Sage: Do you honestly see top 10 potential?

I would like to see him fight Jake Matthews or The Leech next.
 
wolfss said:
He’s not a roided out fighter like paulo costa. Sherdoggers usually accuse fighters of roiding when they look like sage... he must be clean because he ia american!!!
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It is a little different because their are pictures of Costa years ago doughy looking. Sage has been ripped all his life. I think they both use PEDs to be clear and do not care of athletes do.
 
Bobby Digital said:
He is still extremely young. His stand up is legit. He is making strides with TAM, it is pretty evident watching his last few fights. He still has a ton of work to do, but he has a lot of time to tighten up the weak points of his game.

Time will tell whether he does or not, but top 10 isn't out of the question considering his age and the fact he is now being trained by a legit team instead of his dad.
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He's no grappling god, but he's made a lot of improvement in that area since his earlier fights. His last win impressed me due to the improvements in the ground game. He was still the weaker fighter in that area, but he held on and had his own moments instead of looking completely helpless off his back.
 
Really horrible fight instincts imo. Just really athletic and muscular with no brain.

He will be good if someone fine tunes his fight IQ. Right now he's a robot with bad commands
 
Athletically he is very very gifted, partly genetic and largely a lifetime of training since childhood. He has sufficient cardio combined with outstanding strength, explosiveness and agility, an excellent mix for a fighter.

Skills wise however he has many holes to fill, which he could given the young age and athletic talents ... as well as much needed TDD and BJJ improvements, I'm actually a little disappointed by the striking, which should be his forte but in my opinion lacks variety, opens him up too much, is predictable and also not spectacular ... I would expect much more from someone with his physical capabilities and life long traditional martial arts training.

Last but not least his mindset: he is certainly not weak minded and can overcome adversity, but - fortunately for him - might not have the "hunger" and "recklessness" needed to be a long term fighter, someone willing to literally put their future health and quality of life in jeopardy. He comes from a well off family, is already earning plenty at 22 from fighting and endorsements, has sufficient fame to keep some of those earnings going even if he stopped fighting, probable media opportunities, a good university education to go back to ... plenty of reasons not to totally commit to possible CTE.
 
CPH said:
I really don't. He still looks like an amateur off his back, has zero sense of pacing and nearly got Duffee'd by Ottow.

This kid will only hang around as long as the UFC keeps the kiddy wheels on. But really: what incentive do they have to do that if he can never legitimately break into the top 10?
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Nope.
 
Very few people are fighting at the UFC level at 22. So it's hard to say.
 
No. His offensive weapons are great but his wrestling defense isn't that great and more importantly he seems to have a weak chin. You can train wrestling but a chin can't be improved. He's clearly UFC caliber but honestly, if I were Sage I would retire with a good UFC record and just go into modeling or whatever other career opportunities await him.
 
brucelee619 said:
Com on man. He’s only in ufc cuz new owners like poster faces
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These UFC hype jobs are only making money/worth the effort if they are legit top 10-15 fighters. At some point, they will test Sage (see Yair, PVZ, Grasso). I really don't have high hopes for him passing that test.

The UFC still needs middle of the pack and C level guys on the roster but quite obviously, they are expecting a lot more of him. This Sage experiment is unsustainable IMO.
 
blaseblah said:
His offensive weapons are great
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Are they really? As I mentioned earlier, 23 y o Tumenov would 100% send current Sage to dream land in under 3 minutes. And no, Sage's wrestling would not save him.
 
CPH said:
Are they really? As I mentioned earlier, 23 y o Tumenov would 100% send current Sage to dream land in under 3 minutes. And no, Sage's wrestling would not save him.
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{<huh}

I'm not sure you understood my post. I highlighted his strengths while pointing out his deficiencies and my belief he will not crack the top 10. Wrestling being one of his deficiencies.. Not sure why you're randomly bringing up a UFC dropout. Maybe you're drunk.
 
Like someone mentioned earlier here, there should have been flashes of brilliance in his performances even at young age. But nothing that Sage has done thus far has really impressed me besides that sick frontflip.

It's still possible that somehow things start clicking for him, and he kinda starts understanding the game of fighting beyond knowing how to kick and punch. But right now he just looks like he doesnt have that feeling for fighting at all. No feeling of timing or distance, knowing when to be aggressive or counter etc. He seems to not have any creativity or insight during a fight, like predicting what his opponent is gonna do or wants to do.

Besides the physicality of fighting it just seems like he really doesnt have the talent for it. I hope I'm wrong and one day he just starts understanding the flow of fighting and starts destroying guys, but I'm not holding my breath.
 
He could become a top 10 fighter but I don't think it will happen. He wins fights by being a lot bigger than his opponent and he's very athletic, but technically he is lacking in every department. If he truly dedicates himself to MMA (I don't think that he is), he could definitely become a top 10 fighter but I think he doesn't have the heart to get to the next level.
 
blaseblah said:
{<huh}

I'm not sure you understood my post. I highlighted his strengths while pointing out his deficiencies and my belief he will not crack the top 10. Wrestling being one of his deficiencies.. Not sure why you're randomly bringing up a UFC dropout. Maybe you're drunk.
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Let me spell it out for you: 'great' does not apply to Sage's standup, and in Tumenov (another guy who showed promise at 22) I'm giving you an example of what 'great' standup looks like.

And LOL @ calling Tumenov a 'washout'. He left because the UFC chose not to pay him decent money.

Don't get your panties in a bunch. You said some things I don't agree with and, as is customary on Sherdawg, I'm offering my opinion.
 
drbolony said:
You realize he has like 9 years before he even reaches his athletic prime?

The guy needs to box more though. I don't think TAM's the place to get that, but they've been doing great with his ground game. I noticed big leaps in his situational awareness last night.
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Nope. By the time he is 30 he is already past it, with ton on injuries and mileage.
 
The same as when he came in. Athletic and has a background to build on. Comes down to getting rid of rookie mistakes in the clinch and once taken down, especially. With him the problem is technical, not that the potential isn't there.
 
yes, he's only 22 and that seems hard to people understand, in UFC history there haven't been many guys at his age more talented than he is so early in his career, his athleticism will carry him far but i also think he will get better and definitely will be a top 10
 
I think he has the potential but he’s in over his head in the UFC even being pushed along at the pace that he is.
 
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