Sergio Pettis, the reigning Bellator bantamweight champion, is becoming increasingly close to making a comeback, and he already knows who he'll be facing. In May 2021, Pettis (22-5 MMA, 4-0 BMMA) defeated Juan Archuleta to claim the 135-pound championship. He successfully defended his championship for the first time against Kyoji Horiguchi last year in a thrilling fourth-round knockout. But earlier this year, due to an ACL tear, he was forced to withdraw from Bellator's bantamweight grand prix rather than risk losing his crown. Raufeon Stots vs. Archuleta was turned into an interim title fight by Bellator to kick off the competition. Stots won the interim championship, and on Friday, he defeated Danny Sabatello to get to the Patchy Mix final. In order to unify the titles, the victor of that battle will eventually face Pettis. And when Pettis comes back, he anticipates seeing Stots, a former teammate from Roufusport, in front of him. “I think it’s going to be me and my teammate, Raufeon Stots,” Pettis told at Bellator 289 this past Friday in Uncasville, Conn. “… That’s what I’m prepping for.” For the title bout, Pettis stated he and Stots won't have any problems putting their previous friendship and training connection aside. Prior to Pettis' injury, when Stots was scheduled to face Pettis in the event, he left Roufusport in Milwaukee to prevent any potential interpersonal conflicts. “It does make it a lot easier now that I’m not in the same practice room as him,” Pettis said. “I was with him for about six and a half years every day, training each other to get better and better. Now we’re at this level where we have to fight each other. That’s OK with us because we’re reaching to be the best in the world. “… I feel like there wouldn’t be any bad blood. Obviously, our job is competition and currency. That’s what we’re here for. We’re just here competing against each other trying to get that bread and may the best man win. I don’t think we’ll have any issues.” Pettis claimed that he began training sooner than his physicians had recommended because of boredom. He claimed that Bellator 289 was the first event he had seen in the organization following his victory against Horiguchi. However, he claimed that his knee felt back to usual and that he believes he would be fully prepared for the Stots-Mix winner. The final has not yet been given a date, but it won't be any later than April or May. Pettis' comeback could yet occur many months later, in the summer of 2023. “Day to day, I feel like my knee’s gotten a lot better. I can do everything I used to be able to do – the spin kick, the jump knees, sprawls, wrestling. I’m still not 100 percent comfortable, but I’m close.”

Following professional judge Doug Crosby's 50-45 decision in the main event of Bellator 289, the commission in charge of the fight's scoring is going to examine the results. Mohegan Athletic Department Director of Athletics Mike Mazzulli issued a written statement in which he stated that he had no concerns with the eventual outcome but was anxious about the "controversial" 50-45 score. He planned a debrief of the contest with the three judges: Crosby, Eric Colon, and Bryan Miner. “In the last Bellator event (December 9, 2022) there was a controversy in the Sabatello vs. Stots fight,” Mazzulli wrote. “After reviewing the fight, three rounds of the five rounds were extremely close and the other two were marginally close rounds. “One judge had Sabatello winning all five rounds, which is controversial. But ultimately Stots won the decision, which is the correct result. In an effort to make this a learning moment, I have informed all three judges we will be reviewing the fight together.” The review procedure was not described in full by Mazzulli, although he did say that judges' assignments would be lost if they were unable to apply the parameters appropriately. “This is a very serious situation,” he wrote. “The Mohegan Tribe Athletic Department always looks out for the best interests of all fighters. In the past the Mohegan Tribe Athletic Department has sanctioned officials that are not performing to the level that is required. Such sanctions, when they occur, are not made public.” Paddy Pimblett vs. Jared Gordon, the co-main event of UFC 282, was also assessed by Crosby, who has presided over numerous high-profile UFC fights. He was then in the majority, scoring in Rounds 1 and 2 to help Pimblett defeat Gordon by a score of 29–28. It was the first occasion a score like Crosby's 50-45 for Sabatello had been given to the loser of a contest, according to MMADecisions. Following the decision, Sabatello expressed his dissatisfaction, claiming that Crosby's scorecard in comparison to Stots' remaining two "doesn't make sense." "That's gotta be the most dumb judging I've seen in awhile at a high level of MMA," wrote UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling in response to a conflict-of-interest claim made against his training partner Al Iaquinta as a result of his former instructor Ray Longo's dispute with Crosby. Scott Coker, the president of Bellator, expressed sympathy for the judges during the competitive title match but added that it could have gone to either way, but he has no idea on what basis a 50-45 scorecard came forward. With the victory, Stots moves on to face Patchy Mix, who beaten Magomed Magomedov at Bellator 289, in the Bellator bantamweight grand prix finale. The champion will get $1 million.

