Dana White has set up some pretty exciting matchups for the 1st PPV in June, UFC 302, including a welterweight clash between Jake Matthews and Phil Rowe, who’ll make his Octagon return after almost a year. But who’s Phil Rowe? Fans aren’t really acquainted with his personal details, and that’s what we’re going to look at today.

Phil Rowe, full name Philip Ambrose Rowe, burst into the UFC scene through Dana White’s contender series. The DWCS has become a talent hunt for the next big UFC superstar. ‘The Fresh Prince’, a moniker that he goes by, has steadily climbed the ladder through Fight Nights and is now fighting on a PPV card. So let’s dive into the less-talked-about aspect of the 33-year-old and find out his origins.

All we know about the ethnicity, nationality, and family of Phil Rowe

According to the UFC’s official profile page of Phil Rowe, the 33-year-old was born in the city of Brooklyn in New York. Hence, by nationality, the welterweight star is an American citizen. After all, the 50-state country has produced some of the biggest MMA talents ever. In addition to that, when we take a peek into the ethnic aspect of his life, Rowe belongs to the African-American community.

If we take a look at Phil Rowe’s religious affiliation, we won’t find much information about it since he’s never been public about it. However, many people believe him to be a follower of Christianity. The same problem lies with the information about the welterweight star’s parents. Their identities are unavailable as of now.

Despite the UFC fans being in the dark about Phil Rowe’s parents’ identities, he once opened up about his mother’s illness and that she was suffering from cancer.

‘The Fresh Prince’ revealed that his mother was suffering from two types of cancers

UFC Vegas 47 was an eventful outing for Phil Rowe. The then-31-year-old defeated Jason Witt pretty decisively with a 2nd round knockout. However, what came next was something nobody was expecting. Rowe revealed that his mother had been battling breast cancer and myeloma, while dedicating the victory in his next fight, which took place at UFC on ESPN 42, to his mother.

“My mom has cancer. She has two forms of cancer. She has multiple myeloma and breast cancer [and] I’m kind of locked in on that… I don’t really care what happens in the fight game. I need to worry about my mom, ” stated a concerned Phil Rowe during the post-fight press conference. Thereafter, when he fought in his next fight, he was able to win it for the matriarch of his family.

Phil Rowe lost his last fight against veteran Neil Magny, which took place back in June 2023. Now, the question is: can he bounce back from it? We’ll find that out when he finally locks horns with the much more experienced Jake Matthews at UFC 302.