18-year-old Raul Rosas Jr will make history this Saturday as he becomes the youngest fighter to compete in the UFC.
Rosas faces Jay Perrin on the preliminary card of UFC 282, which takes place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. ‘El Nino Problema’ earned himself a UFC contract in September by winning a one-sided decision against Mando Gutierrez on the Contender Series, with Dana White insisting he’d never seen a fighter like Rosas before following his win.
The bantamweight prospect, who is in his senior year at high school, first walked into a karate gym as a four-year-old and had his first fight four years later. Along with brother Jesse, who is two years older than Raul, the pair trained MMA for fun but soon realised they could both go far in the sport. Rosas had just two amateur fights before turning professional and has since amassed a record of 5-0.
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“From the ages of 8 to 14 I was fighting people my age, I lost twice and won 25 times. I also went to Italy to compete for an IMMAF title. After that, I knew I was the best teenager in the world. I made my amateur debut when I was 15, I fought twice and I won both in under one minute. I realised that nobody was gonna be on my level as I’d see the professionals, I knew I could beat them even though they were like 7-0. I went pro when I was 17 in Mexico as I couldn’t fight pro in the US until 18.
Before the age of 15, Rosas captured a youth world title with IMMAF and he only turned professional a few years later because he was struggling to book fights due to his age. Rosas has laid out his plan to become the UFC's first ever three-weight champion and also wants to capture his first world title in the promotion at the age of 20.
"I feel comfortable striking with anybody. I know I’ve still got to get better, but even right now if I was to fight the UFC champion I know I would take him out. Not only win, but finish him. I keep getting better and better, but even at this level I can beat anybody," he added.
"I’m ready to be on the big stage so I’m glad I’m fighting on the pay-per-view card. I’ve been putting a lot of work in and the UFC put me in because I’m going to go and finish this guy. If there’s anybody to put on the pay-per-view card it’s someone like me because I’m a showman. When I fight, I enter the matrix, I fight to win for myself but to also be an entertainer and do some crazy s***."
