Fighting for the third time in four months, the 19-year-old from Katy, Texas, didn't handle adversity well, losing to short-notice replacement Bryan Barberena in the second round of their UFC on FOX 18 main-card bout in Newark.
"It feels great," said Barberena. "I have my own hype behind me, my team, my friends, my family, they had no doubt, they believed in me."
Northcutt tapped to an arm-triangle choke 3:06 of the second round, handing Northcutt his first professional loss.
Northcutt came out strong in the opening round, mixing up speedy strikes and keeping Barberena off-balance.