Glendale — As it turns out, the cancellation of Jessie Rosas’s UFC debut led to an even better opportunity.
Rosas (8-1), brother of UFC bantamweight Raul Rosas Jr, was supposed to face Miles Johns last month on an Apex card in Las Vegas. A cut suffered in training, however, saw Rosas not cleared to compete by doctors. Just like that, his debut was off, with the fighter even reportedly cut by the promotion.
Not so fast. Jessie Rosas now makes his debut at Noche UFC instead, a card celebrating Mexican heritage, which Rosas obviously has.
“I’m excited. I’m excited to put on a show for my people, I’m excited to make my UFC debut on Noche UFC, which is a better card than the one I was supposed to debut at first,” Rosas exclaimed while speaking with Cageside Press during this week’s media day.
When his original debut was cancelled, “obviously I was upset about the news, because I knew it wasn’t what they thought it was,” stated Rosas. At the time, his team did what they could to keep him in the fight. “But at the end of the day, all I can do is just keep working hard. I had to keep training, keep being at the gym.”
“Right now they gave me a second opportunity, so I thank God for that opportunity and may manager for putting me here. I’m just grateful more than anything, and I’m excited to go out and perform this Saturday.”
As for brother Raul, “he just told me to keep working. Keep my head up, keep working because at the end of the day, we did everything we could to keep that fight, but unfortunately it didn’t happen. More than anything, I’m trusting God’s plan, and there’s a reason why I’m here today.”
Rosas knows opponent Sean King III is dangerous, not to mention undefeated. And while having suffered a loss and coming back from adversity might give Rosas an edge of sorts, he’s not underestimating King. At the same time, Rosas added, “I’m confident in my skills, I’m confident in what I have. It doesn’t matter who they put in front of me, I’m ready to go out there and finish the fight.”
One thing Jessie Rosas will earn this Saturday is bragging rights: brother Raul is no longer the only family member in the UFC. “Honestly, I hadn’t thought about that, but I’m about to tell him that right now. You just gave me an idea,” he joked.
The pair have scrapped it out over the years, as kids. And even more recently it seems. “We haven’t fought in a long time. Last time we fought each other like that was maybe 2023. We were renting an AirBNB, I think we broke the couch from fighting.”
So is Jessie undefeated against his brother? Not so much. “I wouldn’t say that. It’s a 50-50. Sometimes he beats my ass, sometimes I beat his ass. Just depends on the day.”
Watch the full Noche UFC media day appearance by Jessie Rosas above.