17 years old Raul Rosas Jr gets signed off the Dana White Contender Series: too soon?

[Lights Out 101]

Brah I'm really about to see a full grown man beat down a child on live TV aren't I?

 

[Steely]

Would you rate his potential higher than Aaron Picos?

No

 

[Pechan]

Wait...how the fuck is this legal? And are they really gonna promote gambling using a 17 year old fights?

 

[Steely]

Wait...how the fuck is this legal? And are they really gonna promote gambling using a 17 year old fights?

He will a legal adult by the end of the year
but still, he'll flop harder than Northcutt

 

[sonhow]

He didn't really impress me.

His opponent, Mando, seemed to have fuck all idea on the ground, despite having a bunch of sub wins. Like, at one point he was trying to put on a gullotine and the kid was basically already in his guard, and for some reason Mando kicked the kid out of his guard and into side control. It was weird.

Mando was making heaps of dumb mistakes all fight. A good fighter is going to hurt this kid, I think.

Depends on who they match up with him. Its pretty damn clear the kid is like 8-13 years from a finished product. In ideal world that is. If he gets matched up badly and gets beaten up or even fucks up his training it might mean he is done as a fighter at around 26. Joe Stevenson forgot how to throw punches when he was 28.

 

[sonhow]

One thing I like about the kid is he doesnt seem like a give up kinda guy. It serves him well especially in these younger years but on the other hand he might very well be burned out by the time he is 28. Oliviera used to be young phenom too but the fact that he gave up in fights so easily prevented him from taking too much damage and gave him a chance to become a world champion and highest level fighter in his thirties.

It might not matter though with this kid. In the end everyone is an individual and we can only guess where he ends up in the coming years.

 

[Pechan]

He will a legal adult by the end of the year
but still, he'll flop harder than Northcutt

I mean still...why not sign him but let him develop in local promotions? This is way too young to be fighting at UFC level.

 

[FlyingDeathKick]

34, 33, 33, 32, 31, 32, 29, 35... The ages of the current champs... Only a few guys are ready for the highest level of competition in their early 20s, most aren't ready until their mid to late 20s or early 30s and this guy is 17... Nobody is ready at 17. They need to feed this guy scrubs for a few years or this could be ugly.

 

[Yrat]

This is a first so it's obviously interesting, but setting aside all the "hype" and intent of creating a cool story, do you think it was a good idea?

Chase Hooper got signed super young too off the DWCS, and it hasn't been stellar so far.
And Bo Nickal doesn't get signed despite his huge wrestling credentials because he only has 2 fights, but a 17 years old with 5 fights get signed?

I love the story, but I would've given him at least 2 years before signing him

Curious to have your takes

He might end like Sage Northcutt, but i do not think so.

 

[Yrat]

Mike Tyson was like 19 when he was a heavyweight champion right?

 

[corrupted]

It's too young. His peak athletic years are a decade away. His body will be wrecked by then

 

[Kaynan]

He didn't really impress me.

His opponent, Mando, seemed to have fuck all idea on the ground, despite having a bunch of sub wins. Like, at one point he was trying to put on a gullotine and the kid was basically already in his guard, and for some reason Mando kicked the kid out of his guard and into side control. It was weird.

Mando was making heaps of dumb mistakes all fight. A good fighter is going to hurt this kid, I think.

The point is that the young kid made a career grappler look like he had “fuck all idea on the ground”…

 

[Adamant]

He's 18 in less than a month. Adult. Yeah, it's younger that is traditionally accepted, but this kid is one hell of a talent with incredible potential. He looks ready for the UFC so bring him in. (There's plenty of curtain jerkers for him to build his record against before putting him against the monsters)

 

[GearSolidMetal]

 

[filthynumber1]

Holy shit... 17? I could barely make a good decision at that age.

Fixed

 

[Hellowhosthat]

He didn't really impress me.

His opponent, Mando, seemed to have fuck all idea on the ground, despite having a bunch of sub wins. Like, at one point he was trying to put on a gullotine and the kid was basically already in his guard, and for some reason Mando kicked the kid out of his guard and into side control. It was weird.

Mando was making heaps of dumb mistakes all fight. A good fighter is going to hurt this kid, I think.

It's the pace he grapples at that's impressive. There's very few people in the sport that grapple at that kind of speed. The speed he was moving from position to position was insane. He still makes mistakes but once he shores those up he's going to be a problem because he's such a naturally good grappler.

 

[xhaydenx]

The point is that the young kid made a career grappler look like he had “fuck all idea on the ground”…

Yeh, but so he should have. Mando looked clueless, regardless of what that kid was doing to him.

 

[xhaydenx]

It's the pace he grapples at that's impressive. There's very few people in the sport that grapple at that kind of speed. The speed he was moving from position to position was insane. He still makes mistakes but once he shores those up he's going to be a problem because he's such a naturally good grappler.

Yeh, we'll see how much it matters when he's in there against someone who knows what they're doing. If UFC keep feeding him more Mando's, then sure, he's gonna look great.

He isn't going to be transitioning like that against someone who is decent on the ground. One transition was literally Lando kicking him out of guard and into side control . . . while going for a gullotine.

 

[mmamxfan]

I wanna see him and "Super Sage" get after it. Make it happen Dana!

 

[Hellowhosthat]

Yeh, we'll see how much it matters when he's in there against someone who knows what they're doing. If UFC keep feeding him more Mando's, then sure, he's gonna look great.

He isn't going to be transitioning like that against someone who is decent on the ground. One transition was literally Lando kicking him out of guard and into side control . . . while going for a gullotine.

From memory I think Mando was trying to go for the one leg across, one leg over position which is a stronger finish for the gilly than closed guard but he fucked it up.