Charles Rosa is making a quick return at UFC on ESPN 10 because he’s ‘a real fighter’
Looking back on his unanimous decision loss to Bryce Mitchell at UFC 249 this past May, featherweight Charles Rosa is under no illusion to why he didn’t win the match.
According to Rosa, he went into the bout with Mitchell banking on one part of his game to get the win, when in fact he should be using all aspects of his skillset to set up what he does best.
“I’ve fought over 20 fights in my career (including the amateurs) and I’ve never really had anything like that happen to me before,” Rosa told MMAWeekly.com. “It was the first time I didn’t fight a complete fight.
“I kind of figured that if he wrestled and took me down I would dominate him on the ground, so I just let him have takedowns. Part of the reason my system is successful is because I fight off the takedowns, get them tired, and when they’re tired then the submissions come a little bit easier.”
Having about a month between fights, Rosa didn’t have a lot of time to make changes to his game, but that’s fine with him as he didn’t have to make wholesale alterations to fix the problem.
“The adjustments I had to make weren’t part of my skills,” said Rosa. “The adjustments I had to make was just not giving up those easy takedowns and ending up in positions or things I can’t allow to happen. That’s kind of where I had the issue.
“Obviously, I learned the hard way, so I changed my mindset, and I’m super strong now and ready. I’m going back to the old ways; the way I always fight; where I leave it all the line.”
On Saturday in Las Vegas, Rosa (12-4) will look to rebound when he faces Kevin Aguilar (17-3) in a lightweight preliminary bout at UFC Fight Night: Eye vs. Calvillo.
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“Kevin is a super tough, durable, fighter,” Rosa said. “He’s a very well-rounded fighter and doesn’t have any gaping holes (in his game) anywhere or big weaknesses on him. He’s a little bit of a shorter fighter, so he’ll have a disadvantage there.
“We’re going to find out who is tougher. We’re going to fight. We’re going to throw punches, land shots on each other, and it’s going to be who can take more (who is going to win the fight).”
Regardless of the outcome of his bout with Aguilar, Rosa is eager to get back into the octagon as quickly as possible and have as many fights as he can in 2020.
“That’s how I fight,” said Rosa. “I’m a real fighter. I love this. I don’t need 10 weeks to get ready for a fight. A fight’s a fight. I’m always training hard and I’m always working hard. If it wasn’t for the diet, I would be fighting every week.
“This fight is at 155 pounds, so I don’t have to cut that extra 10 pounds, and I’ll have that extra energy, and we’ll be going in there hard.”
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Charles Rosa is making a quick return at UFC on ESPN 10 because he’s ‘a real fighter’
