Last fall, we were introduced to the Sage Flip. Saturday night, we met the Barberena Barrel Roll.
After upsetting Sage Northcutt with a second-round submission Saturday night on the main card of UFC on Fox 18, Bryan Barberena celebrated with a half-hearted somersault in the cage.
The move won’t win him any gymnastics medals, but it probably earned him a lot of laughs and maybe a few fans to boot, as it was clearly a mockery of the showy front flip Northcutt pulled off in the cage after his first UFC victory. For all the 19-year-old Northcutt’s mind-bending athleticism and potential marketability, he has received a mountain of haters for purportedly raking in more attention (and money) than his record justified.
MMA Junkie noted the similarity Sunday morning.
Judge for yourself. Was Barberena directly mimicking Northcutt?
First, Northcutt’s amazing “Sage Flip,” executed October 3 following his first-round knockout of Francisco Trevino in his UFC debut and captured by Twitter user @GrabakaHitman:
WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT pic.twitter.com/bhhm5jnDQg
— caposa (@GrabakaHitman) October 3, 2015
Now, Barberena’s Saturday somersault after submitting Northcutt, tweeted from the UFC’s official Twitter account:
Move of the night? 😂 https://t.co/RjuI3Qvsr8#ThatRollTho @bryan_barberena 👌🏽
— UFC (@ufc) January 31, 2016
The defeat was Northcutt’s first as a pro and drops his record to 7-1. Fighter and fan reaction to Northcutt’s tapout was swift and unequivocally negative against the young Texan.
The last time he fought before Saturday, Northcutt was the highest-paid athlete among all those who competed at UFC Fight Night 80 in December, raking in a relatively high total of $80,000 in base pay for submitting Cody Pfister in the second round.
UFC President Dana White has made no secret of his admiration for Northcutt, calling him “an incredible talent” and noting his intention to make a star out of Northcutt. Despite his athleticism and champion-level karate background, though, Northcutt is perhaps best known for his shredded physique, California blond handsomeness and unfailingly upbeat public personality.
Justified or not, perhaps Barberena’s own reaction to his win was the piece de resistance for the evening’s wave of anti-Sage sentiment.
Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com
View full post on Bleacher Report – MMA
