Raul Rosas Jr. Secures Finish In First Main Event Appearance
In his first 25-minute headlining appearance in the UFC, Raul Rosas Jr. added a sixth win to his current streak by achieving the stoppage of Brazil’s Raoni Barcelos in the fifth round of their contest inside the META Apex.
Back in 2022, Rosas became the youngest fighter to sign with the UFC at just 17-years old. Now, eight fights later, he has become the youngest to appear in a main event bout. With his win over the No. 8 ranked Barcelos on Saturday, the thought of Rosas jumping into the top ten at 135-pounds just became a very real possibility.
Rosas was certainly tested adequately for his first five-round appearance, as between the aggressive striking and competitive grappling sequences, things turned into an all-out war pretty quickly. At one point, the 24-year-old Mexican-born bantamweight even found himself in a world of trouble with his opponent on his back attempting to constrict with a rear naked choke, which seemed only moments away from finishing the fight.
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“El Niño Problema” managed to battle through the onslaught of Barcelos and deep into the championship rounds. Finally, in the fifth round, the Rosas was able to find his time to finish the exhausted Brazilian, and all it took was a rough takedown and a pair of follow-up strikes.
With the way Barcelos seemed to have no fight left in him when he hit the canvas from the takedown, it was clear that the damage sustained had taken a toll on him. It was no surprise that he was rushed to a nearby hospital to undergo immediate tests after the match.
“Raoni was transported to the hospital, he is with the team, he is also with the UFC staff, he will undergo some tests related to the head, what we call a CT scan here, anyway, to try to check what happened, both to the face and head but the doctor said it was precautionary, that is, out of caution, we don’t know exactly the diagnosis yet, what happened, but he is going to the hospital and we will have those answers soon.”
UFC Fight Night Rosas Jr. vs. Barcelos Results:
Main Card
Raul Rosas Jr. def. Raoni Barcelos via KO (Takedown) – Round 5, 1:38
Ailin Perez def. Norma Dumont via Decision (Unanimous) – 29-28, 29-28, 29-28
Luis Hernandez def. Sedriques Dumas via Submission (Guillotine) – Round 1, 0:57
Ilimbek Akylbek Uulu def. Mehemmedeli Osmanli via disqualification (Illegal Knee) – Round 1, 2:19
Valesca Machado def. Melissa Amaya via TKO (Punches) – Round 2, 3:19Preliminary Card
Brady Hiestand def. Rinya Nakamura via Submission (Rear Naked Choke) – Round 2, 4:07
Rodolfo Vieira def. Robert Bryczek via Decision (Unanimous) – 30-27, 30-27, 30-27
Christian Edwards def. Rodolfo Bellato via TKO (Punches) – Round 3, 1:47
Elves Brener def. Josiah Harrell by TKO (Punch) – Round 1, 4:14
Montel Jackson def. Ricky Simon via KO (Punches) – Round 2, 2:39
Heili Alateng def. John Castaneda via Decision (Split) – 29-28, 28-29, 29-28
Yazmin Jauregui def. Vanessa Demopoulos via KO (Punches) – Round 1, 1:02