Rising 18-year-old fighter Raul Rosas Jr. will be back in action when he takes on Christian Rodriguez at UFC 287 on April 8 at a location and venue yet to be determined. The booking was recently confirmed by MMA Fighting following an initial report from Eurosport.
Rosas Jr. made UFC history in his Octagon debut at UFC 282 this past December becoming the youngest fighter to ever compete for the promotion. Luckily, the Contender Series standout didn’t disappoint. Despite some pre-fight banter and a mountain of expectations put on his shoulders Rosas Jr. sliced through his opponent, Jay Perrin, like a knife through water. It wasn’t even close as Rosas Jr. utilized his strong grappling skills to submit Perrin via face crank just under three minutes into the first round.
In case you missed the historic finish check it out HERE.
Rosas Jr., who turned 18 this past October, is currently 7-0 in his professional career with five of those victories coming by way of submission. The promotion is likely to take things slow with the teenage fighter, but it’s good to see him making a quick turnaround from his debut just one month ago. The UFC’s 135-pound division in an absolute shark tank so Rosas Jr. will need all the experience he can muster in 2023.
Rodriguez, on the other hand, is a real solid prospect in his own right. The 25-year-old fighter lost a tough UFC debut to Jonathan Pearce back in Feb. 2022, but captured his first Octagon win with an anaconda choke submission finish over Joshua Weems this past October. If Rodriguez is able to upset Rosas Jr. it would do wonders for his own UFC stock and make him one of the top prospects to watch this year.
What say you, Maniacs? Is UFC setting Rosas Jr. up for a second-straight win?
Sound off!