Sage Northcutt offers advice to 18-year-old Raul Rosas Jr. and reflects on his UFC debut at 19, advising the teen to surround himself with the right people and train at a professional gym to improve his skills.
Few fighters can relate to competing in the UFC as a teenager better than Sage Northcutt. Signed to the UFC roster at just 19 years old, Northcutt was seen as potentially the future of the promotion. However, in his third fight, he fell to Bryan Barberena in 2016. As a result, Northcutt went from being the next big thing to a supposed bust, even though he was only eight fights into his professional career.
Eighteen-year-old Raul Rosas Jr. had a similar rise and fall. Signed to the UFC while still in high school, Rosas won his promotional debut, but lost his second octagon appearance to Christian Rodriguez at UFC 287. Coincidentally, this fight was also his eighth professional bout. Northcutt, who saw Rosas’ fight, noticed his talent and offered encouragement. “He’s 18. He’s got so much time to keep growing and learning and improving. Being young like that, you have a loss — try to take it as a learning experience,” he said.
Despite experiencing overwhelming adversity early in his career, 27-year-old Northcutt remained positive throughout. He understands the difficulty of dealing with such a level of attention, whether good or bad, and empathizes with the storm of emotions that Rosas must feel after suffering his first professional loss. Northcutt advises that regardless of negativity, it takes guts to fight and that bouncing back after losing is huge. He wishes he had surrounded himself with the right people who would have been dedicated to making him a better fighter and preparing him for the level of competition in the UFC. This might be the most valuable advice he can offer Rosas as he seeks to recover from his first loss.
Looking forward, Northcutt is preparing for a restart after nearly four years away due to severe facial injuries suffered in May 2019 and a bout with COVID-19 that prevented him from returning as planned in 2021. Anxiously waiting for his return at ONE Fight Night 10 on Amazon Prime Video and reflective on his career, Northcutt is grateful for his early start and eager to make up for lost time.