LAS VEGAS – As long as he’s making extra money, Julian Erosa has no problem if his opponents miss weight.
Hakeem Dawodu (13-3-1 MMA, 6-3 UFC) came in 3.5 pounds over the featherweight limit in his fight against Erosa (28-9 MMA, 6-5 UFC) at UFC 279 on Saturday and was fined 30 percent of his purse.
Erosa upset Dawodu with a unanimous decision win at T-Mobile Arena, and although “Juicy J” has a hard time making 145 pounds, he was all smiles when he was asked about Dawodu’s weight miss.
“I used to get upset when people missed weight, but now I love it,” Erosa told MMA Junkie and other reporters at the post-fight news conference. “Peterson missed weight and I made a lot of money off Peterson because of the Fight of the Night and so I encourage and actually am happy if people miss weight because I know I’m gonna get paid.
“By the time they’re gonna miss weight, I’ve already rehydrated because I’ve made weight at 9 o’clock and they missed weight at 10:30 and 10:30 I’m probably like 10 pounds heavier than I was, so I don’t think there’s even an advantage. I mean they didn’t really kill themselves like I had to kill myself – I’m a big guy, but I don’t feel sorry for guys that miss weight or taking their money because they weren’t worried about me when I was about to die in my garage making weight.”
Erosa is currently enjoying his best UFC run having won his past three in a row. As for what’s next, the 33-year-old hopes to continue drawing fellow strikers and has a few names in mind.
“I loved the Dawodu fight because I knew he was gonna stand and bang,” Erosa said. “I knew he wasn’t really going to care about taking people down, and I was willing to exchange with him. I’m pretty much healthy and I took a little too much time off in between the Peterson fight and this fight, but it was a good time for me to kind of reset.
“But I’d be willing to fight before the year is up for sure. I would really just like to fight another striker. Guys like Luis Saldana, a long, lanky striker, I think he would be a fun one. Caceres, I’ve always wanted to fight Caceres, but I don’t even know what he’s got going on. But long, lanky strikers are always fun because this is what I am, and I think we could mix it up and have a Fight of the Night.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 279.
