"I almost decided to pull out" - Raul Rosas Jr. reveals "messed up" injury that nearly forced him out of UFC 306
Raul Rosas Jr. recently discussed the difficulties he had in the run-up to Noche UFC 306. Rosas Jr. revealed an injury that nearly prevented him from competing in the year's tenth pay-per-view event.
Rosas Jr. made his fifth promotional appearance in a bantamweight bout against Qileng Aori, which kicked off Noche UFC 306, currently taking place at the Las Vegas Sphere.
The Dana White's Contender Series graduate suffered his career's first loss in a unanimous decision loss against Christian Rodriguez at UFC 287. The young bantamweight prospect bounced back with a first-round knockout win against Terrence Mitchell at Noche UFC last September.
In his last octagon outing at UFC on ESPN 57, Rosas Jr. squared off against Ricky Turcios, submitting Turcios in the second round.
Meanwhile, Aori is 3-3 in the promotion. The Chinese fighter's most recent MMA fight against Daniel Marcos at UFC Vegas 86 ended in a no-contest after Aori suffered an accidental groin strike.
Rosas Jr. started the opening round with a dominant fashion. The Mexican almost got hold of Aoriqileng with a rear-naked choke, however, the latter managed to withstand Rosas Jr.'s strikes as the clock ran out.
Aori began the second round positively, tagging Rosas Jr. with two strong right hands. However, as soon as the third round began, the 19-year-old took Aori down for the second time in their fight and proceeded to throw strikes till the final bell.
The bout lasted 15 minutes and Rosas Jr. got his hand raised via unanimous decision. The judges scored the contest (29-28 x3) in favor of 'El Nino Problema'.
Following his win, Rosas Jr. became candid about his hand injury that almost forced him out of Noche UFC 306. In the post-fight conference, he said:
''This time I had to overcome a lot of adversity, a lot of injuries. My hand is messed up...I almost decided to pull out but I couldn't as it was a special event.''
Check out Raul Rosas Jr.'s comments below: