Raul Rosas Jr. proved he has the superior rear-naked choke game as he outworked Ricky Turcios on the mat.
In the main card fight of UFC on ESPN at KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Ky., 19-year-old Rosas Jr. fought. (9-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) against Turcios (12-4 MMA, 2-2 UFC) on the ground, eventually securing a rear naked choke finish at 2:22 of round 2.
Turcios tried to get into the head of his Rosas Jr. right out of the gate. to crawl. He refused to touch a glove and instead shouted at Rosas Jr. before delivering a hard kick.
A few moments later, Rosas Jr. checked. from top position after getting a takedown, and the fans started chanting “Ricky sucks” for his opening antics.
The remainder of the round would be spent scrambling off the canvas and exciting rear-naked choke sequences from both. Turcios had his locked up, but Rosas Jr. slipped out to lock in his own choke, but neither would finish in the opening round.
Rosas Jr. came out of the gate quickly in round 2, connecting with a nice step-in knee before getting another takedown and finding its way to the back of Turcios. Soon Rosas Jr.’s arm was under the neck again, but this time there was no escape for Turcios, who was forced to tap.
During his post-fight interview, Rosas Jr. took the fight to his recently deceased coach and asked Dana White to increase the bonus to $100,000 so he could buy his mother a house.
Rosas Jr. has now won back-to-back fights. In his previous outing, he stopped Terrence Mitchell with punches from Mount for a stoppage in the first round. The young player is now 3-1 in his UFC career and hopes to land a spot on the upcoming card at The Sphere in Las Vegas.
Turcios came off a win over Kevin Natividad in November 2022. The loss to Rosas Jr. brings him back to .500 in his UFC career.
Current UFC on ESPN 57 results include:
-
Raul Rosas Jr. beats. Ricky Turcios via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 2:22
-
Brunno Ferreira def. Dustin Stoltzfus via TKO (Spinning Back Elbow) – Round 1, 4:51
-
Zach Reese def. Julian Marquez via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 0:20
-
Puna Soriano def. Miguel Baeza via unanimous decision (30-25, 30-25, 30-27)
-
Ludovit Klein defeats. Thiago Moises via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
-
Carlos Prates def. Charlie Radtke via Knockout (Body Shot) – Round 1, 4:47
-
Brad Katona def. Jesse Butler via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27)
-
Montana De La Rosa def. Andrea Lee via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
-
Daniel Marcos def. John Castaneda via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
-
Denise Gomes def. Eduarda Moura via split decision (29-28, 27-30, 30-27)
-
Taylor Lapilus def. Cody Stamann via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
-
Puja Tomar final Rayanne Amanda via split decision (30-27, 27-30, 29-28)
For more information on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s events hub for UFC on ESPN 57.
The story originally appeared on MMA Junkie
