Here’s the finish:
UNREAL! @Bryan_Barberena submits @SageNorthcutt with an arm triangle choke from half guard! #UFCNewJerseyhttps://t.co/L9Pa3qkUJX
— FOX Sports: UFC (@UFCONFOX) January 31, 2016
On its own, that finish might look absolutely brutal, but trust me when I say that was choke shouldn’t work on a UFC fighter. Barberena was in half-guard on the opposite side, meaning that choke was locked in, but had very little squeeze on it. In order to actually threaten to put Northcutt unconscious, he would have had to hop his legs over from Sage’s left side to the right, and create space in order to really tighten it. That choke is also called a “side choke” for a reason.
Brock Lesnar showing us what a good side choke looks like.
While that was an ugly performance, we shouldn’t bury Northcutt quite yet. He’s a super-athletic young fighter and and is still just 19 years old! This was a rough loss for him, but there’s no reason to think he can’t bounce back in the long-term.
It should be fun seeing who the UFC matches him against next.
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