I wanted to study to be a petroleum engineer and get my engineering degree and fight in the UFC at the same time. But unfortunately, to be the best I can be at the UFC, I needed all focus to be there, and more focus, also.
— Sage Northcutt
People see a lot of my standup, and that's what I'm known for since I was trained in karate and kickboxing, but I also have ground game.
There's always going to be people saying negative and positive things. If you let all that into you, and you're always contemplating that and thinking about that, I'm sure that can get to you. I try not to do that.
I know I have great grappling myself, and I know how I do with submissions.
I think for the UFC to re-sign me, that would be something that's great.
The UFC expects you to perform at your very best. If you're barely training, if you're spending the majority of your time on school, it's impossible to be at your best.
I'm a bubbly, happy guy.
Any fighter fighting in the UFC would take the opportunity to take a fight against a YouTuber and stand to make several million dollars.
I think me and Mr. Dolph Lundgren look kind of alike.
A lot of people have a lot of things going on in their life. You'll be walking past ten people in the middle of the day and not even notice, but someone might have a family member that died, or someone might be going through a hard time. Sometimes you're the only person that someone might see that lifts them up.
Knowing what God has in store for me - it gives me hope. I kind of feel like God's warrior, pretty much. God's weapon.
By the time I was 4 or 5, I was doing 250 push-ups and sit-ups a day. When I was 6, we bumped it up to about 500 push-ups and sit-ups a day. Some days it could even be 750 or 1,000.
When I was nine years old, I was on the cover of 'Sport Karate' magazine.
I would like to be the youngest UFC world champion. I believe I can accomplish that.
The UFC offered me a fight against one of the Top-10 fighters named Demian Maia. I believe he was, like, No. 2 at the time. They obviously believed in me to think that I could face one of the best guys in the division.
I feel the power in words that you can turn into reality.
Having full-time classes, it doesn't really work out because there's so much workload and so much studying that you really don't have time to train. I'd stay up until two or three in the morning just studying, and then I'd have to go get a few miles running, work out at the gym super late, and try to get my working out in late at night.
I try not to hear anything negative about me, and if I do hear it, I try to block it out.
I'm training to be the champion. I become the champion of whatever I put my mind to, so I believe I will be the champion. I think the UFC will be able to realize that, and we'll see what they say.
I consider my MMA training starting the day I set foot in Urijah Faber's gym.
At the point in a match where most guys would wear out, I'll still be fresh.
I'm a totally different person in training.
I just want someone who's got a great personality, beautiful, fun to be around.
Sylvester Stallone seems like a really cool guy, and Dolph Lundgren seems awesome.
I feel like I have goals that I set, and I try to accomplish those goals, so no matter what room I step into, I know the direction that I'm wanting to head.
I'm always pretty much smiling.
I started working out and doing martial arts when I was about 4 years old, and I was competing by the time I was five or six. So my mom and dad had me doing push-ups and sit-ups from a very young age.
I might take a little time off from school to train. I'd be a totally different animal if I trained full time.
I'm always looking to go out there and finish my opponents as soon as possible so I can stay safe and protected.
Whatever Dana White and Joe Silva have planned for me, I'm ready.
I always talk about how Georges St-Pierre is my favorite fighter.
I've always thought about welterweight.
I'm getting to put all my time and effort into studying my martial arts and to be the best fighter I can be.
People can say what they want. But you can silence a lot of people when you go out there and win.
I know people want to get out there, and they're all tattooed up, and they're all serious and stuff and ready to fight. I'm ready to fight, but I still have a smile on my face at the same time.
It's an incredible feeling, just to know that you have MMA fans that are behind you and want to know when your next fight will be.
The new 'Creed 2' movie is coming out, so I was actually going to audition for that. Got a little audition tape, so hopefully that goes through. That would be pretty neat. Being Ivan Drago's son in the movie? That would be pretty fun.
I think that we all got to have respect for each other. And we could all be more careful with the things we say.
The more fights I have in the UFC, the more people I meet, the more opportunities I have to make an impact.
Typically, when someone gets a choke on me, I have a pretty strong neck. It's usually hard to choke me.
I was at my house, and me, and my brother, and my sister were kind of just playing around. And I was like, 'I wonder if I can twist this apple and rip it apart?' So I was playing around, and I did it, and I was like, 'Wow, that kind of takes a firm grip.'
Georges St-Pierre - he's so awesome. It was very great getting to roll around with him and getting to train with him. He's so nice and so friendly, and he's very humble, too.
It can be kind of difficult because of the workload I have at Texas A&M, so I have to find time to study as I pursue my major, but also to travel and compete and train hard for my fights to come in the UFC.
