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Raul Rosas Jr., a promising 18-year-old athlete, will return to the octagon on April 8 at UFC 287 when he faces Christian Rodriguez. The location and venue are yet to be announced for the main event. Following an earlier report from Eurosport, MMA Fighting has verified the agreement.
Rosas Jr., the youngest athlete ever to participate for the company, made UFC history when he made his octagon appearance at UFC 282 this last December. Surprisingly, the ace of the Contender Series didn't let down. Rosas Jr. easily defeated Jay Perrin amid some pre-fight trash talk and a lot of pressure placed on him. Rosas Jr. ripped past Perrin as he used his powerful grappling abilities to force Perrin to surrender only about three minutes into the first round; it was barely close.
Rosas Jr. has won seven straight matches in his professional career, five of which came through submission. Although the organization will probably go cautiously with the young fighter, it's encouraging in seeing him recover quickly following his premiere only one month ago. Rosas Jr. is going to require every expertise he can get in 2023 since the UFC's 135-pound class is very competitive at the moment. So getting skills that outstands Rosas Jr. among the rest of them will help him reach the top in a short span of time.
While Rodriguez is a very promising potential as a whole himself. The 25-year-old fighter made a terrible UFC debut in February 2022, losing to Jonathan Pearce, however this past October, he defeated Joshua Weems through anaconda choke submission to earn his first Octagon victory. If Rodriguez can defeat Rosas Jr., it will boost his popularity in the UFC and put him among the top potentials to witness in 2023.