Sage Northcutt has a new opponent for UFC 214 on July 29th after his originally scheduled fight with Claudio Puelles was scratched due to an injury.
Instead, the 21-year-old Northcutt will now try to get back to winning ways against Canadian fighter John Makdessi at the event in Anaheim, California.
That’s not exactly a like-for-like switch, as Puelles was the same age as Northcutt and had been defeated in his only Octagon encounter to date, while Makdessi is a far more experienced 32-year-old with 13 UFC fights to his name.
That being said, Makdessi’s record in the Octagon is mixed, having gone 7-6, while he’s lost three of his last four fights and is coming of a brutal wheel kick KO against Lando Vannata back in December of last year.
As for Northcutt, he’s 3-2 in the UFC so far and suffered a rear-naked choke loss to fellow up-and-comer Mickey Gall last time out.
In fact, both of Northcutt’s losses in the Octagon so far have come by way of submission, so he may welcome the fact that he’s now going up against a fighter who is very much a striker, and like him comes from a Karate background.
Northcutt Vs Makdessi will feature on a UFC 214 fight card that’s set to be headlined by a light-heavyweight title showdown between Daniel Cormier and Jones, while Cris ‘Cyborg’ Justino will fight Megan Anderson for the vacant women’s featherweight title in the co-main event.
