"Northcutt showed amateur BJJ defense. Doesn't belong in the UFC" - Kenny Florian

[Significance Deficit]

If you had said IBJJF Worlds, or ADCC, then I would still tell you you'd probably get knocked out

Lol.

 

[HI SCOTT NEWMAN]

Thats a bit harsh

 

[Big Gipp]

I respect that. You obviously know more about grappling than I do. But how did he win his fights at LW if he's not competetive? He was winning the fight IMO with Gall until he got clipped and panic wrestled which gave the transition to Gall to take his back.

Competition was not at an above average level. Even the guys he beat go on to lose their next fights in the UFC. In the Gall fight, it looked like he was just "toughing" it out in certain positions to try and get out or back on top or to just stand back up. Nothing particularly technical about what he was doing. And I felt the 1st round was back and forth. Gall finished the round strong though and then finished him in the 2nd. Sage needs to sit and train hard on his Jiu jitsu and proper distance when striking

 

[Big Gipp]

I think his strength and atheletism are actually working against him at this point. At the regional level fighting...not good guys and at small podunk gyms he could just power through a lot of stuff. Not going to work in the big leagues.

I agree. Usually people at the amateur level are like this and learn proper technique by the time they are pros

 

[Peteyandjia]

People keep talking about all this potential, I just haven't really seen it yet. I think the only potential people are seeing is time, he is very young. Even that though, at his age, Rory was giving Carlos Condit a hell of a fight before being overwhelmed. Nick Diaz was KOing Robbie Lawler. I think Sage got thrown into the deep UFC waters too soon, he didn't have the time on the mat to be in the UFC, now he's drowning.

It does seem like Sage's growth may have been stunted by too big of a jump too soon. At the same time though, you have some exceptions like the guys you mentioned, or an extreme case like Jon Jones who flourish & grow under the increased competition. It's hard to know until they are in there.

 

[ArtemV]

Unfortunately, I don't see Sage improving any time soon

 

[RoidRage92]

People keep talking about all this potential, I just haven't really seen it yet. I think the only potential people are seeing is time, he is very young. Even that though, at his age, Rory was giving Carlos Condit a hell of a fight before being overwhelmed. Nick Diaz was KOing Robbie Lawler. I think Sage got thrown into the deep UFC waters too soon, he didn't have the time on the mat to be in the UFC, now he's drowning.

People liked his athleticism and explosiveness and had looks going for him like PVZ, I guess that's why he was hyped up so much. I agree, thats no where near enough to get you through UFC competition. Looking at the Marin fight, it was clear he was gonna have a lot of trouble improving.

 

[OneGloveGracie]

Bullseye. People seem to forget that Tristar is very grappling oriented. In fact, they just re-arranged the gym to give even more place for grappling practice. Sage was certainly getting handled on the mats, even if he could spar in the ring after. It's not hard to imagine Sage getting a call from Daddy and saying "there's not much striking here, all they do is roll around on dirty mats".

Remember, Sage caught a nasty Staph infection at Tristar. Had to be hospitalized. When asked about it, Firas was very vague. The only thing he would say is that Sage is the only fighter to get Staph during that period.

lol I live 5mins from Tristar I was just there a couple of weeks ago. They have loads of coaches for every discipline. For MMA fighters there isn't a heavy focus on a single discipline unless that fighter needs it.

Sage has caught an infection 3 or 4 times now. It has nothing to do with Tristar. He might just have a weak immune system or something.

 

[HockeyBjj]

Bullseye. People seem to forget that Tristar is very grappling oriented. In fact, they just re-arranged the gym to give even more place for grappling practice. Sage was certainly getting handled on the mats, even if he could spar in the ring after. It's not hard to imagine Sage getting a call from Daddy and saying "there's not much striking here, all they do is roll around on dirty mats".

Remember, Sage caught a nasty Staph infection at Tristar. Had to be hospitalized. When asked about it, Firas was very vague. The only thing he would say is that Sage is the only fighter to get Staph during that period.

I don't understand the correlation of him being the ONLY one getting staph there. What does it imply? Honest question

 

[Metal_Daze]

lol I live 5mins from Tristar I was just there a couple of weeks ago. They have loads of coaches for every discipline. For MMA fighters there isn't a heavy focus on a single discipline unless that fighter needs it.

Sage has caught an infection 3 or 4 times now. It has nothing to do with Tristar. He might just have a weak immune system or something.

Thank you for that. I don't train there, I just follow the gym news. I went there once or twice but it's weird going to a gym when you're not training. When I said grappling oriented, I meant that Firas puts a lot of emphasis on grappling. Most of his videos are about grappling drills, fight breakdowns and BJJ hints. He was the trainer for the Top MMA grappler in the UFC, GSP.

Yes, Tristar is a pro gym. It has all the equipment needed for high level training in every MMA discipline. They're even sponsored by Reebok! Yet, people never give Tristar BJJ accolades because they don't gravitate in "legit BJJ world". Now, that's my opinion but I know VERY little about the BJJ world. I just feel that Firas, just like Greg Jackson, never receive praises for his BJJ because they don't have "legit big name black belts".

