Raul Rosas Jr. proved he possesses the superior rear-naked choke game, as he outworked Ricky Turcios on the mat.
In the feature main card bout of UFC on ESPN at KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Ky., the 19-year-old Rosas Jr. (9-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) battled Turcios (12-4 MMA, 2-2 UFC) on the ground, eventually securing a rear-naked choke finish at 2:22 of Round 2.
Turcios attempted to get into his Rosas Jr.’s head right out of the gate. He refused a glove touch and instead yelled at Rosas Jr. before throwing a hard kick.
A few moments later, Rosas Jr. was controlling from top position after getting a takedown, and the fans began chanting “Ricky sucks” for his opening antics.
The remainder of the round would be spent on the canvas scrambling and exciting rear-naked choke sequences from both. Turcios had his own locked in, but Rosas Jr. slipped out to latch on to a choke of his own, but neither would get the finish in the opening round.
Rosas Jr. came out of the gate fast in Round 2, connecting with a nice step-in knee before getting another takedown and finding his way to Turcios’ back. Soon enough, Rosas Jr.’s arm was under the neck again, but this time, there would be no escape for Turcios, who was forced to tap.
During his post-fight interview, Rosas Jr. dedicated 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 first-round stoppage. The young prospect 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 entered on the heels of a split decision victory over Kevin Natividad, which came in November 2022. The loss against Rosas Jr. knocks him back to .500 in his UFC career.
Up-to-the-minute UFC on ESPN 57 results include:
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Raul Rosas Jr. def. Ricky Turcios via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 2:22
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Brunno Ferreira def. Dustin Stoltzfus via TKO (spinning back elbow) – Round 1, 4:51
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Zach Reese def. Julian Marquez via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 0:20
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Puna Soriano def. Miguel Baeza via unanimous decision (30-25, 30-25, 30-27)
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Ludovit Klein def. Thiago Moises via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
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Carlos Prates def. Charlie Radtke via knockout (body shot) – Round 1, 4:47
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Brad Katona def. Jesse Butler via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27)
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Montana De La Rosa def. Andrea Lee via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
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Daniel Marcos def. John Castaneda via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
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Denise Gomes def. Eduarda Moura via split decision (29-28, 27-30, 30-27)
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Taylor Lapilus def. Cody Stamann via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
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Puja Tomar def. Rayanne Amanda via split decision (30-27, 27-30, 29-28)
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 57.
Source Agencies
