Sean O’Malley got real with Raul Rosas Jr. following his loss at UFC 287.
UFC 287 was a big night for many fighters. Israel Adesanya regained his middleweight title, Gilbert Burns put himself back in title contention. and Jorge Masvidal retired from MMA. However the night was not a great one for the young bantamweight up-and-comer, Raul Rosas Jr. Coming into his second UFC bout, all eyes were on Rosas Jr. He has been talking a big game about wanting to become the youngest UFC champion and taking down Aljamain Sterling. Unfortunately for him, those dreams have hit a bit of a speed bump.
Rosas Jr. was handed his first career loss by Christian Rodriguez. Now he is getting some advice from a man on the cusp of his first UFC title fight, Sean O’Malley
Sean O’Malley is suggesting that Raul Rosas Jr. take two years away from the UFC
O’Malley sees the loss by Rosas Jr. as a learning experience. He was critical of the UFC signing him at such a young age and now would like to see him bear down and put in the work before returning. He sent a few words of wisdom to the eighteen-year-old on his YouTube channel.
“There’s definitely guys in the division that he can go out there and beat, but I don’t even think he needs to out there and get a win, he needs to go out there and get better,” he said. “Two years, take two years off, lift, f–king grind, just get good. Just don’t fight for a couple of years, get good.”
Right now Rosas Jr. is competing in the bantamweight division. If he continues to win, he might have the chance to face O’Malley one day, However, he is planning to move up and wants to become a three-division champion. O’Malley now feels that he is in over his head and would have trouble in the 135-pound division unless he makes the necessary improvement.
“He was saying, ‘I can beat every bantamweight in the division,’” O’Malley said. “He said he grappled with Aljamain Sterling and got the best of him. Maybe humbled and maybe not—I mean, it had to have, you can’t go out there and be like, ‘I beat everyone,’ you just lost.”
O’Malley was in Rosas Jr’s shoes at one point. He came to the UFC off of the Dana White Contender Series just as Rosas Jr. did. He was the young up-and-comer until he lost his bout to Marlon Vera. He went back to the gym and continued to improve, now he might be the next man in line to face the winner of the next title fight,
