Raul Rosas Jr. is an overnight sensation, but his success did not come overnight.
Rosas defeated Jay Perrin in dominant fashion this past Saturday at UFC 282. Only two months removed from his eighteenth birthday, he is the youngest fighter to ever win a UFC bout.
“I felt pretty confident going in,” says Rosas. “If I had to stand for the whole three rounds, I was ready to stand. But I saw a takedown, so I took it–and I was able to capitalize on it.”
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Immediately taking Perrin’s back, Rosas (7-0) locked in a rear-naked choke that led to a submission victory. Perrin (10-7) was completely overwhelmed, and he was never able to put Rosas in any kind of danger.
“I wanted to go in and out as quickly as possible,” says Rosas. “I don’t get paid by the hour, right? Everything worked out as planned.”
Rosas left his high school to become home-schooled, allowing him considerably more time to train. The move is paying off, clearly, but leaving school during his senior year was not an easy decision.
“I miss high school, it was pretty fun,” says Rosas. “But this gives me more time for training. It’s one of the sacrifices I had to make. I need to put more time on the mat to take my skill set to the next level.”
This past Saturday was an important building block for Rosas. Perrin represented an obstacle he needed to overcome, and he did so with relative ease. Rosas was even one of the Performance of the Night winners, earning a $50,000 bonus. But the bantamweight division is full of dangerous opponents, and his journey is just getting started.
“I’m happy with this victory, but I’m not satisfied,” says Rosas. “I still have a lot to accomplish. My goal is to get the belt. I have a long way to get there. But I’m living the dream.”
