Raul Rosas Jr. believes ‘it’s inevitable that I will have to move up to 145’

Raul Rosas Jr. became the youngest fighter in UFC history when he made his debut at age 18, and now that he’s months away from climbing out of his teen years, he’s realizing the gains his body has made.

The 19-year-old bantamweight phenom submitted Ricky Turcios in the featured bout of UFC Louisville earlier this month to improve to 3-1 inside the octagon. One thing that was noticeable about Rosas was his body frame getting bigger, and more muscular.

Rosas has noticed that change himself, and he understands that the time will eventually come for a move up to featherweight.

“I’ve gotten bigger and I’ve noticed it because of my weight going up and up and up, and the weight cut getting a little more rough,” Rosas said on The MMA Hour. “I’ve just been working out, but I think it’s mainly that my body is growing. My age, I’m getting older and I’m growing, so I think it’s just going to keep happening.

“The question is, is how long can I stay at [135]? I want to stay at ‘35 until I get the belt, but we’ll see what happens. ... It’s inevitable that I will have to move up to 145, the question is how long can I stay at 135 for.”

The bout with Turcios was one of the most heated on the Fight Night slate, which was clear during their final faceoff following weigh-ins, as well as the opening seconds of the fight.

When the referee got them going, Rosas went for a glove touch, but Turcios threw a kick at his opponent instead — leading to the crowd really turning on Turcios, and cheering much louder for Rosas.

“I think he was just emotional,” Rosas said. “When you fight me., there’s a lot of pressure with people watching and stuff, and I think that was making him act a little weird.

“In the faceoffs, I could just feel [the] pressure [on him]. He was tensed up and was a little more different than usual because of the pressure and everything.”