UFC phenom Northcutt denies Internet ban

Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight phenom Sage Northcutt took another step forward in his development with an impressive second-round submission of Cody Pfister on the UFC Fight Night 80 card at The Cosmopolitan on Thursday night.

Yet it was an odd detail about his life outside the cage mentioned on the broadcast that had the Internet buzzing.

Not that he will ever find about that.

UFC play-by-play voice Jon Anik, in response to a question raised by commentator Brian Stann about how Northcutt can manage falling victim to all the hype around him, mentioned a restriction on the amount of time he can spend online may help.

"Well not to say that Sage Northcutt is immune to the pressure, but he almost isn't quite aware of how big a deal he has become," Anik said. "He's not really allowed to use the Internet, so he is shielded from a lot of the buzz."

For a 19-year-old college student at Texas A&M with highly-active social media accounts, that didn't seem to add up.

Northcutt was asked about the comment during the news conference, and as he does when asked almost any question, he laughed.

"I can use the Internet," he said. "I have to use it for my schoolwork too.

"He must have been making a joke. That's funny."

Anik, however, told the Review-Journal he wasn't joking.

Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5509. Follow him on Twitter: @adamhilllvrj