Teenage prospect Raul Rosas Jr failed to keep his unbeaten streak intact as he was beaten by Christian Rodriguez at UFC 287.
Rosas, 18, was signed to the UFC last September after impressing Dana White on the Contender Series in September. The high school student went on to become the youngest fighter to win in the UFC just months later when he choked out Jay Perrin and Rosas is now 2-0 in the UFC following his win against Rodriguez.
As the fight got underway Rosas shot for a takedown but Rodriguez did a good job of sprawling to keep the fight standing up. The pair clinched against the fence before Rosas got the takedown he was looking for, with the youngster quicjly taking a dominant position on the ground.
Rodriguez got back to his feet but Rosas took his back from a standing position and looked to secure a rear-naked choke. Rodriguez survived the multiple submission attempts and made it to the second round, where he turned the tide by taking Rosas' back and looking for submissions of his own.
Rosas was struggling to deal with Rodriguez's physicality as the youngster was being overpowered at the start of the third round. Rodriguez was easily defending Rosas' takedown attempts and making him pay by reversing position on the ground. The 18-year-old looked defeated come the last minute of the fight and Rodriguez did come close to locking up a rear-naked choke, but Rosas survived and all three judges scored the fight 29-28 in favour of Rodriguez after the final bell.
What did you make of Raul Rosas Jr's performance at UFC 287? Let us know in the comments section below
Rosas might have just suffered his first UFC defeat, but he isn't short on confidence as the 18-year-old has backed himself to beat current bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling. 'El Nino Problema' wants to become a world champion by the age of 20, which would shatter the current record set by Jon Jones for the youngest champion in UFC history (23).
"I feel comfortable fighting 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," Rosas told Mirror Fighting.
