Surging prospect Raul Rosas Jr. trains with reigning UFC champion as he looks to recover from recent setback
Raul Rosas Jr. had to swallow a bitter pill at UFC 287 after he was outclassed by Christian Rodriguez. While 'El Nino Problema' came out strong in the first round, 'CeeRod' took control of the fight from the second round onwards and dominated the striking, as well as grappling exchanges.
Going into the bout, Raul Rosas Jr. claimed that he was ready to take the belt from Aljamain Sterling. The Mexican-American even went as far as claiming that he'd gotten the better of the UFC bantamweight champion when they trained together in the past.
Despite being a target of the young fighter's jibes, Aljamain Sterling extended an invitation to 'El Nino Problema' to train with him, which Rosas Jr. humbly accepted. 'Funk Master' shared a picture on his Instagram with the following caption:
"When I say something, I mean it. [It feels] good working with the next wave of MMA talent."
Following Raul Rosas Jr.'s first MMA loss at UFC 287, 'Spinnin Backfist' put out the following tweet:
"Remember when Raul Rosas Jr said he would finish Aljamain Sterling? Life comes at you fast."
'El Nino Problema' was also severely trolled by others for talking big and losing convicingly at UFC 287:
Raul Rosas Jr about to get the Sage Northcut treatment.. This is why you don't sign kids to fight men.
#UFC287
watching Raul Rosas Jr. lose his fight because they pushed him to fast https://t.co/VuQI15JCfi
@SpinninBackfist Raul Rosas jr Right now https://t.co/ZCOTDZAgsV
Raul Rosas Jr sucksβ¦ at least he can fall back on his lucrative modeling career now π₯
Raul Rosas Jr fans right now: https://t.co/uUf4VA4CLQ
π€£No Chuck E Cheese after party for Raul Rosas Jr this time ππ€£
When Raul Rosas Jr. tried to punk Aljamain Sterling
Chris Weidman told Daniel Cormier a story about how Raul Rosas Jr. tried to troll the current bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling. The two have met on a couple of occasions to train. In their first meeting, Sterling is said to have outclassed the young Mexican-American prospect.
However, in their second meeting, 'Funk Master' wasn't in the mindset to grapple hard with 'El Nino Problema' as a result of a grueling fight camp. Apparently, Rosas Jr. took the opportunity to dominate the bantamweight champion while filming it all.
Here's what Chris Weidman said:
"It was a good fight for Rosas to get in his MMA debut, but for him to afterwards call out the champ - funny. I just got off the phone with my man Aljo - he's all the way in Jamaica, I had a call for this one. I go, 'Bro, what happened with you guys?' And he goes, 'Bro, the first time we rolled with him, we ragdolled him around.' He did a go with him and he ragdolled him around, the guy had no chance."
Catch Weidman's comments below:
The former middleweight champion continued:
"Fast forward to when he was going to be fighting [Petr] Yan, he [Rosas Jr.] shows up to the 10th Planet gym, and he's about to start rolling and [Sterling] tells Rosas - he goes, 'Hey, I don't want to be competitive today, I'm kind of sore, I'm a little beat up. Let's just go lightly.' As that's happening, Rosas starts doing little criss-cross steps, he starts playing DJ on his head. And you know, Aljo starts laughing, like, 'Yo, this kid's funny.' He looks over and [Rosas'] dad is filming it. They're all laughing. [Aljo] goes, 'This dude is trying to punk me.'"