UFC: Zak Ottow confident that experience is on his side against Sage Northcutt

Tuff Milwaukee native Zak ‘The Barbarian’ Ottow (16-5 MMA, 3-2 UFC) will welcome young sensation Sage Northcutt in his permanent jump to the welterweight division this weekend in the co-main event of UFC Boise.

Ottow’s career with the promotion has been of ups and downs with alternating wins and losses. With his first two victories coming out of razor thin split decisions, it was a confidence booster for Ottow to get a TKO victory over veteran Mike Pyle whom he adored a lot in his younger days. However, that’s not the case with Northcutt.

“It almost comes across so nice to the point where it’s weird to me,” Ottow laughs. “I know a lot of people really like this kid and want to see him do well. I was never one of those people. So I’m not gonna think twice about punching him in his teeth. Now I can’t break apples with my bare hands or do three backflips in a row or anything like that. But as far as skillwise in the cage, I’m gonna totally expose him. I’m gonna show the world that I’m leaps and bounds better than this kid when it comes to fighting. I think he might be a little too nice for this game.”

Ottow will look to utilize his power and experience to take down Northcutt.

“I feel like experience is on my side in this one,” he said. “I’ve had a lot more MMA experience than he does, and a lot of the people I’ve been fighting in the UFC have been either tough, old veterans or guys in the UFC with winning records. So the fact that he’s got a winning record doesn’t really scare me at all or worry me. I feel that I have the more experience in this one and I’m definitely gonna play it to my advantage. I’m gonna mix all the different disciplines together and really beat him in the transitions. I feel that wherever the fight goes, I’m gonna be the better fighter, whether it’s on the feet or on the ground. I really don’t know where he can beat me. He can’t beat me up for 15 minutes in this fight, it’s just not gonna.”