He may look like someone out of an Abercrombie & Fitch ad (Matt Serra's words, not mine) but Sage Northcutt can fight.
Something Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) president Dana White learned the hard way, as the 19-year-old kickboxing phenom forced the brash head honcho to eat his words after dazzling him at Legacy Fighting Championship a few months back.
As you can see in the video embedded above, White and Co. were having some fun at Sage's expense, mocking the young fighter for his chiseled looks and tanned body.
Once the fight began, however, it was all business, as Northcutt put on a performance to remember, displaying kickboxing, wrestling, and jiu-jitsu en route to a first-round submission win -- putting the UFC head honcho on notice, in the process.
White reacts:
"I got to be honest with you. So, we are coming out here and studying guys. I counted him out, man. We had that picture of him and I'm like, 'We got the pretty boy who thinks he wants to fight.' That's exactly what I said. And then you shut us the hell up, let me tell you what. Everything was legit, so congratulations."
A few months later, Northcutt got the call to the big show, as he is set to make his Octagon debut at this weekend's (Sat. Oct. 3, 2015) UFC 192 pay-per-view (PPV) event in Houston ,Texas against Fransisco Trevino on the UFC Fight Pass under card.
If he can manage to impress in his first UFC fight, it's safe to assume Sage -- who is undefeated at 5-0 -- could be on his way to superstardom in the world of mixed martial arts (MMA).
Of course, Trevino is looking to make a statement of his own after suffering the first loss of his young career at UFC 188.
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