UFC prospect Sage Northcutt wowed fans in his promotional debut in October, quickly blitzing Francisco Trevino. The charismatic 19 year-old is clearly a UFC project, and he’s being spotlighted with a main card fight this Thursday night (October 10th) with a main card fight at UFC Fight Night: Namajunas vs. VanZant. His impressive physique has gotten some attention, with opponent Cody Pfister accusing him of steroid use in advance of their fight ( “He’s f***ing jacked, I’m sure he’s juicing, but who knows. I might be wrong on that and he’s just naturally gifted, but it doesn’t matter.”).
Today, Northcutt responded in an email to Bloody Elbow, He started by saying confirming he had been drug tested four times in camp: “I have been tested three times by USADA, and one time by the Texas Boxing Commission. The latest one by USADA was at 6am in the morning [of December 7th] with a surprise home visit for blood and urine.” The Texas commission testing him is incredibly out of character for them. While it’s his home state, he’s booked in a fight in Nevada and Texas has historically not tested much compared to states like Nevada, New Jersey, and California, even on the night of the fight.
This section is the meat of the email:
I would never use any banned substances. Aside from my recent testing for the UFC, I was tested numerous times throughout my entire high school competition career as well. All of my accomplishments have been achieved through hard work and dedication. Anyone that has known me my entire life and has seen me compete since the age of four will tell you the same thing. I train as hard, or harder, than anyone, I am an extremely disciplined athlete, and I have literally been in the best shape that I can possibly be from the first time I started competing. I’ve been dieting on the exact same diet since I was five or six years old. Everybody that knows me knows that’s true, and that I’ve been training three to four hours a day my entire life.
I realize no one knows me in the MMA world, but all those that know me from sport karate can tell you about my work ethic. And, if I look good enough to look like I’m cheating, I’ll take it as a compliment. Maybe all of those people who assume I’m on something should try the same regiment of strict dieting for fifteen years and working out for three to four hours a day, six to seven days a week, and of course having good genetics plays a big part also.
Northcutt vs. Pfister will be the second of four main card bouts on Thursday.
