Raul Rosas Jr. became the youngest fighter to compete inside of the Octagon at 18 years of age earlier tonight (Sat., Dec. 10, 2022) at UFC 282 live on ESPN+ pay-per-view (PPV) from inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, finishing fellow bantamweight Jay Perrin with a first-round submission (rear-naked choke).
Despite making a historic Octagon debut Rosas Jr. didn’t seem overwhelmed at all. The 18-year-old kid came out with a Mexican sombrero dancing to his walkout music to the cheer of the crowd. When the fight started Rosas Jr. was able to secure a slamming takedown along the cage and quickly worked towards Perrin’s back. From there, Rosas Jr. implemented his impressive submission skills to lock up the choke and force the tap.
Check out the submission finish below courtesy of UFC/ESPN:
RAUL ROSAS FORCES THE TAP IN HIS UFC DEBUT #UFC282
STREAM #UFC282 ON @ESPNPLUS ?? https://t.co/4XaKa7EqGb pic.twitter.com/qMrXGjqL3T
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) December 11, 2022
Rosas Jr., who hails from the Contender Series, was the betting favorite to take care of business tonight at UFC 282. However, making your UFC debut at 18 years of age is no small feat. The fact that the Mexican fighter made it look easy is downright scary for his overall UFC trajectory heading into 2023.
For complete UFC 282 results and coverage click here.