Raul Rosas Jr. cleared the air with Ricky Turcios at UFC on ESPN 57, but thinks his opponent made a mistake if he told him the truth about his health after their fight.
In the feature bout at KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Ky., Rosas Jr. submitted Turcios in the second round with a rear-naked choke, capping off a fight with exciting ground scrambles.
There was tension between the two fighters, more from Turcios’ side than Rosas Jr., who was upset that the 19-year-old pulled out of their February booking in Mexico City due to illness. Turcios refused a glove touch and cursed at Rosas Jr. before offering a defiant kick to start the fight.
Rosas Jr. would settle things inside the cage with his submission win and wanted to ensure there were no more hard feelings. As the dust began to settle, both were cordial and showed respect for each other, but Rosas also had to take a moment to set the record straight during a post-fight conversation with Turcios in the cage.
“I was like, ‘You disrespected me first though, you know?'” Rosas Jr. told reporters at a post-fight news conference. “You disrespected me by over here saying that I pulled out, this or that. He was like, ‘No, you disrespected me first by breaking the Bushido code,’ or whatever. Then I was like, ‘Bro, you know that’s something I couldn’t control. You know I was sick.’
“And he told me that he was sick as well. He told me he had staph this week, his knee, whatever, whatever. But you know, hopefully, he doesn’t use that as an excuse. That’s the reason I didn’t step out in Mexico City, because if I would have stepped out in Mexico City, I wasn’t going to bring it up that I was sick. If I had lost in Mexico City, I was going to leave it at that.”
Turcios did not mention an illness or any other ailment during his fight week interviews, and appeared ready to return to the cage for the first time since November 2022. However, if all that was told to Rosas Jr. is true, he hopes his opponent won’t try to discredit his bonus-earning victory.
“If he was really sick and had staph and went out there, I think that was just a dumb decision. I didn’t do that.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 57.