To reduce the number of titles, the WBA has ordered 'Super' heavyweight champion Oleksander Usyk to face 'Regular' champ Daniel Dubois. This move could potentially jeopardize the undisputed heavyweight title fight between IBF, WBA, and WBO champion Usyk (20-0, 13 KOs) and WBC champion Tyson Fury. However, because Dubois and Fury are promoted by the same company, Queensbury Promotion, it will be a simple matter for them to arrange for Daniel to step aside so that Tyson can face Usyk for the undisputed title. Dubois would then face the winner of the Fury vs. Usyk fight, assuming the IBF does not intervene. The International Boxing Federation has already scheduled Usyk's next defense against IBF mandatory Filip Hrgovic. Hrgovic's promoter, Eddie Hearn, has stated repeatedly that Usyk must defend against him next, but the IBF may allow the Fury vs. Usyk fight to take place. Once that fight is over, the IBF will almost certainly insist on giving Hrgovic his shot, which means Dubois will have to wait his turn. On December 3rd, Dubois was nearly knocked out by little-known former cruiserweight Kevin Lerena in their co-feature bout at Tottenham Hotspurs Stadium in London. In the first round, the 25-year-old Dubois was knocked down three times by South African southpaw Lerena. Some boxing fans believe the round ended 10 seconds early, which may have saved Dubois from being knocked out because he appeared to be falling with every punch Lerena landed after the first knockdown. Queensbury wants Fury to fight Usyk and Joe Joyce in 2023. If Fury fights Usyk, Dubois, and Joyce in 2023, he will have a lot to deal with the following year. Fury had talked recently about wanting to fight ten times in 2023, and he was joking. But as long as he’s eager to be busy next year, fighting Usyk, Dubois, and Joyce in succession would be an excellent way for the 6’9″ heavyweight to make up for the lost time. Following his victory over Wladimir Klitschko in 2015, Fury has missed many fights due to issues outside of the ring. Fury, at 34, doesn't have much time left before he ages out and is no longer the fighter he once was.

Glover Teixeira and Jamahal Hill will square off for the vacant light heavyweight championship at UFC 283, UFC President Dana White confirmed. After UFC 282's main event culminated in a split draw, White labeled the vacant light heavyweight title fight between Jan Blachowicz and Magomed Ankalaev "awful" and that the title contenders had only themselves to complain about. “What are you going to do?” White asked incredulously. “I think the main event was terrible. What are you going to do?” On January 21, UFC 283 will take place at Rio de Janeiro's Jeunesse Arena. The main fight on Saturday night is hyped as a quadrilogy between champion Deiveson Figueiredo and Brandon Moreno. Those intentions undoubtedly changed following UFC 282. After the UFC 282 main event, Hill suggested a different matchup and asked White to schedule him against top light heavyweight and UFC analyst Anthony Smith. But in a short span, Hill won a lottery as he was announced to face the former champion by White. Hill's response to the news was succinct but obvious. To commemorate the news, he created a promo. Teixeira attempted to enter the octagon following the match to meet the victor, but he was unable to be reached for comment. Teixeira watched UFC 282 from the cage. Jiri Prochazka, the Czech champion, was supposed to compete for the title against the former champion from Brazil, but Prochazka withdrew after suffering a serious shoulder injury. Teixeira said that the organization rejected his desire to challenge the Dagestani fighter at UFC 283 one month after he was allowed to do so. Teixeira will now fulfill his ambition on a timeframe, but against a different foe. Hill has won three straight matches, including one in which he stopped former championship challenger Thiago Santos. Teixeira, who lost the championship to Prochazka through submission in the fifth round, has another opportunity to reclaim it.

