Raul
Rosas Jr. clearly wasn’t dwelling on the first loss of his
mixed martial arts career.
Advertisement
The 18-year-old Dana White’s Contender Series alum returned to the
win column in impressive fashion at
UFC Fight Night 227, as he dispatched Terrence
Mitchell via technical knockout in just 54 seconds at T-Mobile
Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday night. It was a much-needed
performance after Rosas fell to Christian
Rodriguez at UFC 287 this past April.
“[I] never had any doubts about my skills,” Rosas said at
Saturday’s post-fight press conference. “The only thing that loss
changed was my record, and tonight I showed that nothing has
changed.”
The typically wrestling-minded Rosas showcased some different
skills against Mitchell, dropping his foe with a big punch and
finishing the contest with ground-and-pound on the canvas.
“My grappling and my timing was on point,” Rosas said. “If it
touched the ground, I knew I was going to find the submission. We
put in a lot of work. I’ve been working lots of grappling. I was
just blessed to show everything. I’ve evolved from the last fight.
[I] showed my improvements and I was able to do it tonight.”
As the youngest fighter on the UFC roster, Rosas has received
plenty of attention in the early days of his fighting career. “El
Nino Problema” doesn’t shy away from expectations, however.
“I’m different,” Rosas said. “I have the potential to be a
superstar and break all these records. I’m just being myself, and
I’m blessed that I am the way I am. I know I have potential to
become one of the biggest superstars of the company.”
There will likely be more growing pains for Rosas as his career
progresses, but he’s will to take the necessary steps to reach his
own lofty goals.
“I just got to live day by day,” Rosas said. “Focus on one goal and
then go after another. Right now it’s just come back, have another
amazing performance, climb up the ladder, and then go from there.”