Raul Rosas Jr. and Ricky Turcios meet Saturday in the featured bout on the main card of UFC on ESPN 57 from KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Ky. Check out this quick breakdown of the matchup from MMA Junkie analyst Dan Tom.
Raul Rosas Jr. vs. Ricky Turcios UFC on ESPN 57 preview
Rosas Jr. (8-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) will look to make it two in a row for the first time in his UFC career. After suffering his first career loss last April to Christian Rodriguez, the young bantamweight bounced back with a first round TKO of Terrence Mitchell in September. … Turcios (12-3 MMA, 2-1 UFC) also enters this matchup coming off a loss, followed by a win in 2022. Turcios has been inactive since, and enters his first fight in over 18 months.
Raul Rosas Jr. vs. Ricky Turcios UFC on ESPN 57 expert pick, prediction
Filling out the main card is a bantamweight battle between Raul Rosas Jr. and Turcios.
This bout was initially scheduled to go down in February of this year, but Rosas Jr. was forced to withdraw on fight day due to illness.
The UFC opted to keep this fight together given that Rosas Jr. appears to be a fighter they have specific plans and high hopes for, which probably explains why the 19-year-old prospect is so heavily favored here.
Turcios, who is certainly the more experienced of the two fighters, brings a wider array of strikes to work with on the feet and quietly carries a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu in his back pocket.
Turcios’ on-paper advantages may be enough to stop him from getting submitted, but his propensity to allow fights to get ugly could ultimately favor a superior positional scrambler like Rosas Jr. to get the jump on him.
For that reason, I’ll side with Rosas Jr. to force a stoppage by strikes from the mount position in Round 1.
Raul Rosas Jr. vs. Ricky Turcios UFC on ESPN 57 odds
The oddsmakers and the public are favoring the younger fighter, listing Rosas Jr. as a -265 favorite, and Turcios as a +200 underdog, via FanDuel.
Raul Rosas Jr. vs. Ricky Turcios UFC on ESPN 57 start time, how to watch
As the featured main card bout, Rosas Jr. and Turcios are expected to make their walks to the octagon at approximately 9:35 p.m. ET. The fight broadcasts live on ESPN and streams on ESPN+.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 57.
