Sage Northcutt offers advice to Raul Rosas Jr. after facing similar criticism as a teenager in UFC

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Few fighters know what it’s like to compete in the UFC as a teenager, but Sage Northcutt understands the experience better than most.

After being signed to the UFC roster and debuting at just 19, Northcutt was touted as the potential future of the promotion. But those lofty expectations crumbled around him in his third fight after falling to Bryan Barberena in 2016. Suddenly Northcutt went from the next big thing to a supposed bust, despite still only having eight fights in his professional career. .

Raul Rosas Jr., 18, had a similar rise and fall after making huge waves by being signed to the UFC while still in high school and winning his promotional debut. Sadly, Rosas was also brought down to Earth with a dramatic thump in his second octagon appearance after falling to Christian Rodriguez at UFC 287.

Coincidentally, this fight was also the eighth pro fight in Rosas’ record.

I actually saw his fight, Northcutt said of Rosas when speaking to MMA Fighting. He was going. I saw a few rounds and he was struggling, struggling, struggling. I think he has a lot of talent.

He is 18 years old. He has so much time to keep growing, learning and improving. Being young like this you have a loss, try to take it as a learning experience.

It’s possible that Northcutt is one of the most positive people to ever compete in MMA, so he never seemed to let criticism drag him down after facing such crushing adversity so early in his career.

That said, the now 27-year-old fighter understands that it’s hard to deal with that level of attention, good or bad, and he knows that Rosas is probably going through a storm of emotions right now after suffering his first professional defeat.

Either way, no matter what people say about you, no matter how many people say negative things, it takes a lot of courage to come out and fight, Northcutt said. Even for just one fight to get into that cage.

So to get up after losing and perform even better and go further with your career is huge. It also gives a lot of people a lot of hope. I think he should continue.

Looking back on his UFC debut at 19, Northcutt doesn’t necessarily have any regrets, although he knows there are some things he would have changed if possible.

First and foremost, Northcutt wants him to surround himself with the right people who would be dedicated to making him a better fighter, to really prepare him for the level of competition he faces in the UFC. This is perhaps the most valuable advice he can offer Rosas as the teenager seeks to recover from his first defeat.

Looking at myself at 19, I was studying to be an engineer in college while fighting in the UFC, and I had to take a break from college to focus full-time on fighting, Northcutt explained. . If I could have changed anything from when I was younger I would have gone to Team Alpha Male sooner and surrounded myself with a group of pro fighters and really honed my skills more earlier and faster.

I don’t know where he trains, but if he doesn’t, it would be something very beneficial.

As for his own career, Northcutt is preparing for a restart after nearly four years out due to serious facial injuries sustained in May 2019 as well as a bout with COVID-19 which kept him from returning. as planned in 2021.

It has been a tough wait for Northcutt to compete again but he is looking forward to getting back to work and luckily because he started so early he can now make up for lost time.

His return takes place at ONE Fight Night 10 on Amazon Prime Video, which also serves as the first-ever ONE Championship card in the United States.

Better to be early than late in my career because if that happened in 10 or 15 years it would be a disappointment, Northcutt said. It would be super hard to come back. But being so young, I had time to reflect on my career so far, other fighters, and really learn and improve.

I’ve worked so hard, but now I have this fight for May 5th and I’m really looking forward to it.

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