UFC Fight Night 80's Sage Northcutt can't even remember the last time he wasn't happy

LAS VEGAS – Is there a more happier, glad-to-know-ya personality in the UFC right now than Sage Northcutt? Probably not.

The heavily hyped Northcutt (6-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) on Thursday gets his second crack in the UFC against Cody Pfister (12-4-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC), and he’s as much as a 14-1 favorite. The media attention has been steady since his promotional debut first-round knockout win at UFC 192 in October.

But is it too much too soon for the 19-year-old, who is going to college at Texas A&M while trying to decide if he should stick with the dual lifestyle, or quit school to become a full-timer fighter?

“No way. No. There’s no part of me that says that,” Northcutt told MMAjunkie on Tuesday after a workout ahead of Thursday’s UFC Fight Night 80, which takes place at The Chelsea at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas and streams on UFC Fight Pass. “I want more. So if I get to fight next month, and if I’m safe and protected and injury free, I want to fight next month.”

After his UFC 192 debut, the training offers came flooding in, and he elected to go to Montreal to spend some time working at Tristar Gym with the likes of former welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre and former title challenger Rory MacDonald. And head Tristar trainer Firas Zahabi will be among his corners against Pfister.

But despite all the attention coming his way for his sophomore effort on Thursday, he thinks the feeling surrounding this fight is better than what he felt for his debut.

“It’s an awesome feeling,” he said. “It’s actually way better than what the UFC debut was like. Going into the UFC debut, you have to wonder what’s going on, what’s the workout going to be like – it’s just an honor to be at an open workout, and I’m just blessed to be here, and that sure was fun.”

As for being such a heavy favorite against the largely unheralded Pfister, and the thought of some critics of the bout that Northcutt is being spoon-fed easy opponents, he said he’s taking any fighter across from him one step at a time.

“It’s an honor to be back this soon,” he said. “Me getting to fight so soon is a huge opportunity. I’m not going out to fight the top 10 guys right now because I have a lot to learn. I’m taking one fight at a time and going slowly.”

Check out the video above to hear more from Northcutt ahead of his fight with Pfister.

And for more on UFC Fight Night 80, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.