The buildup to UFC 282 hinted at something special. It appeared as though the scene was laid for the two contests at the top of the bill to create an evening that may have been hailed as one of the finest pay-per-view cards of the year with the first 10 fights finishing through stoppage. That did not occur. Everyone who attended the main event, including the promotion staff, were left scratching their heads at what in the world had transpired to cause the event to collapse with the final two fights. Magomed Ankalaev vs. Jan Blachowicz ends in split draw: In the five-round main event of UFC 282, Magomed Ankalaev and Jan Blachowicz fought to a split draw, which resulted in the loss of the light heavyweight championship. The fight was meant to clarify the 205-pound division after former champion Jiri Procházka relinquished the title due to a serious shoulder injury. The title bout featured opportunities for both competitors. Early rounds were won by Blachowicz thanks to a continuous dosage of leg kicks that prevented Ankalaev from keeping up with him on his feet. The Russian took control of the fight in the championship rounds, though, thanks to a takedown that occurred late in the third round. Nevertheless, rather than taking home the strap, it was only quite enough to set off the draw. As it seeks for Procházka to recover from his injury and return to the title hunt, the division is currently in even more confusion than it was before. However, the surprising draw wasn't the only contentious choice. The victory of Paddy Pimblett in the co-main also generated a lot of buzz online. Paddy Pimblett def. Jared Gordon via unanimous decision: Paddy Pimblett didn't exactly get the one-sided bashing he might have been expecting for, but he still managed to defeat Jared Gordon by unanimous decision in the co-main event. One of the company's growing stars who is climbing the quickest is Pimblett. In contrast to his first three UFC fights, his fourth was significantly tougher for him. Gordon forced the Liverpudlian to a decision for the first time in a UFC fight. The challenger had some impact in the ring and revealed some weaknesses in Pimblett's resistance that need to be fixed going ahead. Although he may have persuaded the judges, many pundits weren't as thrilled. Overall, Pimblett accomplished what was required of him to raise his hand, but in order for him to develop his peak performance, he will need this to serve as a wake-up call. Santiago Ponzibibbio def. Alex Morono via KO: Santiago Ponzinibbio shouldn't be written off just yet. With a third-round TKO victory over Alex Morono in a catchweight fight, the Argentine Dagger showed the audience just how lethal he was capable of being. After Robbie Lawler had to withdraw from the programme due to injury, Morono accepted the bout with only five days' notice. Morono breezed through the opening two rounds. Simply enough, he was too swift for Ponzinibbio and could strike anywhere. However, Ponzinibbio always possessed the ability to turn a fight around, and he used it in the third round. He stunned his opponent with a vicious right hand through Morono's defence before delivering a second blow. Ponzinibbio was set to compete for the title in 2018, but a number of health difficulties caused him to sit out for almost three years. In his last four fights after rejoining the Octagon in 2021, he had lost three. When he let his fist fly, it was a good sign to observe that he still had the strength to smash rivals out. Dricus Du Plessis def. Darren Till via submission: In a frantic back-and-forth fight that had a little bit of everything, Dricus Du Plessis earned the biggest victory of his career. The opening round was led by Du Plessis. He stepped into the fight immediately after the opening bell, got Till on the ground, and quickly forced the referee to end it. Till, however, eventually turned the tables on a worn-out Du Plessis at the end of the round. In the second round, Till maintained his rhythm. He appeared to be exploitation of a worn-out Du Plessis during his brief seconds on the move. However, those instances were erased as a refocused Du Plessis fell to the ground again in the third round. He forced Till to the ground before applying the neck crank to secure the victory. Ilia Topuria def. Bryce Mitchell via submission: Ilia Topuria and Bryce Mitchell's featherweight fight was one of the most evenly balanced matches on paper on the card. With a second-round submission victory over Mitchell, Topuria overpowered the opponent from start to finish and handed Mitchell his first UFC defeat while maintaining his perfect record. Leg kicks from Topuria early in the first round helped him win it. Mitchell was then stunned by some effective boxing. He was ready to show off his grappling abilities by the second round. Topuria happily fell to the ground while Mitchell was being rocked, which is typically Mitchell's style. Prior to locking in the head-arm triangle choke that caused the tap, he moved into a number of beneficial positions to make his way up the ropes. After the victory, there won't be many featherweights eager to challenge the 25-year-old.

After junior welterweight contender Teo Lopez won his eliminator for the WBC title on Saturday night, heavyweight contender Jared Anderson destroyed Jerry Forrest in New York. Anderson (13-0, 13 KOs) maintained his perfect knockout record with a second-round TKO victory over Jerry Forrest (26-6-2, 20 KOs). Anderson won the WBO International and WBC Silver USNBC titles with a dominant performance before taking on British opponents Dillian Whyte and Daniel Dubois. "Like my corner said, once I get hit it's a whole different ballgame. I switch up everything. My mindset. How I fight. Everything. I try to come in cool and calm," said Anderson. "I see everybody kind of was expecting him to go out early. I didn't want that. I did want to get all the way warmed up. But once he did hit me, as ya'll see, something flipped, and all I saw was red. "The 114 punches came and we picked it up. "I learned to keep my composure even earlier. It shouldn't have to take me to get hit for me to be able to do that. But everything was alright once I started to adjust myself and get my feet up under me. I have been kind of off for a little second, but I definitely think I came back and made it better."

