I`ve seen some interviews, he seems a nice guy, but it feels like the UFC is trying too hard to build a fanbase out of the blue for this kid. little bit like what they did/have been doing with Conor.
there are fighters with a decent MMA record and yet they haven`t gotten the chance to fight in the UFC.
They obviously think he's marketable and FWIW, I think they're right about that. And that's the whole point - they're in the fight
business. Those fighters who have better records but haven't been given a shot in the UFC yet obviously aren't as marketable. You can argue that's not fair, but again, this is a business. It is what it is. It's not the Olympics or anything.
Have they given Northcutt preferential treatment? Absolutely - guys on the Fight Pass portion of a card generally don't get featured at the open workouts or get their prefight interviews pushed so heavily or anything. But then he held up his end of the bargain, and delivered a highlight reel knockout. One that was short enough to get replayed multiple times throughout the rest of the broadcast to boot.
I think there's a much closer parallel to Paige VanZant than there is to Conor McGregor though. The UFC obviously realises the guy is young and doesn't have a lot of experience so they fed him a very beatable can in his first fight (Trevino's 12-1 record going in only looked good if you ignored
who he actually beat in his first 12 fights) and I expect they'll probably continue to do so for his next couple of fights, same as they've done with VanZant.
I expect he'll have a full Reebok sponsorship long before he fights anyone in the top 10
