Bryan Barberena reckons Sage Northcutt has a lot to learn about how to properly react to a defeat.
The UFC welterweight finished Super Sage with an arm triangle from half guard at UFC New Jersey, but after the fight, the 19-year-old claimed that his performance was hindered due to a strep throat.
"He's the winner, he has the chance to do whatever he wants!" @bryan_barberena… #UFCNewJersey https://t.co/Zab2m2kq1V
— UFC on TNT Sports (@ufcontnt) January 31, 2016
Barberena, who took the fight on extremely short notice, told FOX Sports on Tuesday that Northcutt was simply making excuses for the submission loss
“Everybody goes into a fight with something. I’m not the type of person to say what I go into the fights with and I won’t be. It is what it is, whether you have something or not, you chose to be in there. You chose to perform at your best ability even with something going on. For him to come out and say he was sick and he couldn’t breathe and that’s why I got the choke — he couldn’t breathe because I was choking him.”
Wow! "@sagenorthcutt taps!" @bryan_barberena goes for an arm triangle – and he has it! 💪 #UFCNewJersey https://t.co/BzcZuQsgQ8
— UFC on TNT Sports (@ufcontnt) January 31, 2016
“That’s it. He couldn’t breathe because I was choking him. He can make all the excuses he wants. Any night, any day, I win that fight. Eleven out of 10 times. Every time.”
As for Northcutt’s illness, Barberena admitted Northcutt’s decision to wait until after the bout to make that revelation left a bad taste in his mouth.
“I just shake my head about it. It’s ridiculous. He has a lot to learn. People are giving me a ton of crap, too, surprisingly. It’s more about him than me winning. I have tons of haters coming at me, too. I welcome it. It makes me laugh.”
