Written by Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
Raul Rosas Jr. understands why he got more than a few curious looks after calling for a post-fight bonus following a unanimous decision win over Aoriqileng at UFC 306.
While there was no controversy surrounding his victory, the 19-year-old bantamweight prospect ultimately won with 29-28 scorecards across the board, but it wasn’t some crazy, all-out war that deserved attention for Fight of the Night. He also didn’t get a finish, which is almost universally accepted as a necessary step for consideration to receive an extra $50,000 for Performance of the Night.
So why exactly did Rosas call for that bonus?
“It was just the heat of the moment,” Rosas told MMA Fighting. “Since I’m used to getting finishes and asking for it after, it just came out.”
As much as Rosas concedes that he probably didn’t deserve the bonus based solely on his performance, he does believe there are other metrics that could be considered.
“The way that my argument to say that I would deserve it — don’t get me wrong it was a unanimous decision so obviously I’m OK with not getting it because I should have got a finish — but if I would have got it, my argument would be the people showed up because of me,” Rosas said about serving as the opening fight on the prelims. “The event was packed because of me. They were there early because I was on the prelims.
“I’m not trying to be cocky but a lot of people came to watch me fight. With them putting me on the first fight on the prelims, I made a lot of people show up and tune in on their TV’s right away. That would have been my argument for the $50g’s but obviously I agreed, I didn’t do enough to get those $50g’s.”
Rosas credits Aoriqileng for making it a tougher fight on him than many expected heading into the event.
Despite earning a dominant position during the opening round and searching for a rear-naked choke submission, Rosas just wasn’t able to put Aoriqileng away.
“I knew he was going to be tough,” Rosas said. “Obviously he has 25 wins, 11 losses so that’s a lot of experience. I knew he was going to be calm but I knew I was going to get the job done.
“I wish I would have got the finish but he defended good when I got to his back. He stayed relaxed. I knew he was going to be tough. I’m OK with my performance though.”
Later in his post-fight interview, Rosas said he wanted to have the chance to sit down with UFC CEO Dana White to talk numbers.
That made it sound like Rosas was possibly unhappy with his current financial situation with the UFC, but he promises that’s not actually the case.
Of course, Rosas would like to make more money just like every other person on Earth, but he’s not complaining about the way he’s being treated by the UFC. Rosas also wants the chance to face ranked competition in the near future so that’s another number that could come up in a potential meeting with the UFC brass.
“We sit down and see what’s next and talk numbers,” Rosas said. “Pretty much we’ll see what’s next. I feel like I bring a lot of people and I feel like I deserve an opportunity to test myself.
“It’s good to work with [the UFC], and they’ve been so good with me. We’re all on the same page. We’re all good. Everything’s fine. Everything’s perfect. I’m happy with my contract. Like obviously we all want more so I feel like I deserve more but I’m happy with it. There’s no problem … we’ll see what’s next. Either way, my time will come. It’s all good.”
Right now, Rosas believes he still has two fights left on his current UFC contract, but he’s certainly not looking to go anywhere else. More than anything, he just wants to continue proving his worth to the company and bringing in a crowd for the first fight of the night at Sphere was a great way to show his growing appeal with fans.
“It doesn’t matter to me where I’m at on the card,” Rosas said. “People are going to tune in regardless like you saw. The Sphere was already packed with me in the first fight. That usually does not happen.
“The people are going to tune in regardless whether I’m the main event or the first prelim or I’m in the middle, they’re going to tune in to watch me fight, to watch me perform.”