I've always wanted to eat super healthy.
— Sage Northcutt
I always stay positive if I can. I always stay upbeat and always have a ton of energy.
At 155, I kind of feel, when I'm fighting out there, I just don't feel like I have the right thinking ability. I kind of feel like my mind is foggy, if that makes sense. I don't really know how to describe it. Maybe it's the weight cut.
Getting to fight at my natural weight, that was huge for me.
I just want to say real quick, whatever kind of problems you've been going through, maybe you're having a hard time at work, maybe you're having a hard time with your family, whatever it might be, you can overcome that. You just have to keep your hope up.
Words are powerful.
I'm always very humble.
I'm honoured and blessed to even be in the UFC, much less be 19 years old in the UFC, knowing I have so much time to learn, so much technique to learn, everything all around to make myself better.
I want to be eventually be the best wrestler out there, be the best grappler out there, along with being the best striker - be all of them at one time.
People say I don't have the experience. I might not have 20 MMA fights, but I've been fighting my whole life.
Each day is new, and I feel like I show something better each day.
I'm studying at A&M, and that takes so much hard work, so much dedication, and that effort is very tough.
Jon Jones is awesome and won his first world title at 23 and 8 months. I believe I can do it before then.
I'm taking it one fight at a time. But I always see myself being victorious.
I really don't listen to any of the negative stuff. Anything that's positive, that's kind of the stuff I'm listening to, and that's kind of what, like, brings you up.
What I love the most about being a pro fighter is meeting the people. You get to meet all the fans and new friends that you get to meet up with all the time.
Obviously, I'm trying to keep improving at everything, from the wrestling to the jiu-jitsu to the striking to the transitions, every part of my MMA aspect.
For me, it was just a huge honor to fight in the UFC.
What's neat about Sacramento is that you can drive - which I've done with the team a bunch of times - is drive, like, an hour or an hour and a half, and you're in Lake Tahoe, and you can go out to the lake or go up in the mountains or go off-road driving or hiking.
I always have great cardio.
I think I'm one of the fastest and strongest lightweights out there.
I'm in the UFC; this is a sport about fighting. If someone wants to fight me, or someone wants to fight someone else... you're here to fight each other, so I get it.
I never underestimate anybody.
I've trained my whole life, and I've always had the UFC be a goal of mine.
I do have a lot to learn, and I think that has a big factor in everything. Being 19 years old and being able to be in the UFC has a big effect on every single thing that people look at.
I want to be super well-rounded.
Going into the UFC debut, you have to wonder what's going on, what's the workout going to be like. It's just an honor to be at an open workout.
I'm young, and I learn not only from every fight but from every practice. When you're young, you soak it all in. You have a lot to learn, and you can get better and better as each day goes by.
Being in school and doing the fighting stuff, it is very tough. I had school work all the way from Monday through Friday, and then on the weekends, you had homework, engineering projects and stuff. That makes it very tough.
Being sick is a different story than having an injury. If you have a right arm injury, you can still use the rest of your body. You still have the energy to perform. But when you are sick and can't really get out of bed or walk or even breathe, you're not yourself. You don't have the cardio, strength, speed, or explosion.
Mr. Faber is a huge role model. He's a UFC Hall of Famer. He's such a driven person and a champion.
I think that every single fight you have is to prove yourself. Even if you're the world champion, the UFC champion of the world, you're still proving yourself; people are coming to beat you.
I believe coming in early to the UFC gives me an advantage. More time to learn, more time to be in the UFC and get better as a fighter.
You only get one chance to fight in the UFC, and while you have the chance, you might as well take it.
I believe the UFC knows what they're watching and looking for, so I always try and put on a great show for everybody watching and try to go out there and finish my opponent and do something exciting. I believe a lot of people come out to watch me and see me perform.
Houston is super cool, and Katy is super cool, and so is Sacramento.
I've had such a tough time making weight at 155 all the time. I'd make the weight, but I don't feel like the same kind of Sage. My power in my punches, my explosion, my speed - it just doesn't feel the same.
Personally, I think I might end up fighting heavyweight in the future. I can just see myself keep growing. I'll be 24, 25, growing 2, 3, 4 more inches, and putting on a lot of muscle. I can absolutely see it.
I'm always learning and getting better with my technique.
I try to be very smart and use wisdom about everything.
I never get sick normally, but having strep throat three times in four months - that's pretty crazy.
I never really have a game plan other than to finish my opponent as quickly as possible.
I have my coach, Urijah Faber. He's watching me do everything pretty much all the time. I'm training or grappling or sparring live. He's over there making adjustments. He's really hands on, so that makes a big difference.
I love being young and looking forward to seeing what I can do.
CM Punk was a great wrestler, and he has so many fans and made a lot of people happy with what he did over the years.
What everybody has seen from me is very little compared to what I'm capable of doing.
Everybody who is fighting at UFC 200 is awesome! It's going to be awesome to get to meet everybody. I'm excited.
A lot of the times, anything that somebody tries to say negative is actually kind of funny.
I'm still trying to figure out being calm.
Every day at Team Alpha Male, I'm improving. The biggest thing with that camp is everyone is so positive and has the work ethic to go out there and push the pace and keep going and going and going.