Teofimo Lopez has always sold himself on brash confidence, but ESPN cameras caught him in a vulnerable moment after his controversial split decision win on Saturday night over Sandor Martin. “Bro, do I still have it, man?” he asked his team. “Do I still got it?” Lopez’s expression was not one that indicated he was joking around in any way, and the response of those around him — trying to encourage him that he does, in fact, still have it — was also sincere. This would hardly be the first time the confidence of Lopez (18-1, 13 KO) has been questioned, though this is very openly by himself. In the past, some have questioned that confidence after his 2019 win over Masayoshi Nakatani, his first time going the 12-round distance, when he seemed to indicate he didn’t want to fight taller opponents anymore, and that was a clear and earned Lopez win. Wins over Richard Commey and Vasiliy Lomachenko vaulted him into the top tier of the sport, and with good reason, but an upset loss to George Kambosos Jr in late 2021 was worrisome to some not just because he lost, but because of the way he handled the defeat — in short, poorly, in the eyes of many. And now this, when he went a hard 10 rounds with a guy he never quite seemed to figure out. However you take this, we’re all armchair quarterbacking here at best, but it certainly isn’t going to quiet anyone who already thinks maybe he just has not mentally recovered from the Kambosos loss, and that maybe his career has hit a wall for whatever number of reasons you could name.

When Jiri Prochazka sustained a terrible shoulder injury that forced him out of the UFC 282 championship match, he was frantically counting down the days until his first light heavyweight title defense. Prochazka decided to give up the 205-pound title instead of prolonging the division while he was out due to the severity of the injury to his shoulder. As a result, the fight between Jan Blachowicz and Magomed Ankalaev, in which the light heavyweight title has been at stake, was made the new UFC 282 main event. Prochazka hinted on social media that he planned to return in six months, but owing to the seriousness of his shoulder injury, UFC president Dana White anticipates a much longer wait before he can contest once more. Speaking at the podcast of Paddy Pimblett, Dana White revealed that the doctor was with us as well, and he advised us to start approaching this situation realistically. UFC President persuaded the Czech native to take his time and recover from a gruesome injury. White convinced him to relinquish the gold strap as he can’t hold up the division. White claims that Prochazka's shoulder injury occurred when he was preparing for his rematch with Glover Teixeira, but the majority of the harm to his arm came from what transpired after. “That night when it all went down and we had our doctor look at him, the doctor literally said in all the years of the UFC, this is the worst shoulder injury we’ve ever seen,” White said. “It’s pretty nasty. Him being the f****** savage that he is, he still wanted to fight. No, you can’t fight, kid. He tore it good. “What happened was it popped out and he had some guys there at the gym [try to put it back in socket] and it f****** ripped the s*** out of it and destroyed his shoulder. I’ll tell you, tell him, tell all the fighters, if anything happens to you, jump in a f****** car and go to the hospital. We will pay for everything. People think that these guys at the gym can fix your shoulder, do this s***, do that s***, don’t even risk it. Just go to the hospital. It’s crazy.” White chose to give up the title while he recovers from shoulder surgery because he anticipates that Prochazka will be out of business for a considerable amount of time. Prochazka will still be considered the best light heavyweight in the world despite giving up the championship, according to White, and he'll have the opportunity to win it once he's fit again. Unfortunately, according to White, Prochazka won't have that chance until either Blachowicz or Ankalaev have already defended the belt. In light of Prochazka's absence, White said that the former champion Glover Teixeira is now unquestionably the top challenger in the classification, and all indications are that, following UFC 282, he will face either Blachowicz or Ankalaev. “100 percent [Glover is next],” White said. “The fight was offered to Glover. He didn’t want to take the fight. It will probably be two fights before Jiri comes back so it would be Glover.”

