Surging lightweight talent Sage Northcutt has made quite the impression since his UFC 192 debut. Despite featuring on the Fight Pass preliminary card, the 19-year-old was the talk of the night after he TKO'd Francisco Trevino in the 1st round. His post-fight interview, which featured a spectacular celebratory front flip, netted over 1 million views on YouTube.
After his dazzling performance and outspoken admiration of Georges St-Pierre, Northcutt got a chance to train alongside his idol at Tristar gymnasium. While it was expected that the undefeated prospect would return home to train for his next fight at Gracie Barra, Firas Zhabi revealed that he'll be spending the entire training camp at Tristar.
"Yeah, that's right," he told Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour. "He's going to be staying here for his training camp. He'll be staying here at the Tristar dorms, and he'll be going through the basics."
Northcutt didn't just impress with his 57 second TKO, the lifelong mixed martial artist magnetized fans with his charm and positive attitude. Zahabi says he saw the same qualities in GSP.
"I think he reminds me a lot of Georges," he said. "Georges is that type of guy — positive, good attitude, eager to train, always happy to go to practice. He's always positive. I love it. That is the first step in being successful, having a good attitude."
Northcutt's next test will be against 25-year-old Cody Pfister at UFC Fight Night: VanZant vs. Calderwood on December 10th in Las Vegas, Nevada.
(Transcriptions via MMAFighting)