Free agent Sage Northcutt interested in leaving UFC to make “double if not triple” his current income

Sage Northcutt is a free agent. That means that the long-time UFC fighter can now field offers from other promotions, and if he receives an offer he likes, he can sign on the dotted line.

While Northcutt is hopeful he’ll re-sign with the UFC, he’s not opposed to moving to Bellator MMA if the promotion makes him the right offer. He’s seen fighters like Rory MacDonald and Lyoto Machida move their recently, so he knows things are obviously quite good for those employed by the Viacom-owned MMA promotion.

”I am a free agent, yes sir,” Northcutt said on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show this week (transcript via MMAMania). “I’m not sure how it works, what my contract says or anything, but yes I am a free agent now and I know that going to other leagues like Bellator or ONE FC or whatever it may be, that guys or friends of mine, for example Rory MacDonald, people that fought for the UFC like Machida, they’re making double if not triple what they were making fighting for the UFC.”

”So I guess we’re gonna see what happens, but the difference is these guys are making more than what the guys are making fighting for the title in the UFC make. So I guess we’ll have to see and find out what happens.”

”I’m forever grateful to Dana White and the Fertittas who brought me into the UFC. So I count my blessings, so thankful to them.”

While Sage Northcutt would be grateful for a pay boost, that’s not to say that he feels he’s been short-changed by the UFC up to this point.

”I don’t want to say [I’ve been] underpaid,” he said. “The UFC and the sport of MMA, it’s not about just talent, which I wish it was. The hard work, the grind, the energy that you put into it and how you perform out there. It’s not just about that and you could be a top ten guy, but maybe fans don’t tune in and watch some of the top ten guys because they haven’t even heard the guy’s name.”

“Sometimes someone walks into a room and everyone gravitates to that person. I don’t know how that works, but the UFC is looking for that, the UFC is a business that banks not just on talent but also how many people want to watch you fight and entertain them.”

Do you think Sage Northcutt could end up leaving the UFC?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 9/5/2018.