When Sage Northcutt was on the verge of losing to Enrique Marin via an armbar submission, it looked like his hype train was well and truly derailed.
The 20-year-old suffered his first UFC loss against Bryan Barbarena at UFC on Fox 18 in January, and Marin seemed poised to leave the young American with a 2-2 record in the promotion.
But Northcutt somehow recovered from what looked to many like an unrecoverable situation, coming back to win by unanimous decision and go 7-1 across his two-year MMA career.
WATCH: Sage Northcutt exorcises 'quick tap' ghost by gritting his way through armbar to win https://t.co/xyeYEZZLuU
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) July 10, 2016
Speaking to Fox Sports, Northcutt explained he stayed calm and knew what he needed to do.
“The first thing people are taught when someone is getting an armbar on them is obviously to hold on tight, and to be able to turn the thumb,” he said.
“So, you don’t want that thumb straight up and down because you don’t want to snap your elbow, or anything with your bicep or anything like that.”
You could say @sagenorthcutt is pretty excited to be here and win at #UFC200 pic.twitter.com/WscISiEQUx
— UFC (@ufc) July 10, 2016
The lightweight prospect might be just four fights into a fledgling UFC career, but some are losing patience with the perceived quality – or lack thereof – of his opponents so far.
It will be interesting to see who he ends up taking on next, but for now all he can do is beat what’s in front of him.
Please arrange Northcutt to fight someone decent so we can all take pleasure in watching him get mashed up next time. #UFC200
— Cian Cambridge (@CianCambridge) July 10, 2016
And Northcutt just barely eeks out a decision. Place your bets now. Is his next fight against an existing UFC guy or someone hired to lose?
— Ben Fowlkes (@benfowlkesMMA) July 10, 2016
