At 19 years old, UFC lightweight Sage “Super” Northcutt may be the youngest fighter on the roster, but he’s already built a daunting reputation for himself. Northcutt, whose record is 6-0-0, has completed four wins by TKO and two by submission, winning five of his six fights in the first round. He’s demonstrated impressive speed and athleticism in the ring, delivering precise jabs, swift spin kicks and even graceful backflips after his victories—all while exiting the octagon with barely a scratch.
The undefeated fighter debuted on Dana White’s Looking for a Fight before being signed to the UFC, and is now being dubbed by many as “the next big thing.” Following an interview with his local CBS station in Texas, Muscle & Fitness caught up with the lightweight phenomenon on Skype just days before his Dec. 10 match with Cody Pfister.
M&F: As far as your workout regimen, how have you been preparing for the fight?
Sage: So, I’ve really been working out with weights. I started out a few weeks back with pretty high-intensity training with a heavy weight load, but it’s still like maybe, 8 reps, 10 reps—something like that. As I got closer to the fight I added more reps, so it went to 35 reps, 50 reps. But I don’t want to do anything major to strain the muscle; I don’t want to tear something. But it’s fun!
What influenced you to start fighting?
My sister actually started doing martial arts before me. I started watching her every single day and one day I was kind of like “wow my sister is having a ton of fun,” and I kind of wanted to do the same thing. Ever since then, it’s been me and my sister, we’re always training together—but it’s just me fighting right now.
I started martial arts when I was about four-and-a-half. When I was five-years-old, I started off doing karate and started traveling and competing all around the world, at a very young age. By the time I was like 9, 10, 11 years old, I was already traveling to Russia, the Ukraine, Ireland, Mexico, Canada, like, everywhere—a lot of cool places for competing worldwide. I started to transition from that into jiu-jitsu. It’s like, pretty well rounded now—kind of like putting a puzzle together, like, piecing all of the pieces for me.
Your opponent, Cody Pfister, is 12-4-1 and 25-years-old. Given that he’s had a little more time in the octagon [than you], how do you plan on winning?
There really is no plan. As for my opponent—training for my opponent has been awesome. For a stand-up fight, just kicks or punches or knees or take him down into submission—whatever’s really available. That’s pretty much what I’m looking for—a takedown. It’s not like I really have a certain game plan; there isn’t really, like, an A-B-C-D-E.
You’re very quick in the ring and your jabs are very precise, and I’ve seen that Pfister’s strength [in the ring] is, literally, his physical strength. So, I assume that speed is a factor that will really be in your favor.
Yeah, I think you’re right. Speed and timing—timing being the big one. I’m ready for it.
I’ve noticed that you have a really chipper attitude—how do you stay so positive?
Oh, well, thank you! Everyone in the UFC is incredibly nice. Some people are negative and some people are positive, but everyone that works for the UFC is really nice; everyone that works for the UFC is extremely friendly and they take good care of their fighters. Everything is just very well organized. It just makes me really happy, in a way that I like working and training and everything because—Jesus Christ; I really thank God for following my footsteps.
