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18-year-old Raul Rosas Jr. bounced back big at Noche UFC this past weekend with a first-round TKO win over Terrence Mitchell. The fight lasted a mere 54 seconds, awarding Rosas a $50K bonus for Performance of the Night.
The young fighter also received an apology from a UFC Hall of Famer, stemming from their conversation right after the bout.
Raul Rosas Jr. receives an apology from Daniel Cormier
Rosas spoke to Cormier during the Octagon interview, and his loss to Christian Rodriguez in April was the opener.
“After the first loss, that is the way to bounce back,” Cormier said.
Raul Rosas Jr. addressed Cormier with enthusiasm and joy after bouncing back from his first career defeat.
“I had to prove a point today. Last fight, no excuses, but man. I knew I had to come back from that. I knew I’m better than that. I disappointed my fans, my people. So I hope I made you all proud today.”
But looking back on that interview, Cormier felt the need to clarify some things and even issue an apology.
“I feel like I didn’t do him justice by bring up the loss as the first question. I feel like I should’ve led with something better, opposed to how he got over the adversity.
“Now, for me, I’ve dealt with a ton of adversity. So I want to know that, but in reality, I should’ve been in there to uplift Raul Roses Jr. I shouldn’t have brought up his loss. And so, for that, my bad. I shouldn’t have done it. My apologies to Raul.”
‘All systems go for Raul Rosas Jr.’
Like the handful of UFC stars, some of whom turned champions, Rosas entered the organization via Dana White’s Contender Series. Apart from the strong impression from his performance, he likewise drew attention for being the youngest fighter on the roster.
With this huge win and a lengthy career ahead, Cormier sees nothing but good things for Raul Rosas Jr.’s future.
“He fought beautifully tonight. What a tremendous performance by that young man. And it shows that regardless of age, you can get back on the horse and correct things.
“And now it feels like once again, it’s all systems go for Raul Rosas Jr.”
‘Three million views in less than 24 hours’
In the eyes of UFC CEO Dana White, Saturday’s event coinciding with Mexican Independence Day was a resounding success. So much so that he’s already planning to hold events on the same night ‘for the rest of his reign.’
“Think about that. It generated 167 million total minutes, and it did three times the average viewership minutes watched on the Spanish feed. Killed it. It was an incredible success,” White said during Tuesday’s Contender Series media scrum, noting how the event generated 1.1 million unique views.
“I will go that date every (year). I don’t care if somebody here in town gets the date at the (T-Mobile Arena). I’ll go in an opposing arena and go head-to-head with them next year.
“I’m doing this for the rest of my reign here. So they can go on the same night, we can go head-to-head — I’m going. The thing was a massive success for us.”
White says a large chunk of those views was because of Rosas Jr.
“I don’t know what it was like for you guys, but on my socials – I’ll give you an example: the faceoff between Valentina and Alexa did 1.5 million views in less than 24 hours.
“He did 3 million views in less than 24 hours. He doubled what the main event did and destroyed the rest of the card as far as views. They love that kid.”
After Noche UFC, Raul Rosas Jr. improved to a record of 8-1.
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