I don’t think that’s exactly how Sage Northcutt and his camp envisioned this bout going, but he was able to pick up a unanimous decision win over Enrique Marin nonetheless. The opening bout of the UFC 200 televised prelims turned into a grappling battle – one that Sage very nearly lost to a nasty armbar. He persevered though, and did enough in the other two rounds two pick up three 29-28 scorecards for the win.
The first round saw Northcutt land some good shots on the feet before getting taken down by Marin. He was able to use a leglock attempt to get on top himself, though he wasn’t able to do much with it. The rest of the stanza was a gritty battle on the ground.
The second was not a good round for the young Texan. After making a couple of mistakes on the ground, Marin had him dead-to-rights in an armbar. Northcutt’s arm was bent to a gross angle, but he didn’t tap and managed to escape. They exchanged some top control time for the rest of the time.
Marin looked to grapple in the final round and had some success getting Northcutt to the floor. He also grinded away against the cage, but Northcutt was able to bust him open with elbows. He also scored a couple of reversals, making it a tough round to score.
Northcutt, the young fighter that was discovered on Dana White’s reality show Lookin’ For A Fight, is coming off the first loss of his career to Bryan Barberena. He claims that strep throat hindered his performance that night though. Marin, a TUF Latin America 2 finalist, lost his UFC debut by split decision to Erick Montano last November.
About the author