I mean, even Rashad is a Gracie BB, how come Greg and Firas are not?


Because they adapted pure BJJ to their own system and are confident it's more effective than pure BJJ in MMA.

 

[Metal_Daze]

I don't understand the correlation of him being the ONLY one getting staph there. What does it imply? Honest question

It implies that other fighters didn't get it, even if it's highly contagious. Maybe Sage was doing something wrong. Or maybe it's just a coincidence. I'm just repeating what I heard, I don't even think it came from Firas himself...

 

[Project 86]

if you listened to his podcast he slammed mickey for calling out dan hardy saying thats too big of a step up and a mistake of mickey's team

quite hypocritical when kenny fought drew fickett and diego sanchez in his first 4 fights with the same skill set(bjj)

 

[fabio]

Kenny should have quit after getting rag dolled by bj penn. Haha

 

[OneGloveGracie]

Thank you for that. I don't train there, I just follow the gym news. I went there once or twice but it's weird going to a gym when you're not training. When I said grappling oriented, I meant that Firas puts a lot of emphasis on grappling. Most of his videos are about grappling drills, fight breakdowns and BJJ hints. He was the trainer for the Top MMA grappler in the UFC, GSP.

Yes, Tristar is a pro gym. It has all the equipment needed for high level training in every MMA discipline. They're even sponsored by Reebok! Yet, people never give Tristar BJJ accolades because they don't gravitate in "legit BJJ world". Now, that's my opinion but I know VERY little about the BJJ world. I just feel that Firas, just like Greg Jackson, never receive praises for his BJJ because they don't have "legit big name black belts".

I mean, even Rashad is a Gracie BB, how come Greg and Firas are not?
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Because they adapted pure BJJ to their own system and are confident it's more effective than pure BJJ in MMA.

Yes people overrate "gracie black belt". There are many BJJ masters who have more evolved BJJ systems than the Gracies. Eddie Bravo is one of them.

The Gracie family is too stuck in their ways. They've let ego get the better of them and it has hurt the growth of their BJJ system.

 

[Jkaylor]

Sage getting hated on too much, he did a great job fighting out of that guillotine.

Also did a good job escaping the armbar, & a few other bad positions, at UFC 200.

Mickey is a brownbelt, no shame in getting choked by him. Especially the way Sage opened up Mickey's face first.

I hear you, Sage is destined to be the GOAT, I completely agree with what you are saying

 

[Peteyandjia]

I hear you, Sage is destined to be the GOAT, I completely agree with what you are saying

 

[ocfightfan]

I think Northcutt has elite potential but I agree with Florian that he has a lot to improve in BJJ.

He needs to decide either focus completely on school or fight training and not both at the same time. And stop moving to different camps every month.

I don't believe he has elite potential. Most of his career is a heavily stage managed Potemkin village type fraud. Most of his martial arts awards are from performances and he doesn't have much in the way of competitive accomplishments, certainly not at a high level. He took fifth in state for high school wrestling in Texas, a state not known for a really strong wrestling tradition.

I do agree that he needs to choose, and not just between school or fight training. He also needs to choose between being a man who runs his own affairs and makes his own decisions or living under his father's thumb. The best thing would be to move to Tri-Star on a permanent basis and live like a monk, working on nothing but MMA skills. Hopefully he doesn't get sidetracked by the temptations of the world.

 

[dudefacemcghee]

Maybe instead of plagiarizing other peoples work, Kenny could go help him out.

Kenny can show him how to get wrestlefucked and lose big fights and plagiarize

 

[OneGloveGracie]

I don't believe he has elite potential. Most of his career is a heavily stage managed Potemkin village type fraud. Most of his martial arts awards are from performances and he doesn't have much in the way of competitive accomplishments, certainly not at a high level. He took fifth in state for high school wrestling in Texas, a state not known for a really strong wrestling tradition.

I do agree that he needs to choose, and not just between school or fight training. He also needs to choose between being a man who runs his own affairs and makes his own decisions or living under his father's thumb. The best thing would be to move to Tri-Star on a permanent basis and live like a monk, working on nothing but MMA skills. Hopefully he doesn't get sidetracked by the temptations of the world.

I disagree. I think he has tons of potential. Considering his age and situation he has overachieved so far.

I agree that he needs to just pick a gym and stick to that gym for at least 5 years before even trying out other gyms. Jumping from gym to gym is hurting his growth and its showing in the cage. He seems to be all over the place with a different style every fight.

I think Jacksons is the perfect fit for him. They have a lot of top athletes and coaches and even Holly Holm can help him out on day to day stuff considering she is also a devout christian like him.

 

[Maori]

Didn't see the post fight after the Brunson fight but I think in this particular instance, Kenny Florian is correct. Sage is borderline clueless on the ground and I seen him try to power through to try to escape a leg entanglement which he would've blown his own knee out if his opponent didn't knock him back down. This past fight just reenforced this thought. Sage is 2 or 3 years away from actually being competitive in the UFC. Dana brought him in too quick.

Dana brought him in at the exact right time, he'll be worth 15k/15k in a couple more fights