Who Is Raul Rosas Jr.? The UFC Bantamweight Who Submitted Colby Covington In A Grappling Match

Who Is Raul Rosas Jr.? UFC Star Who Submitted Colby Covington© Instagram

Colby Covington had won five straight RAF matches and was 11 days out from a championship defense against Khamzat Chimaev in Abu Dhabi. None of that mattered at Hype Italy in Rome on Monday. Raul Rosas Jr., a 22-year-old UFC bantamweight who fights at 135 pounds and took the bout on short notice after Dillon Danis withdrew, shot in for a takedown, took Covington's back, and sank a rear-naked choke that forced a tap at 43 seconds of a scheduled 10-minute submission-only match. Conor McGregor, a special guest at the PalaPellicone, was caught on camera laughing. Covington said he “came out a little slow” and offered no other excuses. For Rosas, it was another entry in a résumé that keeps getting harder to ignore.

The Kid from Clovis Who Became the UFC's Youngest Signee

Raul Gilberto Rosas Rios Jr. was born October 8, 2004, in Clovis, New Mexico, to parents who immigrated from Iztapalapa in Mexico City. The family moved to Santa Rosa, California, when he was 13, and by 14 he was winning gold at the IMMAF world championships in Rome, the same city where he just choked out Covington. He went 5-0 fighting out of Tijuana before Dana White's Contender Series came calling in 2022. He won a unanimous decision at 17 and signed a UFC contract, becoming the youngest fighter in company history to do so. His UFC debut at UFC 282 ended in a first-round submission, making him the youngest person ever to win a UFC fight. He holds a first-degree black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, which Monday's performance made abundantly clear.

A Six-Fight Streak and a Title in His Sights

Rosas carries a 13-1 MMA record, with his only loss coming by decision to Christian Rodriguez in 2023. Since then he has won six straight inside the Octagon, most recently headlining UFC Fight Night 289 in September where he finished Raoni Barcelos by knockout and earned Fight of the Night. He is currently ranked eighth in the UFC bantamweight division and has made no secret of where he is headed. After the Covington finish he said he wants to become the youngest UFC champion and called the grappling event “a second thing we do for entertainment.” With a matchup against Clay Guida scheduled for November 28 on the Real American Freestyle circuit, the entertainment is not slowing down anytime soon.