Mickey Gall feels he can out-grapple and out-strike Sage Northcutt

This weekend, the UFC will touch down in sun-soaked Sacramento, California with an actioned packed night of fights. Among the card’s many highlights are a main event strawweight battle between Paige VanZant and Michelle Waterson, the final fight of Urijah Faber’s legendary career, and a veritable bloodletting as welterweight brawlers Alan Jouban and Mike Perry collide.

Another highlight of this exciting card will occur in the co-main event, when Mickey Gall and Sage Northcutt, both of whom were discovered on Dana White’s Lookin’ For a Fight, collide in a clash of welterweight prospects.

In advance of this fight, Gall is perceived to have a decisive edge on the mat, while Northcutt is believed to be the sharper man in the standup department. Gall, however, believes he’ll hold the edge in both areas. In a recent appearance on The MMA Hour, he told host Ariel Helwani that he expects to dominate Northcutt wherever the fight unfolds.

“Pick your poison – I’m going to hurt him in either spot,” Gall said on the show. “If I hit him with some shots, he might go to sleep. If we go to the ground, I am levels above him there. Yeah, I think my stand up is better than his and my ground is better than his.”

Gall continued to explain that the reason Northcutt is perceived to have the striking edge is that he simply hasn’t had the chance to showcase his own striking in his first two bouts with the UFC.

“I didn’t get to showcase any of [my striking] in the CM Punk fight,” Gall continued. “He came at me hot, charging at me, so I just changed levels and put him on his back. And then Michael Jackson, the one punch I threw dropped him, so I didn’t really get to showcase anything. I have been working really diligently with my striking coach Sean Diggs. I want to turn some heads, show people what I can do.”

Do you think Gall can hang with Northcutt on the feet? Or would he be wise to drag this one to the mat as quickly as possible? Sound off, PENN Nation!