Bellator 289's schedule looked to be very enticing for MMA fans. Bellator 289, which was broadcast live and took place at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn, featured two tournament semi-final matches as well as a title match. Raufeon Stots def. Danny Sabatello via split decision: After weeks of cheeky banter, the interim Bellator bantamweight champion survived Danny Sabatello's unrelenting wrestling assault to prevail by split decision and move on to the $1 million bantamweight grand prix finale. In the main event of Bellator 289 on Friday, Stots narrowly survived thanks to scores from judges Bryan Miner and Eric Colon of 48–47 for Stots and Doug Crosby of an unusual 50–45 for Sabatello. “F*** you Sabatello!” an elated Stots said after the heated build-up between the two rivals. “He didn’t do no damage. I was walking him down the whole time, I had his face bloody, I got blood all in that highlighter head, and we’re moving on to the finals, baby.” It was immediately apparent that Sabatello's strategy involved wrestling. Despite spending more than 10 minutes in ground control, the aggressive 29-year-old Sabatello struggled to create much, if there was any, meaningful offensive despite continuously trying to get to Stots' back and scoring takedowns in all but the third round. Stots, in contrast, blocked Sabatello's efforts to take the opponent down and controlled the striking exchanges throughout the 25-minute contest, totaling 90 strikes to Sabatello's 43. Following the announcement of the scorecards, Sabatello walked out of the ring in a rage, but in-ring interviewer and veteran MMA official John McCarthy expressed his support for Stots' damage over Sabatello's loss of control. Patchy Mix def. Magomed Magomedov via submission: Patchy Mix (17-1), a 29-year-old bantamweight became the first person to defeat Magomed Magomedov (19-3) by sending the Russian to bed with a vicious guillotine choke at the 2:39 mark of Round 2. With a dramatic win over the Russian, Mix will face Stots in the competition's finals. Despite being the underdog, Mix maintained his position early and came close to guillotining Magomedov in the middle of the first round. After shocking Kyoji Horiguchi and Magomedov, Mix is now just one encounter short from romping to the $1 million prize for the tournament. “You best be sure I’m coming for that f****** title,” Mix roared after his win. Liz Carmouche def. Juliana Velasquez via submission: The Bellator flyweight champion Liz Carmouche (18-7) and Juliana Velasquez (12-2) squared up again in another title fight on the card after Carmouche's contentious comeback victory over Velasquez to capture the gold in April. At 4:24 in Round 2, Carmouche put an end to the contest with a mounted armbar after dominating the fight with takedowns and wrestling. After months of brewing animosity between the two flyweights, Carmouche's attitude was vindicated with her first armbar stoppage since her second professional victory in 2010. “She tapped and it popped, so there’s no doubts anywhere [this time],” a grinning Carmouche said. Dalton Rosta def. Anthony Adams via unanimous decision: In the main event's inaugural fight, rising middleweight Dalton Rosta (8-0) defeated Anthony Adams (9-3) by unanimous decision despite seemingly dropping him out in the final minute of the contest. Rosta earned a unanimous 30-27 decision victory from the three judges, giving him his ninth victory for Bellator.

Eddie Hearn has once again insisted that Anthony Joshua fought better opponents than Tyson Fury on his road to the top. World heavyweight champion Fury has beaten Deontay Wilder twice and drawn with him once, as well as landing the first victory over Wladimir Klitschko in over 11 years to win the unified belts. Meanwhile, Joshua has beaten Klitschko and also had to get through Joseph Parker, Alexander Povetkin and Andy Ruiz Jr, among others, on his run. Hearn promoted Joshua on his way to two unified world title reigns and is plotting his return and hopeful comeback in the title picture. And he feels that Joshua's CV is more impressive than Fury's in the grand scheme of things, given that they have both beaten Klitschko, who is arguably No.1 on both of their records. "Tyson Fury calls everybody out and says everything, that's just not AJ's style," Hearn told Pro Boxing Fans. "His resume is in a different league to Tyson Fury. Tyson Fury has fought Wladimir Klitschko and Deontay Wilder, that's it in terms of elite heavyweights. I know Dillian Whyte was a good fight but I'm talking about the top, top guys consistently. "He's always thrown in a couple of easy fights, whether it's Tom Schwarz, whether it's Pianeta, whether it's Sefer Seferi, Christian Hammer, all these guys. AJ, over the last whatever it is 10 fights, hasn't. Look, Tyson Fury is an outstanding fighter but Anthony Joshua is just not Tyson Fury. He's not going to go out and start slagging people off, getting in their face and calling them dossers and rabbits and gappy-teethed, it's just not his thing." However, the mark against Joshua is that he has lost a number of his toughest fights. In contrast, Fury has never been beaten and many feel the one blemish on his record - the 2018 draw with Wilder - was a robbery on the scorecards, while his rival has lost three times in massive world title fights. Joshua was first beaten in a shock stoppage by Andy Ruiz Jr in the summer of 2019 at Madison Square Garden. He came back to beat Ruiz before defending his belts against Kubrat Pulev, but lost a mandatory defence and immediate rematch to Oleksandr Usyk in his next outings when a fight with Fury fell by the wayside.

