Raul Rosas Jr. broke two of Max Holloway‘s records before he even started fighting under the UFC banner. After his Dana White’s Contender Series fight in 2022, he became the promotion’s youngest-ever signing. Then, at UFC 282, he became the youngest fighter to debut in the UFC, at just 18 years of age. Both records were previously held by Holloway who achieved it at 20. He’s had quite the run so far in Dana White‘s promotion with a 75 percent finishing rate. He’s steadily making the climb upward in the bantamweight division, but Rosas Jr. has had a few setbacks, and today, the focus of this article will be on his losses.

Getting into the UFC is an impressive feat, but competing as a teenager against the world’s most elite competition is nothing game altogether. Rightfully so, Raul Rosas Jr. has the respect of the UFC fans, but he made one mistake in the UFC when he secured his only loss so far.

Raul Rosas Jr.’s first and only UFC loss

After scoring a perfect neck-crank submission win over Jay Perrin, Raul Rosas Jr. proved that the hype surrounding him was definitely real. A 1st round finish made him the center of headlines, but the 19-year-old would squander his chance to remain undefeated in his next fight. The Mexican-American star would step in to fight in his second PPV bout at UFC 287 against a promising contender, Christian Rodriguez, who outfought him on almost every metric.

Christian Rodriguez landed significantly more strikes and registered a record of 7 minutes and 30 seconds of control time. Raul Rosas Jr. found it difficult to comprehend his opponent’s volume of offense. Although he scored three takedowns out of his 19 attempts, it still wasn’t enough as the judges ruled the fight in favor of Rodriguez. All three judges scored 28-29.

However, Rosas Jr. is well on his way to greatness because, after that slip-up, he’s improved his game even more. He may have debuted in the UFC when he was 18 years old, but he started as a pro fighter a few years earlier. Let’s take a deep dive into his MMA journey.

Rosas Jr.’s overall MMA record and winning streak

Raul Rosas Jr. has faced several challenges in his life and one of them relates to his journey in MMA. Having shown great potential at an early age, the UFC bantamweight prospect’s minor status from the legal point of view required his parents to register for a special license because, below 18, it’s illegal in MMA to fight. However, things would eventually work out and Rosas Jr. would start his MMA career fighting Mexican opponents, acquiring a 5-0 record, until he stepped foot in Dana White’s Contender Series in 2022.

After sealing a win on DWCS, Raul Rosas Jr. would be put on a PPV card for his debut, which is not something that many fighters can say. Apart from the Christian Rodriguez loss, the 19-year-old has been sailing smoothly in the division, with his current record standing at 9 wins and 1 loss. As he prepares for his upcoming fight at UFC 306 against Aoriqileng in the Las Vegas Sphere, it will be interesting to see if he can make it double digits in the winning column.

What do you make of Raul Rosas Jr’s UFC career so far? Drop your comments below.