Friends on not, Raul Rosas Jr. intended to put Ricky Turcios away in their original booking back in February. Now fighting on Saturday, Rosas has a little more motivation to get that done.
Rosas Jr. (8-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) and Turcios (12-3 MMA, 2-1 UFC) clash on the main card of UFC on ESPN 57, which takes place at KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Ky. This is the third date they have been scheduled to meet, as they were initially scheduled to fight on Feb. 24 and then a week later at another UFC Fight Night event after the original date fell through.
Rosas Jr. withdrew from their first date minutes before the fight as he fell ill. Then, in the following booking, Rosas Jr. had a scheduling conflict that didn’t allow him to compete. Turcios wasn’t happy with Rosas Jr. not fighting in February and initially criticized him, saying Rosas Jr. was “unprofessional” and “disrespected the Bushido code.”
Turcios may have changed his tune since, but his original comments haven’t sat well with “El Niño Problema.”
“It does change it a little because now I’m going to go out, and we’ll see if he comes out clean this time,” Rosas Jr. told MMA Junkie. “He had posted he had come out clean in the last fight, so we’ll see if he can say the same things he was saying after the last fight that we didn’t fight. But yeah, he’s a little weird, for sure. He comes and tells me it’s all respect, but then goes out there and says those type of things online, so we’ll see if he can back it up.
“If I really disrespected his code, we’ll see if he does something about it on Saturday night.”
Although it’s been just a few months, the 19-year-old Rosas Jr. believes he’s evolved tremendously since that first booking. He plans on showing that advancement by stopping Turcios.
“I think he’s going to have a hard time either way the fight goes,” Rosas Jr. said. “He’s a durable fighter. He has a lot of heart, and he’s going to keep coming after I put a beating on him. He’s going to keep coming, so I’m ready for that. I’m ready for a war, but I’m going to put him out whether it’s Round 1, 2 or 3. I’m pretty sure I’m going to put him out.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 57.
