him as Dana White and crew scouted him on their reality tv show “Looking for a Fight” and during that show Northcutt put on a more than expected performance for those in attendance especially Dana White as he signed Northcutt right after. With that Northcutt was given his litmus test debut fight in Francisco Trevino (1-2 UFC) who was no slouch, but no world beater himself and Northcutt did exactly what his TKD Hall of Fame, fighting credentials, and the UFC expected of him by blowing Trevino out of the water.

With that win fans got a small glimpse of a young fighter who was easily marketable, had the skills of a fighter in spades, and could generate his own media attention without any extra promotion. In his upcoming fight with Cody Pfister who most fans aren’t exactly familiar with is also no world beater, but another fighter looking to make his way into the spotlight in the most extreme way. When we really look at it and the amazing amount of hype behind Northcutt, it would almost seem as Pfister isn’t just the underdog, but an unintentional lamb being fed to the wolves for entertainment. But in this situation it’s not Brandon Thatch being thrown in a cage with Benson Henderson, but more of Chris Camozzi being tasked to fight Jacare Souza a second time.

Seeing as Northcutt is currently unranked we won’t say Pfister is out of his league here. But are we really trying to convince ourselves that this isn’t a fight where we can watch Northcutt apply his skills, more than watching a competitive match? Let’s be serious here, this will be a shallow but exciting win for Northcutt, but an insane boost in spotlight time for Pfister if he were to win, and we all really want to see if Northcutt is really the “Next big thing”.