UFC Fight Night 126 results: Frustrated Sage Northcutt takes decision from Thibault Gouti

Sage Northcutt didn’t seem to be a fan of Thibault Gouti holding on to keep him stifled on the canvas or against the fence, but he pulled out a win regardless.

Northcutt (10-2 MMA, 5-2 UFC) took a unanimous decision from Gouti (12-4 MMA, 1-4 UFC) thanks to his advantage in the striking department. When Gouti landed takedowns, he did very little with the position but hold on to keep Northcutt’s offense stifled, and that wasn’t enough to impress the judges. Northcutt took the win with a trio of 29-28 scores.

The welterweight bout opened up the main card of today’s UFC Fight Night 126 event at Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas. It aired on FS1 following prelims on FS1 and UFC Fight Pass.

Gouti wasn’t afraid to throw punches early with Northcutt and landed a right that threatened to knock the young Texan off his feet. But Northcutt had the answer for that. He drove forward and took Gouti to the canvas. On top in side control, he worked short ground-and-pound while Gouti played defense.

Northcutt delivered a heavy punch from up top, but when he tried to take his back, Gouti got back to his feet. Northcutt tried to land a head kick, but when he missed Gouti landed big and stunned Northcutt. He went for a guillotine choke, but Northcutt popped his head out. Gouti kept him pressed against the cage, but that may have served to help Northcutt get his senses back. They traded punches back in the center before Northcutt barely missed a spinning back kick. After a sharp right, he ducked just away from a spinning backfist from Gouti. Gouti tried a takedown, but Northcutt easily shrugged it off just ahead of the end of the frame.

Gouti caught Northcutt early in the second round, but it was just a stinger. But a minute in, Gouti landed again with a short punch, then a bigger one that had Northcutt on his knees. Gouti went to the canvas and played the wrestling game. Midway through the round, Northcutt got back to his feet and worked to push out. But Gouti wrestled him back to the canvas not long after that. Northcutt looked frustrated with his back against the fence. He labored to get back to his feet, but Gouti kept him stifled. Northcutt finally got back to standing with about a minute left, and when Gouti looked content to just hold on, referee Kerry Hatley put them back in the middle. Northcutt wasn’t able to land much before the horn, though.

Northcutt worked kicks in the final frame and stayed buy with jabs. But he also stayed busy backing away from Gouti. A minute in, Northcutt dropped for a takedown, but Gouti scrambled out of it. Another Gouti takedown 90 seconds in kept Northcutt tied up on the canvas. And while he was able to land short elbows, they weren’t fight-enders. Hatley warned Gouti for his inactivity when Northcutt looked his way out of frustration. Northcutt got back to his feet with 90 seconds left, and with 75 left Hatley put them back in the middle. Northcutt went into desperation offense mode and shot for his own takedown with a minute left. There wasn’t enough behind it, but on the way out he landed a big elbow. Another takedown attempt failed, and Gouti was able to hold Northcutt off for the rest of the round.

“Between the first and second round, the third round it was already a very close fight, so absolutely (I thought I needed the third round),” Northcutt said. “I’m going to improve my game big time, and I’m looking forward to it.”

Northcutt won for the second straight time and third time in four fights. Gouti is back in the loss column after a TKo win over Andrew Holbrook this past September. He has dropped four of his five fights since coming to the UFC.

Up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 126 results include:

• Sage Northcutt def. Thibault Gouti via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Diego Ferreira def. Jared Gordon via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 1:58
• Geoff Neal def. Brian Camozzi via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 2:48
• Roberto Sanchez def. Joby Sanchez via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 1:50
• Lucie Pudilova def. Sarah Moras via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-27)
• Alex Morono def. Josh Burkman via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 1, 2:21
• Oskar Piechota def. Tim Williams via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 1:54

For complete covearge of UFC Fight Night 126, check out the UFC Events section of the site.

(MMAjunkie’s John Morgan contributed to this report on site in Austin.)