At UFC 282, Magomed Ankalaev is sure that he won't falter under Jan Blachowicz's "Polish power" and that nothing would prevent him from winning the unoccupied light heavyweight championship. Ankalaev and Blachowicz will square off in Saturday's main event at T-Mobile Arena. Jiri Procházka had a severe shoulder injury that may prevent him from competing for more than a year, therefore the title is currently vacant, and a new king of the light heavyweight division will be named. Ankalaev, who now leads the 205-pound weight division with a remarkable 9-fight winning streak in the UFC, has been climbing the rankings for some time. Now that his chance has come, he vows to seize it. “The day has finally arrived, the day we waited for for so long,” he said via a translator. “We will show what we are worth this Saturday. We will come and take what’s rightfully ours.” After sitting for so long, it would be understandable if Ankalaev lacked motivation, but the 30-year-old fighter claims he persisted. “I basically did step by step, I always fought whoever they put in front of me, I didn’t pick my opponents, and I pretty much knew that at some point, they would not have a choice but to give me a title fight,” he said. Initially, his UFC 282 matchup with former champion Blachowicz was the kind of contest that served as an informal championship decider, with a victory securing a crack. Due to an injury that prompted Jiri Procházka to relinquish the championship, the victor will now be regarded as the finest light heavyweight in the UFC. “Of course, the stakes are much higher now, and I’m more motivated,” Ankalaev said. “I have a goal that I’m going to. I’ve trained really hard for this.” After dropping the strap to Teixeira, Blachowicz takes the stage with a campaign to win it back. With "famous Polish power," which he intends to employ against Ankalaev on Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, he most recently defeated Aleksandr Rakic when Rakic received a leg injury. But Ankalaev is resolute and not scared of the Polish Power. He plans to take over the fight from the beginning and leave the octagon with the gold around his waist. “I can’t say anything bad about Blachowicz as an opponent,” Ankalaev said. “He’s a great fighter, a great guy, but this fight is my dream. This is my opportunity. I will do whatever I have to do to make sure I come out of that octagon with a title.

The youngest recruit in UFC heritage is the juvenile prodigy Raul Rosas Jr. At UFC 282, the American is slated to face Jay Perrin in his professional debut. The 18-year-old gave a preview of his UFC debut during the event's pre-fight media day. El Nino Problema declared that he would convince the world that he was superior to his rivals. The Californian stated that he is looking to win convincingly at UFC 282 to advance quickly to higher levels of contest. "For me, it's not only winning the fight on Saturday night, it's about going out there and making a statement. Just to prove a point, I'm ready to face higher-level competition. So I'm just going to show everybody that I'm levels above. So the key to this fight is not only winning this fight but also I'm going to win impressively, to show I'm ready to fight higher level competition." Due to his stunning unanimous decision victory over Mando Gutierrez in Dana White's Contender Series 2022, Raul Rosas Jr. was inked to the biggest mixed martial arts organization on earth. 'El Nino Problema' presently has a pro record of six victories without a loss. All but his DWCS victory were achieved through finishes. On the other side, his opponent at UFC 282 prelim card, Jay Perrin expressed that Rosas Jr. is being hyped more than reality. Despite the considerable anticipation surrounding the youngster, bantamweight competitor Jay Perrin asserted during the media day for UFC 282 that his adversary Raul Rosas Jr. was still a raw athlete. Raul's flaws in his game are being overlooked by the public because they are preoccupied with the fact that he entered the major levels at quite an early age, according to Perrin. "We are at the UFC this is the top of the world.. I think again you're enamored with how old he is and all the hype around him and not the actual skill set and that's what I'm looking at... As a complete fighter I don't see him on the same level as I am... He is still an 18-year-old kid that is unpolished and hasn't been tested even one time... I do think he is very good and he'll be very good [but] not right now." Rosas Jr. faces Jay Perrin (10-6) in an attempt to ruin the performance. Despite having competed twice this year, he has yet to claim victory in the UFC. He was defeated by Mario Bautista in his debut match, losing by a unanimous decision, and again by Qileng Aori in August.