Raul Rosas Jr., the youngest fighter in UFC history, has noticed significant physical growth since his debut at age 18, leading him to consider a future move from bantamweight to featherweight after recently improving his record to 3-1 with a win over Ricky Turcios.
Raul Rosas Jr. became the youngest fighter in UFC history when he made his debut at age 18. Now, as he’s months away from leaving his teen years behind, he’s noticing significant gains in his physique.
The 19-year-old bantamweight phenom recently submitted Ricky Turcios in the featured bout of UFC Louisville. This win improved his record to 3-1 inside the octagon. One thing stood out: Rosas’ body frame is getting bigger and more muscular.
Rosas himself has observed this change. He knows that eventually, he’ll need to move up to featherweight.
“I’ve gotten bigger and I’ve noticed it because of my weight going up and up and up,” Rosas shared on The MMA Hour. “The weight cut is getting a little more rough.”
He continued, “I’ve just been working out, but I think it’s mainly that my body is growing. My age, I’m getting older and I’m growing, so I think it’s just going to keep happening.”
“The question is, how long can I stay at [135]? I want to stay at ‘35 until I get the belt, but we’ll see what happens.” He added, “It’s inevitable that I will have to move up to 145; the question is how long can I stay at 135 for.”
The bout with Turcios was one of the most heated on the Fight Night slate. This was evident during their final faceoff after weigh-ins and the opening seconds of the fight.
When the referee signaled them to start, Rosas went for a glove touch. Instead, Turcios threw a kick at him — causing the crowd to turn on Turcios and cheer louder for Rosas.
“I think he was just emotional,” Rosas said. “When you fight me, there’s a lot of pressure with people watching and stuff.”
“In the faceoffs, I could just feel [the] pressure [on him]. He was tensed up and was a little more different than usual because of the pressure and everything.”